The Montreal International Documentary Festival / Recontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal (RIDM) is honouring a late pillar of the Canadian documentary scene. RIDM unveiled today the line-up for the inaugural Magnus Isacsson Competition. Named for the filmmaker who dedicated his career to examining social issues and tackling pressing political issues through film, the competition recognizes a local talent who continues Isacsson’s spirit through their work.
The competitive line-up offers a dedicated space for these films as RIDM previously drew across the overall festival programme since the Magnus Isacsson Award was established in 2012, the same year that Isacsson passed away. The competition is supported by DOC Québec, the Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec (ARRQ), Funambules Médias, Cinema Politica and Main Film under the supervision and coordination of Jocelyne Clarke. Isacsson’s films included the award winning Power (1996), about a Cree and Inuit campaign against a hydroelectricity project, and Maxmine, McDuff & McDo (2002), which observes workers’ efforts to unionise at a McDonald’s.
The films selected for the inaugural competition line-up are:
(synopses by RIDM)
Circo by Lamia Chraibi
Production: Productions Leitmotiv | Distribution: Les Films du 3 Mars | World Premiere
Richard, a young Brazilian circus artist, is thrown out by his adoptive mother and must confront his childhood traumas through a rich and healing quest for identity.
Koutkekout by Joseph Hillel
Production: Qu4tre par Quatre Films | Distribution: K-Films Amérique | Canadian Premiere
In war-torn Haiti, a group of artists are busy preparing for a theatre festival. Between rehearsals and work meetings, heart-rending questions emerge.
Larry (They/Them) by Catherine Legault
Production: Concerto Films | Distribution: Les Films du 3 Mars | Quebec Premiere
The filmmaker observes trans, non-binary artist Laurence Philomène prepare for the release of their retrospective book Puberty, wherein they boldly affirm their body and everyday life.
Ninan Aussat: We, the Children by Kim O’Bomsawim
Production: National Film Board of Canada (NFB) | Distribution: NFB | Quebec Premiere
With respect and complicity, this film paints a delicate portrait of Indigenous youth embracing an assertion of identity and the desire for a future imbued with love.
The Rule of Stone by Danae Elon
Production: Entre deux mondes | Distribution: Filmoption International | Quebec Premiere
Taking a critical look at Jerusalem’s development project in the 70s, this film reveals the invisible violence perpetrated against the Palestinian people.
Seeing through the Darkness by Simon Plouffe
Production: Simon Plouffe | Distribution: Les Films du 3 Mars | World Premiere
This film plunges us into the visual and aural experience of blindness, lived and told by five people who have lost their sight to weapons of war.
Simon & Marianne by Martin Fournier and Pier-Luc Latulippe
Production: Cheval Films | Distribution: Cheval Films | Canadian Premiere
Alongside a couple’s final weeks before one of them receives medical assistance in dying, this tender film is a lucid reflection on death, but above all, on life.
Wilfred Buck by Lisa Jackson
Production: Door Number 3 Productions | Distribution: NFB | Quebec Premiere
The film follows Cree Elder Wilfred Buck’s transformation into a revered educator and guardian of Indigenous star knowledge by seamlessly bridging past and present through a compelling visual narrative.
RIDM will announce its full line-up on Oct. 30 in advance of the festival, which runs Nov. 20 to Dec. 1.
