To put together this series of repurposed archives from the collections of the Cinémathèque québécoise and Vidéo Femmes, I worked with snippets of images from the 1970s and 1980s. Presented in the quality inherent to photos from that period, this creation aims to expose the gendered dynamics that existed in the film and video industry at a key moment in the history of feminism. I employed colour codes such as bright red for men (reminiscent of Trump’s tie) and pink for women (long attributed to the female gender).
To accompany this series of archives, quotations have been collated with the aim of revealing the tensions that existed between cinema and video, through the words found, notably, in the publications of the Cinémathèque québécoise in the 1980s. These statements were made by Cinémathèque staff and by video artists from Vidéo Femmes and GIV. These resources are thus precious evidence of a time when the distinction between different forms of media could serve as a focal point for experiences of marginalization, which were underpinned by questions of aesthetics, economics, identity, and gender. The rejection of video by the film and television world has had a major impact on the preservation and transmission of these records.
“Is video the AIDS of filmmaking? It’s a crazy question, obviously. But what do they have in common? That both epidemics wreaked havoc at the same time? Coincidence. That both viruses are acquired? Normal. That they cause the host organism to become completely vulnerable to many germs that would otherwise be harmless? So what? That we don’t know what magic potion to invent to make the patients appear healthy again? Great! It might give all those MacLuhanian Diafoiruses time to adjust their media. For want of audiovisual cyclosporine, let’s use made-for-television movies. AIDS, video . . . same symptoms, same function. A society calls itself into question, and an industry does, too, but an art? That’s less certain.”
Pierre Jutras and Pierre Véronneau. “D’un syndrome à l’autre, Des professionnels ont la parole.” Ce glissement progressif vers la vidéo. Copie Zéro, no. 26, October 1985.
“The only thing that frustrates me about video is the lack of recognition, the resistance of the filmmaking industry to video (as proof, count the number of movie theatres that are equipped with large video screens). We at Vidéo Femmes have a realistic vision of distribution, with our closed-circuit network. At least I know that my productions are being viewed. I have proof of that each day. Plus, there’s the annual Festival des Filles des Vues in Quebec City, which also attests to the vitality of video artists.”
Nicole Giguère in “Vidéo Femmes: ‘Les dames aux caméras’: La vidéo : un choix toujours actualisé” by Martine Sauvageau. Ce glissement progressif vers la vidéo. Copie Zéro, no. 26, October 1985.
“Without wishing to evaluate the formal or content qualities specific to each of the media, and their uses, let us allow ourselves to hope and demand that these new processes for recording, preserving, and restoring moving images quickly reach an unquestionable degree of excellence; that they surpass and cause us to forget about that ancient medium once called 16 and 35 mm acetate film. Otherwise, what’s the point?”
Pierre Jutras and Pierre Véronneau. “Présentation.” Ce glissement progressif vers la vidéo. Copie Zéro, no. 26, October 1985.
“While our feminist concerns and our desire to advance the debate on the whole question of male-female relations continue to be the primary leitmotif of our various activities, the creative and imaginative efforts required for our production work also play a large part in our commitment to Vidéo Femmes. Soundtracks, framing, camera movements, and audiovisual editing are as much a part of video as they are of film, and it’s a mistake to associate video with dull, static productions. The technical possibilities offered by this medium may not rival those offered by film (and that’s still funny!), but they nonetheless open up an infinite range of possibilities for exploration, discovery, and invention.”
Nicole Giguère and Michèle Pérusse. “Vidéo Femmes.” Des cinéastes québécoises. Copie Zéro, no. 6, April 1980.
“In the 1980s, I was part of a small group of young people who worked with video. It included Luc Bourdon, François Girard, Bernard Hébert, Luc Courchesne, and Robert Morin. Then we all went our separate ways to do a variety of things. François Girard still does some directing abroad and in Toronto and has made films with a certain level of international impact, but he’s not really with us anymore. Luc Courchesne put his efforts into the creation and development of the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT). Over time, the CQ has alienated many of the people and energies that might otherwise have been directed toward it. The same could be said of our relationships with patrons like René Malo and Daniel Langlois, whom we failed to bring on board or remain close to. There was simply a lack of interest. As Pierre Véronneau confirmed to me, they wanted nothing to do with video, for example.”
André Habib. Interview with Jean Gagnon. Dossier Cinémathèque québécoise, 50 ans après. 2013.