Claudie Lévesque (almost all) program # 1
In line with the exhibition Ritournelles, a work in triple projection presented until February 12, we offer the first retrospective of filmmaker Claudie Lévesque. Between experimental and documentary cinema, between references to intimacy and the expressiveness of the body, she draws a sinuous path where the form is part of a genealogy of female creation (Bausch, Akerman, Deren).
Still Pina is an homage to German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch and a nod to Chantal Akerman’s film Un jour Pina a demandé… (One Day Pina Asked…). This short film presents its own version of a well-known scene taken from one of Pina Bausch’s choreographies, which integrates sign language and demonstrates the extent to which the body can be a vehicle for imagery and sound. (Vidéographe)
A brief satire of the self-portrait in video art.
Allegory in sequence shot on a round, colorful and soft countdown.
White Magic relates moments in the day of a young girl, the day of her 13th birthday, a Friday 13th... White Magic was made during the 2nd Montreal Super 8 Festival, whose very simple rule consists in shooting a single 50 feet reel, without editing afterwards. The special effects and the sequence of shots were therefore done in camera, during the shooting.
The waking dream of a young fisherman, surprised by the nature of his catch. First Catch was made as part of the 3rd edition of the Montreal Super8 Festival, whose very simple rule is to shoot a single 50 foot reel, without any post editing. The theme of the 2005 edition was "Dreaming in Kodachrome" and paid tribute to this notorious film, which was suspended the same year.
A woman leaves phone messages on the voice mail of a mysterious Sabrina...
Les Souliers de Dorothée uses the epistolary mode to reveal the intimate utopia of a woman who invents several characters. Jacqueline Demers, then Karol Baker and finally Kirick, come to life and straddle the ages through Dorothée's imagination.
Inspired by the works of Maya Deren, L'ACTE EN VERT evokes in a poetic way, a ritual of transformation. A young woman goes from the space of her room that she paints in green to the nature offered at sunset, one summer evening.
Claudie Lévesque
Claudie Lévesque lives in Montreal and has been working with media arts for over twenty years. She collaborates with several organizations (Main Film, Les Films de l'Autre, IFCO, CQAM) where she produces installation and programming projects (Capsules-mémoire, Main Film, 2007; Les 50 ans d'art vidéo, CQAM - Marseille, 2013). Since 2011, she regularly sits on various film and video selection committees.
In parallel, she leads a career as a filmmaker. Her practice unfolds through experimental cinema and video art. Between 2005 and 2008, she participated in spontaneous creations (Montréal S8 and One Take S8) using her favorite filmic medium, Super 8. She made short films such as Magie blanche (2005), which features her daughter. In the form of portraits or self-portraits, her work deals with intimate subjects that involve her or her loved ones. She has made more than a dozen short films, including an experimental documentary entitled Ma famille en 17 bobines (2011), which has been presented in numerous festivals (RIDM, Visions du Réel in Switzerland). In 2012, IFCO is dedicating a retrospective to her, with some of her works being screened on film. Her work has been shown in several festivals in Canada and internationally. She is distributed by Les Films du 3 mars, Vidéographe and GIV. In 2020, she completed a Master's degree in experimental media at UQAM, which earned her the Prix Philippe-Ménard for best research-creation thesis.
