In my previous post, I highlighted a group of women active in the Montreal art and technology field. I enjoy sharing about people Bis Films has worked with and who are important to us. Writing that post, I realized how many more amazing women surround us but just didn’t fit into the narrow field of “art and technology.” That is why I want to take advantage of a recently released short video, Be Peace, featuring Jo Willers and Janie Pelletier, to share my experience in making the video.

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It all started on a cold December night. A small group of friends gathered around a small kitchen table and attempted to wow each other with their favorite pasta recipe. Eight unique dishes were served, grades were allotted, a winner was proclaimed. Thus, The Foodie Collective was born.

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Even though the earthquake that struck Japan seems so far removed from our everyday reality – notice the few and far apart newspaper articles these days – a group of Montrealers led by Joe Allen have organized a fundraiser to help in “picking up the pieces.”

This Saturday, the 14th of May, will see a full day of art related activities happening at OFF Interarts, 5143 St-Laurent, with the humble goal of raising money for the Japanese Red Cross. There will be a mix-match of  art, film (I will be showing my film, Circle Haiku), craft sales and traditional Japanese performances from noon to 5pm. The night will then change gears around 7:30pm as local musicians will be taking the stage: Steve Cohen, Alex Robshaw, Melina Soochan and Shaking Judy.

Check out the Art for Japan website for more information.

The summer is arriving quickly and with it, events, unveilings, and local artists’ work will be inundating good old Montreal.

Something I am definitely looking forward to this week is the opening of a new performance piece at the M.A.I. Bird Messengers is the new performance piece from aboriginal artists Moe Clark (whom I worked with on the film Circle Haiku) and Emilie Monnet. The performance combines storytelling and song that celebrate ancestral ways of prayer, peacemaking, and healing from Indigenous peoples across the Americas. Check out their Facebook page.
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In the spirit of uploading all of our past projects to Vimeo, Circle Haiku is a film that I directed back in 2009. For this film, I teamed up with Moe Clark, spoken-word poet extraordinaire and songstress. We brought our distinctive passions together – me for the moving image and Moe for the healing sounds of music – in an attempt to create a meditative look at… well everything.

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A 7 year old boy sits in the back seat of his parents car, driving along Sources Blvd in the West Island, looking out the window. Somewhere along the drive, an old abandoned stone house catches his eye, slightly out of place in this 1988 sprawling Montreal suburb. The boy’s eyes sparkle as dreams of adventures and  abandoned treasures crowd his mind. What would he find behind those crumbling cobble walls were he to escape his parents gaze long enough to explore?

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This week has found me assailed with documentary films. Two events contributed to this. 1) I have spent the last 2 weeks editing videos for Aldo. This has given me plenty of time to peruse the web in search of distractions while waiting for my project to render. 2) The Rencontres Internationales  du Documentaire de Montréal (RIDM) is going on till the 21st of November.

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Chris Taylor, director in action

We’re back in our beloved Montreal town after a 9 hour drive! Again this past week was lots of fun and a big learning experience for everyone. Film sets are curious. Continue reading

Wow! We’ve finally made it to day 5, the last day of shooting for Chris Taylor and Jesse Bick’s short film “Back in 20…” The days have been long and backward – waking up at 1:30 pm, shooting from 8pm until 5am, then repeating the process 5 times. Not surprisingly though, we’ve all sort of gotten accustomed to this wacky schedule, so much so that at 6:30 this morning we shared a beer and a quick game of super nintendo in order to decompress before hitting the pillow.

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We are now in Thornbury Ontario shooting a short film with director and friend Chris L. Taylor. For the next 5 days, we will be living with the cast and crew, spending our time between sets and filming this short dark comedy that Chris wrote with Jesse L. Bick.

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