Jours en fleurs

“Jours en fleurs” is a reclamation of flower-power in which images of trees in springtime bloom are subjected to the floriferous ravages of menarcheal substance in a gestation of decay. The title is based on an expression from my coming-of-age in Acadian French Canada where girls would refer to having their menstrual periods as “être dans ses fleurs.” As a result of incubation in menstrual blood for several months, the original images inscribed on the emulsion undergo violent alterations. The shedding of the unfertilized womb depredates the fertilized blossoms and substitutes its own dark beauty. – LB “Those few shorts that attempt something different become standouts […], such as Louise Bourque’s glittering neo-feminist abstraction ‘Jours en Fleurs.’” – Ed Halter, The Village Voice, New York, November 19 – 25, 2003 “I can recommend two must-sees in this year’s Perspective Canada [series at the Toronto International Film Festival]. Louise Bourque’s short ‘Jours en fleurs’ is an abstract series of lapping visuals that finds limitless colour and texture in a degraded image.” – Cameron Bailey, Now Magazine, Toronto, September 4, 2003 Selected screenings & awards: Flaherty International Film Seminar, 50th anniversary, “Inspired Filmmaking”, Poughkeepsie, 2004; Programmers’ Choice Award, Cinematexas, Austin, Texas, September 2003; Experimental Film Award, Athens International Film and Video Festival, Ohio, 2004; Director’s Choice Award, Black Maria Film and Video Festival, Jersey City, NJ, December 2005; Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 18 & April 23, 2006