Brief Encounters - A short film trip

The second half of the day we met back at the Watershed for the second half of the Brief Encounters International film festival where we had the opportunity to see a group of Canadian films from Quebec. Unfortunately our trip was cut short due to getting the coach on time but I managed to find and watch all the featured films online.

QUEBEC'S DARK SIDE

Directed by: Stéphane Lapointe, 2009, Quebec, 10 mins

 REVERENCE (SUBSERVIENCE)

Directed by: Patrick Bouchard & Martin Rodolphe Villeneuve, 2007, Quebec, 08:10 mins

DANSE MACABRE

Directed by: Pedro Pires, 2008, Quebec, 07:48 mins

JOUR SANS JOIE (SAD DAY)

Directed by: Nicholas Roy, 2009, Canada, 14:14 mins

DUST BOWL HA HA!

Directed by: Sébastien Pilote, 2007, Quebec, 12 mins

LE MODE DELIAN (THE DELIAN MODE)

Directed by: Kara Blake, 2009, Canada, 25 mins

PATCHWORK

Directed by: Jean-Marc Roy & Philippe-David Gagné, 2009, Quebec, 11:30 mins

These short films all have a very sinister feel to them, they also have a more art-house feel to them and have vast differences to the British films we watched in the first have of the film festival. These films relate in some way to the films I have already researched for example Danse Macabre has a very surreal theme and Reverence (Subservience) uses puppet animation relative to the animated films I have seen so far.

My clear favourite from these films was 'Reverence (Subservience)' as I feel it proved to be the most original by far and although adopting a surrealist style of film making still had a clear meaning, a statement on society and class 'presenting the tragicomedy of a society in its death throes' (http://www.encounters-festival.org.uk/2010-programme/brief-encounters/quebecs-dark-side.html). The film has no words, a common aspect of short films and surrealist cinema, this film follows two puppets representing the bourgeoisie each walking across a baron waste-land over two pieces of red carpets whilst their servants/slaves , two puppets representing the working class, must relentlessly switch the carpets for them to walk on. There is a substantial amount of symbolism to be interpreted from this film and it conveys a strong ethical message. 'Reverence (Subservience)' has a very melancholy vibe as well as a lot of these films but the way in which it is filmed ,although conveys negative emotions, is a beautiful depiction of the idea and story it illustrates.

SUBSERVIENCE