SAINT-RÉMI

By Simon Vermeulen

Shot in the former asbestos mine of Saint-Rémi-de-Tingwick in Quebec, this short film features a dancer’s interactions with and within his tetrahedron iron sculpture. Serving as both a pedestal and a prison, the sculpture symbolises man-made structures that can both elevate and confine. This duality is echoed by the magnificent yet desolate landscape of the mine, which has remained barren since its closure in 1968. Despite its melancholic overtones, Saint-Rémi speaks to a hope that life will be restored.

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Simon Vermeulen (b. 1989, Canada) is a Quebecois director, dancer, and artist. He choreographed and produced Der Untermensch, which premiered at the 38th Toronto International Film Festival (2013) and harnessed the expressive power of body language onscreen. Vermeulen also wrote, directed, choreographed, performed, and produced the short films Saint-Rémi, and Muses, which won a Special Mention at the 29th Saguenay International Short Film Festival (2025).

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ÉCHO

By Édouard Lock

A lone ballerina dances with her reflection in Écho, a film directed by world-renowned choreographer Édouard Lock. Interpreted by the principal dancer of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Rachele Buriassi, this intimate solo piece was inspired by feelings of solitude experienced in lockdown.

It begins with a ballerina in the familiar surroundings of a theatre, but the camera soon closes in on the figure and renders it almost abstract, disrupting one’s sense of time and space. An evocative score by James O’Callaghan enters into dialogue with Buriassi’s movements as she slips in and out of shadow and light, illusion and reality.

Director of Photography: Étienne Boilard
Production & Distribution: Phi Studio

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Édouard Lock (b. 1954, Morocco), a Canadian choreographer and founder of dance company La La La Human Steps, has been invited to create works for some of the world's leading dance companies, such as the Paris Opera Ballet, and the Dutch National Ballet. The experimental nature of Lock's work drew artists to him, such as Nam June Paik, with whom he collaborated on Wrap Around the World (1988). He was also artistic director for David Bowie's Sound+Vision world tour in 1990. His works have garnered many honours, including the Chalmers Choreographic Award, and the Prix Denise-Pelletier.

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PIDIKWE (RUMBLE)

By Caroline Monnet

Director Caroline Monnet explores authentic representations of Indigenous women onscreen in Pidikwe, looking to the period of the Roaring Twenties, between 1920 to 1929, to capture feelings of freedom, self-expression, exuberance and creativity. By putting the spotlight on Indigenous women of different generations—survivors of centuries of assimilation and dispossession—as they express their spirituality in dance, Monnet returns their vital bodies to our realities and imaginations.

Shot entirely on film to recreate the aesthetic of 1920s cinema, the project blends Indigenous and contemporary dance to create a unique object that blurs the boundaries between cinema, artwork and performance.

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Caroline Monnet (b. 1985, Canada) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Montréal. Her work has been programmed extensively in film festivals and museums around the world, including Sundance Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, and Göteborg Film Festival, as well as the Whitney Biennale, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, and National Gallery of Canada. She was selected for the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation residency, and also received the Sundance Institute’s Merata Mita Fellowship. She was named Compagne des arts et des lettres du Québec in 2023.

Photo credit: Sébastien Aubin

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