La dernière chambre
A video installation by François Delisle and Geneviève Lizotte for the film CHSLD
Over a period of seven months, François Delisle captures the end of his mother’s life, bedridden in the room of a long-term care center. In the exhibition space, a tulle labyrinth, echoing the privacy curtains found in hospitals, leads to three monumental screenings of film photographs. With humanity and tenderness, the slow sequence of still images reveals these last glances, filial caresses on fragile hands, fragments of one-way conversations.
François Delisle
Born in Montreal in 1967, François Delisle began his career by making short films between 1987 and 1991. His first feature, Ruth (1994), had critics raving and established his reputation in Canada and Europe. In 2003, after founding his production company Films 53/12, he produced his second film, Happiness is a Sad Song (2004), which won several awards and brought him international acclaim. His next two films, You (2007) and Twice a Woman (2010), had a similar reception. The Meteor (2013) and Chorus (2015) screened at the Sundance and Berlin festivals. Both films were major international hits, screening at festivals and theaters in many countries around the world. In 2019 and 2020, Delisle directed Cash Nexus, his seventh feature, and CHSLD, a documentary short about his mother in her twilight years. For over 30 years, he has been exploring the human condition through a personal, uncompromising cinema.
Geneviève Lizotte
For over 15 years, Geneviève’s creative output as artistic director, set designer, costume designer, and stylist has been immense. She has designed more than a hundred theatrical productions and has collaborated with some of the industry’s most respected names including Robert Lepage, André Brassard, Fernand Rainville, James Hadley, Claude Poissant, Christian Lapointe, Catherine Vidal and René-Richard Cyr. Her artistic practice extends into cinema, large-scale circus productions, and live concerts. Her work can be seen in arenas around the world from Madison Square Garden to the forests of Osaka, Japan. Geneviève’s work was featured in creations by Circle du Soleil, Moment Factory and musical concerts of Pierre Lapointe. Geneviève’s eye continues to make its mark in the live arts she has also collaborated on the cutting edge cinema of directors François Delisle and Khoa Lê. Geneviève was a CALQ grant recipient for a studio residence in New York in 2015.
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« Je vois aujourd’hui ce film comme l’expression du besoin ou du désir de construire quelque chose avec ma mère, et ce, malgré tout ce qui nous accablait. Je mesure aussi la chance que j’ai de faire du cinéma. Pouvoir construire l’histoire de son deuil dans le cadre d’un film n’est pas commun. En ce sens, j’ai une double responsabilité, celle d’être reconnaissant envers ma mère, et celle de partager cette œuvre de manière à ce qu’elle soit vue le plus possible. »
La dernière chambre ©fragmentsdistribution
La dernière chambre ©fragmentsdistribution
« C’est avec Geneviève Lizotte que le concept de l’installation a été développé. Geneviève travaille avec moi depuis plus de dix ans comme directrice artistique. Elle est une de mes collaboratrices principales pour tout ce qui touche aux aspects artistiques de mes films. Cette installation représente pour nous une occasion stimulante de renouveler notre collaboration, et ce, dans une sphère de création qui nous est totalement inédite. » — François Delisle, réalisateur
La dernière chambre (François Delisle, Geneviève Lizotte) | Courtesy of Fragments distribution
La dernière chambre (François Delisle, Geneviève Lizotte) | Courtesy of Fragments distribution
La dernière chambre (François Delisle, Geneviève Lizotte) | Courtesy of Fragments distribution
La dernière chambre (François Delisle, Geneviève Lizotte) | Courtesy of Fragments distribution
La dernière chambre (François Delisle, Geneviève Lizotte) | Courtesy of Fragments distribution
