Une nef... et ses sorcières
Built around International Women's Day (March 8), this program invites us to immerse ourself in the creative effervescence of women's and feminist cinema in Quebec during the 1970s. It features a tribute to director and Vidéo Femmes co-founder Hélène Roy, followed by a discussion; two screenings of independent works by pioneering women filmmakers, recently restored by the Cinémathèque québécoise; and a screening of the six films from the NFB series En tant que femmes, presented in dialogue with the launch of Olivier Ducharme’s book, Nous ferons les films que nous voulons.
Followed by a Q&A with Nathalie Roy & Nicole Giguère, moderated by Julia Minne
For a year, thirteen authors and actresses worked together to stage La nef des sorcières, performed at the Théâtre du Nouveau-Monde in 1976. In addition to excerpts from these six monologues on the situations and contradictions experienced by the women, the video features comments from the participants in this journey.
Hélène Roy
Hélène Roy is a Quebec-based freelance program planner, screenwriter, and director. She co-founded the Vidéo Femmes collective with Nicole Giguère and Helen Doyle in 1973. After completing her studies at the Montréal School of Fine Arts, she became involved in children’s theatre and cinema in Quebec City. In 1976, she teamed up with Luce Guilbeault and Nicole Brossard to document the creation of a revolutionary feminist play entitled La nef des sorcières at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde. The result was the documentary film Une nef... et ses sorcières (1977), which chronicles the creation of the now legendary play. She went on to direct two other documentary films: Une chambre à soi, une maison bien à nous (1981) about self-run women’s community centres, and Demain, la cinquantaine (1986), which tackled the subject of menopause. At the end of her career, she became active in the festival scene, creating the Mondiale de Films et Vidéos de Femmes with Nicole Bonenfant, which ran until 1993.
Photo: Hélène Roy's personal collection
