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Sessions

2012 1 h 24 min
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Can we fight or even overcome cancer in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility? Filmmaker Danic Champoux believes so and in his documentary, Sessions, he dispels many of the clichés associated with the disease, using empathy and humour to reveal the extraordinary resilience of human beings. Shot over the course of a year in the common room of an oncology centre, where patients regularly meet when undergoing chemotherapy, the film invites viewers to look at cancer from a new perspective. Sessions chronicles the patients’ intensely emotional encounters, deftly capturing the love and joie de vivre that brighten their often stressful …

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Sessions

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Can we fight or even overcome cancer in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility? Filmmaker Danic Champoux believes so and in his documentary, Sessions, he dispels many of the clichés associated with the disease, using empathy and humour to reveal the extraordinary resilience of human beings.



Shot over the course of a year in the common room of an oncology centre, where patients regularly meet when undergoing chemotherapy, the film invites viewers to look at cancer from a new perspective. Sessions chronicles the patients’ intensely emotional encounters, deftly capturing the love and joie de vivre that brighten their often stressful days. Never denying the distress of cancer patients, and that of their families and friends as well, Sessions is, above all, a work of deep humanity and a sensitive portrait of life’s mysteries.

  • director
    Danic Champoux
  • participant
    Jacques Bienvenue
    Marie-Rose Bienvenue
    Sandra Benoît
    Alain Bernier
    Mélanie Bockus
    Nil Boily
    Nathalie Boulais
    Colette Bourgeois
    Mathieu Bourgeois
    Johanne Boutin
    Laurraine Brien
    Louise Brien-Maynard
    Arthur Brulotte
    Sophie Chalifoux
    Denise Champoux
    Line Cloutier
    Micheline Cloutier
    Yvon Côté
    Élise Dalpé
    Jeannine Daucourt
    Jacques Deniger
    Johanne Desgens
    Élise Desjardins
    André Deslandes
    Murielle Dolbec
    Robert Dolbec
    Lyne Dumont
    Sonia Dumont
    Yvonne Dussault
    Marilou Foisy
    Gilles Gagné
    Marie-Jeanne Gagné
    Monique Gagné
    Marie-Elaine Genest
    Alain Gevry
    Ida Gince
    Pauline Gosselin
    Katia Goudreault
    Michel Grenier
    Brenda Grubb
    Lyndford Hadlock
    Christine Hamel
    Meggie Hamel
    Deborah Hayes
    Marie-Marthe Jalbert
    Réjeanne Jalbert
    Robert Jalbert
    Patricia Jequier
    Peter Koopmann
    Hélène Lacroix
    Léo-Paul Laflamme
    Michael Laflamme
    Jacques Lambert
    Carole Lapalme
    Lise Larivière
    Chantal Ledoux
    Michèle Lemaire
    Annie Loignon
    Lucienne Mathurin
    Carl McKelvey
    Melissa McKelvey
    Manon Ménard
    Véronique Messier
    Yvon Messier
    Maryse Nadeau
    Marielle Paradis
    Laura Pearce
    Normand Pépin
    Gilles Plante
    Sylvie Pouliot
    Jo-Ann Quartz
    Priscilla Robert
    Francine Rudd
    Michel Saad
    Marilyne Samson
    Manon Savard
    Linda St-Amant
    Claire Tessier
    Peter Tracy
    Madone Truchon
  • researcher
    Danic Champoux
  • writer
    Danic Champoux
  • producer
    Colette Loumède
  • editing
    René Roberge
  • camera
    Alex Margineanu
  • location sound
    Stéphane Barsalou
  • additional sound recording
    Pierre Bertrand
  • production assistant
    Marie-Ève Grignon
  • sound editing
    Benoît Dame
  • assistant sound editor
    Catherine Van Der Donckt
  • translation
    Paula McKeown
    Vision Globale
  • subtitles
    Paula McKeown
    Vision Globale
  • technical support - editing
    Danielle Raymond
    Pierre Dupont
    Isabelle Painchaud
    Patrick Trahan
  • online editing
    Denis Pilon
  • titles
    Gaspard Gaudreau
  • foley
    Stéphane Cadotte
  • foley assistant
    Sylvain Robillard
  • foley recording
    Geoffrey Mitchell
  • re-recording
    Serge Boivin
  • marketing manager
    François Jacques
  • marketing manager - assistance
    Émilie Nguyen Ngoc
  • administrator
    Johanne Dubuc
  • production coordinator
    Hélène Regimbal
    Dominique Brunet
  • administrative assistant
    Lise Lévesque
  • technical coordinator
    Richard Cliche
    Daniel Pellerin
  • associate producer
    Maryse Chapdelaine
    Mélanie Lasnier
  • producer in development
    Line Richard
  • executive producer
    Colette Loumède

Education

Ages 15 to 17
School subjects
Brainstorm student understanding of oncology and how cancer is usually treated. Comment on the various conversations among the chemo patients in the film. What new perspectives did you gain about cancer patients and their treatments? Identify the filmmaker’s purpose in filming these sessions. Was his purpose successful? Discuss as a group.
Sessions
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