René Lussier

More than a decade after she abandoned him, Émile accepts his mother Fanny’s invitation to come work with her on an isolated logging camp. While he foolishly expected a joyful reunion, the boy is pitted against an hostile environnement and a woman with a distinct lack of maternal instinct.

First, about ten years ago, there was a text by Paule Marier. Then, René Lussier made a song from that text for his 2014 album (Toucher une âme). Jim Corcoran translated the text to English and recorded it for his CBC radio program, but instead he decided to send it to René Lussier suggesting that maybe he could do something new out of it. René created a new music over the recorded text and after listening to the finished sound track, the two decided that it would be good if there were images to it. This is how it finally ended up in my Drop Box and it gave birth to this film. Afterward, a French version of the film was made with the original French text.

This animated short is a touching and comical tale that pokes fun at motherhood. Without ever moralizing, it depicts the temper tantrums of a child and the efforts a loving mother makes to set her son on the right path. You don’t need to be a chicken to relate.

Canadian animated short

Although his influence on the history of photography has been nothing short of profound, Paul Strand (1890-1976) remains a curiously shrouded and paradoxical figure. While passionately devoted to humanity, he was happiest in the isolation of the dark room. A pioneer filmmaker (Manhatta, Native Land, Heart of Spain, The Wave), he found the process of collaboration painful. Strand established himself in New York in the 1920's as a master of light and structure, with his now famous photo of Wall Street inspired by the forms and movement of European modernist painters such as Matisse and Picasso. His closeup portraits and landscapes were equally profound. John Walker's Strand.

A day in the life of a Quebec magazine writer - his fortieth birthday - from his dream before waking to his last act before sleeping. He looks back over his life, his thoughts, and his loves.

Louis Vincent is found unconscious in a city park. He claims to a policewoman that he has been kidnapped. In addition to narrating the judicial investigation, the film becomes an open reflection on the power of the imagination.