An enclosed space, a struggle against the constraints of personal isolation explored through a fractured narrative. A man living in a broken-down rented room in a Tourist Inn travels through his inebriation, his memories and his fantasies, transcending the limits of time and space, which suddenly intertwine. A film about loss and absence. Selected screenings & awards: Best Experimental Short, Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia, 1990; Outstanding Achievement Award, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, 1989; Honorable Mention, The Canadian International Annual Film Festival, Ottawa, ON, 1990; Opening film, 39th International Mannheim Film Week, Germany, 1990
Filter Films
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“Le Cri du Silence” follows Jean-Marc Dalpe step-by-step through his life and his experiences in Penetanguishene, Sudbury, Toronto, Rockland, Ottawa, and many more cities and villages. The film presents a portrait of the author and playwright, of this world and the Franco-Ontarian community. Dalpe’s poetry and plays reflect the conflicts, passions, and fears of those he has encountered. From Snoopy Dufour, the biker of the Amoco strike, to Therese Groleau, who inspired Dalpe’s play “Hawkesbury Blues,” “Le Cri du Silence” presents precious testimonies and stirs the memories of those who have felt the Dalpe effect so intensely. Note: French Language
Cri du Silence, Le
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“The lateral movement of the title “Along the Road to Altamira” signals that we are about to embark on a journey through Spain. Our final destination is Altamira, where the first forms of representation by Paleolithic man still remain. These images, a narrator tells us in German, would have remained undiscovered if not for the childish curiosity and unconditioned vision of the young girl who noticed the ancient paintings of bison on the cave ceiling. “In keeping with this idea, the film takes us on a journey toward a final destination of symbolic import. However, what one sees along the way to Altamira is the actual focus of this film. For example, in the countryside of Catholic Spain we see an image which is remarkable for its stark beauty and composition. Here, framed against a backdrop of manicured trees, a child plays at the base of a crucifix in the middle ground while in the foreground cars whiz through a static, fixed camera frame. The whole notion of representation is also underlined as we are carried along on this journey of elliptical panning, cutting, flickering images of people, expressions, colours, textures, flags and sails. All this is cut to a rhythmic soundtrack of music, exotic sounds of laughter, Spanish voices and a radio ambience. Rimmer’s consummate talents make this film a unique cinematic experience.” – Maria Insell
Along the Road to Altamira
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Sent to Canada under a false identity her husband created for her, Colombian-born Luna finds herself working as a cleaning lady. She tries to get along with her co-workers, whom she considers economic refugees like herself; but her upper-class attitude alienates her. Luna fantasizes about the soap operas she used to watch. However, Chon Li, whom Mexican boss Manuel manipulates with promises of improving her status, forces Luna back to reality. Rarely is life as squeaky clean as soap, and Luna gradually starts scrubbing away the layer of grime that seems to coat everything. She learns from Abdel, a Sufi Iranian surgeon who works as a security guard, that those differences in religion and socio-economic status can be overcome. Enviada a Canadá con una falsa identidad creada por su marido, la colombiana Luna tiene que trabajar en una compañía de limpieza. Luna trata de llevarse bien con sus colegas, a quienes considera refugiados económicos al igual que ella, a pesar de que ella es rica en realidad. Acostumbrada a las telenovelas, cree que su vida es otra novela más. Pero Chon Li, quien es manipulada por el dueño de la compañía de limpieza -el mejicano Manuel- la trae de vuelta a la realidad. Gradualmente, Luna, aprenderá de Abdel, el cirujano Iraní que cree en el Sufismo y que trabaja como custodio en su mismo edificio, que las divergencias entre los diferentes grupos económicos y religiosos, podrían ser superadas.
Cleaning For Love
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Turmoil of unsheltered childhood; the dwelling as self. “Louise Bourque’s ‘Going Back Home’ conveys a sense of loss and upheaval with just a few images.” – Steve Anker and Kathy Geritz, program notes, San Francisco International FIlm Festival, 2002 “The disasters of life can make it hard to go home. Bourque’s brief, beautiful, and affecting film goes by so quickly it’s printed twice on the reel, so you can get a second look.” – Program notes, Images Festival, 2001 “To the scratchy sounds of an old music box… ‘Going Back Home’ weaves snippets of old reels of houses collapsing, fires and floods into a 30-second elegy… Deep within its battered places and antique sounds, the film offers the possibility of recalling something that otherwise could be lose forever.” – Joanne Silver, The Boston Herald, Dec. 17, 2004 Selected screenings & awards: Festival Coordinator’s Citation, San Francisco Art Institute Film and Video Festival, CA, 2004; Jury Award, New York Exposition of Short Film and Video, NY, 2001; Innovation Award, 26th New England Film and Video Festival, Boston, MA, 2001; International Film Festival Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2001; Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto, ON, 2002; Festival of New Cinema and New Media, Montreal, QC, 2001; Huesca International Film Festival, Spain, 2001; Impakt Festival, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2001; Ann Arbor Film Festival, Ann Arbor, MI, 2002
Going Back Home
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In search of the oceanic feeling: the fusion of subject and object. The oceanic feeling refers to the experience of feeling connected, the sensation of something unlimited and infinite, oceanic as it were. In “Hydromancy” this is made visual with abstract images of water, both a source of inspiration and a creative force. A water dance and dancing water combined. Waves of aspiration, inspiration and exhaltation. An exiting inner search to face the imaginary.
Hydromancy
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A walk through the city of Maputo becomes a poetic visual essay. Inspired by two Mozambican poems, its central themes are: shoes, time, space, history, humanity, reading the asphalt and the intrusive effect of a camera. Scenes from everyday life and a series of portraits link with radio loops and local ambiance sound. The curious gaze of a foreigner gradulally evolves to the fascinated look of a gues enchanted by the city and its people. Strangeness, obstruction and mutual unease are step by step replaced by contact and communication. Distance and closeness measured in feet: the theme for a possible poem, the theme for a possible film…
1000 Feet
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Amidst information overload, communication overkill and mediated emotions, Paradise, as a state of complete happiness, remains a fleeting promise, a state of mind impossible to achieve. Some seek refuge in the creative process, some multiply “various emotions” while other just drive along on the road to Paradise, thinking there is “nothing to worry about.” In the end, it is just all about “the drive.”
Struggling in Paradise
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“ina unt ina” euro-electro-pop divas are back from windy tropical islands to offer you this perfect pop illusion for pleasure. The music is music, You are feeling the feeling. ina unt ina are Celina Carroll and Christina Zeidler. As World Pop Diva Sensations they have performed all across Queen St. West from Ossington to Dufferin, it’s only time before they get on the subway…..
ina unt ina (theme song)
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After shooting a strange episode that occurred spontaneously on a secluded beach, I realized that there were two other rolls shot years earlier that might work as a triptych. A subconscious reaction to the escalating gun violence in the city and in all corners of the earth. (JP) “Price’s camera peers over the rushes like a hunter. Three incongruent and gloriously hazy sequences discover the malice in the bucolic.” – Chris Kennedy, Images Festival, Toronto 2006 Technical Specifications hand-processed 16mm, optically printed to 35mm for release. black and white, 8:45 minutes, 1:1.37, cd sound, 24fps. Credits John Price : cinematography, negative processing, optical printing, editing, sound design & mix. Niagara Custom Lab : print processing.
gun / play
