Simply Johanne
The mission of the Centre d'art et essai de la Cinémathèque québécoise (CAECQ) is to primary program Quebec-made documentaries and independent fiction, as well as international documentaries, animated and foreign films, while encouraging opportunities for meetings between the public and the artists. Its programming is presented in conjunction with the Cinémathèque québécoise’s under the label New releases.
The October 27 screening will be followed by a roundtable discussion with Nadine Valcin, Ayana O'Shun,
and Nadia Louis-Desmarchais moderated by Claudia Hébert
Official Selection, 2024 FCVQ
Abandoned on the doorstep of a Montreal orphanage, Johanne Harrelle eventually rose to prominence as a gifted artist, actress, and one of North America’s first Black models. Simply Johanne deftly explores her complex and audacious life through archival footage, interviews with loved ones and performances of her writings by three contemporary actresses. The film chronicles the journey of a magnetic and passionate woman who defied the expectations of her time.
Nadine Valcin
Nadine Valcin is an award-winning bilingual filmmaker and media artist whose practice spans documentary, experimental and narrative film as well as installation and virtual reality. Her work explores questions of memory, identity and language. She has directed four documentary projects for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), including the critically-acclaimed Black, Bold and Beautiful (1999) and Une école sans frontières (A School Without Borders, 2005). Nadine has been awarded numerous grants and prizes including two prestigious Chalmers Arts Fellowships and a Drama Prize from the National Screen Institute for the short film In Between. She holds a professional degree in architecture from McGill University and recently completed an MFA in Digital Futures at OCAD University and an artist’s residency at Library and Archives Canada through Archive/CounterArchive. She is a professor in the Bachelor of Film and Television program at Sheridan College.
