Kicking off on Canada Day, RIDM (Montreal International Documentary Film Festival) will take over UnionDocs for three days to show work from filmmaker, Richard Brouillette!
Join us for his conversational portrait film of widely-read radical economist Bernard Maris, an influential professor, incisive journalist, witty broadcaster, author of over 20 books, and a man called “a thorn in the side of rampant capitalism. Get to know this eloquent intellectual through his down to earth way of dissecting the world economy; less lecture and more like a casual cafe conversation with a generous and wise mentor, experience his beautiful tutorial through Oncle Bernard: A Counter-Lesson in Economics.
Co-presented with RIDM, Indie Pix and with support from the Cultural Services of the Québec Government Office in New York, this weekend will be packed with three screenings where Brouillette will join us for discussions following the films, with drinks, a backyard barbeque and a dance party with music from Canadian DJ Frame.
Weekend Schedule:
Friday, 7:30pm – Oncle Bernard Screening and Q&A
Friday 10pm – RIDM Takeover PARTY with DJ FRAME and complimentary beer provided by Dieu du ciel and Trou du diable.
Saturday, 7:30pm – Oncle Bernard Screening and Q&A
Sunday, 4pm – Encirclement Screening and BBQ
“The masters, the serfs, the knighting ceremonies, the relationship with authority. We shouldn’t delude ourselves, business is a feudal system.” – Bernard Maris aka Oncle Bernard
Oncle Bernard: A Counter-Lesson in Economics (2015, 79 min) centers around a conversation with Economist Bernard Maris, a.k.a. “Oncle Bernard” who was killed during the Charlie Hebdo shooting, on January 7, 2015. This fascinating and rarely seen interview was filmed in March 2000 as part of the documentary Encirclement: Neo-Liberalism Ensnares Democracy and extended in full for this uncut look at the economist himself. Maris shares incisive, lively and mischievous words of dissent, unleashing hard-hitting truths that challenge the dogmas incessantly rehashed by those enslaved to the “science” of Economics. With wit and eloquence, and a capacity to distill complex issues and make arduous subject matters exciting, Bernard unveils courageously original ideas over the course of the interview – ideas that are all the more precious in this era of intellectual resignation and economic austerity.
Join filmmaker Richard Brouillette, and special guests after each screening to unpack the influence of Bernard’s economic viewpoint, the current political climate of neo-liberalism and the tools from documentary we can use to work through these issues. On Sunday at 4pm, we will screen Brouillette’s Encirclement: Neo-Liberalism Ensnares Democracy, an examination of the neo-liberal ideology and the mechanisms used to impose its dictates throughout the world.
A fascinating one-on-one conversation with the late Bernard Maris, economist and columnist at Charlie Hebdo. More than a tribute, an expression of his intelligence and humor.
Bios:
Richard Brouillette is a film producer, director, editor and programmer. Starting as a film critic for the Montréal weekly, Voir (1989), he then worked for Québec’s top independent distribution company, Cinéma Libre (1989-1999), which has since folded. In 1993, he founded the artist-run center Casa Obscura, a multi-disciplinary exhibition space, where he still runs a weekly cine-club called Les projections libérantes, for which he is also the projectionist.
He has produced and directed Too Much is Enough (doc., 111 min., 1995), for which he won the prestigious M. Joan Chalmers Award in 1996; Carpe Diem (experimental, 5 mins., 1995) and Encirclement: Neo-Liberalism Ensnares Democracy (doc., 160 mins., 2008), for which he won six awards including the prestigious Robert and Frances Flaherty Grand Prize of the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival and Grand Prize La Poste Suisse of the 2009 Visions du réel festival.
He has also produced six feature-length films: Tree with Severed Branches by Pascale Ferland (doc., 81 mins. 2005), Barbers – A Men’s Story by Claude Demers (doc., 82 mins., 2006), Les désœuvrés by René Bail (fiction, 72 mins. 1959-2007), Adagio for a Biker by Pascale Ferland (doc., 90 mins., 2008), Les dames en bleu et Michel Louvain by Claude Demers (doc., 90 mins., 2009) and Chantier by René Bail (doc., 75 mins., 1957-2009). Brouillette has also acted as consulting producer on a number of other documentary projects.
Richard Brouillette has also been active in Québec’s independent film community, participating in militant actions and devoting himself to the cause of artist-run centers. Since 1993, he has also sat on the Boards of various organizations. He is currently treasurer of the independent filmmakers’ cooperative, Main Film, and administrator of l’Amicale de la culture indépendante, the coop that manages Casa Obscura.
Influenced by artists like Aphex Twin and John Hopkins, DJ Frame‘s curiosity and research brings him a penchant for crafting and harmonizing analog atmospheres and heavy rhythmic to curate a unique spectrum of emotions and stories. Multi-Instrumentalist and vocalist, he pursues a sound that inspires a visual story of his world.
Founded in 1998, the Montreal International Documentary Festival (Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal – RIDM) presents a selection of the year’s best documentaries from Canada and around the world for general and professional audiences. Documentary film has a unique place in Quebec culture. The historic backbone of Quebec cinema, the documentary sector produced a large number of major filmmakers who embraced a demanding, innovative vision of reality-based cinema, and their influence is still being felt. Above all, RIDM’s mission is to carry on the vision of those pioneering filmmakers by promoting the best local productions and presenting the year’s most important and ambitious international works.
At a time when a large part of the world’s documentary output is constrained by the demands of television, shaping films into easily digested products, our exacting selection process is driven by a view of documentary that – while plural and seeking to address a wide spectrum of social, political and environmental themes – remains grounded in the idea of promoting truly artistic visions, by selecting productions that redefine our relationships with the world around us, and with the ever more tenuous line between fiction and documentary.
Conceived as a filmmakers’ event, RIDM relies on the presence of a large number of creators and organizes an impressive number of parallel events that promote local productions and documentary film in its many forms. Every year, master classes, roundtables and topical discussions are presented for both professionals and the general public. In addition, the close cooperation of broadcasters, distributors, programmers, festival directors and critics from around the world gives our local productions exceptional exposure. The desire to make the festival part of an organized professional promotion network inspired the creation of Doc Circuit Montreal, Quebec’s documentary market, designed specifically to support and stimulate independent documentary production and facilitate discussions among professionals, artists, producers, distributors and exhibitors of all stripes.
Generous support for the weekend from:
