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Montreal and Neighbourhoods (15)
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645 WellingtonKaveh Nabatian 2002 54 minA stone's throw from downtown Montreal, quirky artists, blue-collar workers and unconventional families are being forced to leave their old neighbourhood as high-tech firms move in. Like in so many other cities, the tech companies arrive with the promise of a rosy future--but it's one built on demolitions, evictions and the conversion of low-rent property to high-priced condos.
This is a portrait of one building and its residents--people like Constanzo 'Fartman' Manna, an eccentric shipper and packer who's headed for Chile to marry the love of his life and bring her back to Montreal; artist Luc Bourbonnais, who is fighting desperately to hold on to the loft that inspires so much of his art; and Cuban émigré Rolando Zambrano, who ran a neighbourhood snack bar for nearly 30 years.
Shot over a period of six months and set to a pulsing Latin and rock soundtrack, 645 Wellington not only opens a window onto the lives of the building's residents but brings the building itself to life. We come to know the dark hallways, the corners and the doorways. We get to know them well. Just as they are about to change, forever.
645 Wellington was produced as part of the Reel Diversity Competition for emerging filmmakers of colour. Reel Diversity is a National Film Board of Canada initiative in partnership with CBC Newsworld. -
Ma Chère AlbertineSuzanne Olivier 1979 5 minThis short film from the Canada Vignettes series depicts the Montreal of 1905-1910 with hand-painted vintage postcards.
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Centre-Sud ChroniclesRichard Suicide 2021 0 sFrom his shabby apartment in Montreal’s Centre-Sud borough, a writer finds inspiration in observing his neighbour Piton, who navigates poverty with some incredible ingenuity. Through this wildly funny pseudo-scientific allegory, graphic novelist turned filmmaker Richard Suicide draws us into the surreal, chaotic world of his book Chroniques du Centre-Sud, delivering a powerful portrait of a neighbourhood in the midst of a full-blown transformation. Produced by the NFB, this film is part of the Comic Strip Chronicles collection.
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The Downtown ProjectIsabelle Longtin 2011 52 minJust a stone’s throw from downtown Montreal is the largest social housing complex in Quebec. Built in 1959 where the red-light district used to be, Les Habitations Jeanne-Mance have retained something of the area’s seedy reputation for poverty, prostitution, drugs and violence. But who really knows the projects and the people who live there? Delving beneath the prejudices and stereotypes, director Isabelle Longtin ventured inside the buildings and met the residents. The result is The Downtown Project, a documentary that reveals a complex multi-ethnic reality made up of compelling personal stories and social movements.
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Sacrée montagne - Courtepointe religieuse2010 0 sCroisés sur le belvédère du mont Royal, une dizaine de passants ont accepté de réciter une prière dans leur langue et croyance respectives.
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Legault's PlaceSuzanne Angel 1964 10 minThis short film tells the story of what happens when the world around you changes but you remain the same. Legault is an elderly gentleman whose aging cabin now sits in a new suburb of Montreal. No longer surrounded by fields and woods, it has become an eyesore in a newly developing neighbourhood. A warm and humorous story about learning to change with the times.
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The Memories of AngelsLuc Bourdon 2008 1 h 20 minThis visual love letter crafted by filmmaker Luc Bourdon uses clips from 120 NFB films to pay tribute to the city of Montreal in the '50s and '60s, with hat tips to its famous figures, places and residents.
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Montréal - The Neighborhood RevivedMichel Régnier 1974 56 minThis full-length documentary from the Challenge for Change program addresses housing issues affecting Montreal in the mid-1970s. As the city is restoring older apartments through direct action and government subsidies, new, low-rent housing is being integrated into old neighborhoods.
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The Point: Community Legal ClinicGrant Kennedy 1972 27 minCitizens of Point St. Charles, a bilingual district in Montréal's inner city, found a solution to the lack of adequate legal aid in their community by forming a legal clinic with salaried lawyers and student volunteers from university law faculties. In this film citizens and volunteers talk about the project, how it was initiated, and how it now serves the needs of people who lack the money for the fees of legal professionals.
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The PointRobert Duncan 1978 48 minThis documentary is a portrait of Point St. Charles, one of Montreal’s notoriously bleak neighbourhoods. Many of the residents are English-speaking and of Irish origin; many of them are also on welfare. Considered to be one of the toughest districts in all of Canada, Point St. Charles is poor in terms of community facilities, but still full of rich contrasts and high spirits – that is, most of the time.
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ReflectionSylvie Trouvé 2012 4 minReflection is an exploration of Montreal through an abstract lens. Director Sylvie Trouvé examines how reflected images pervade our surroundings, how our senses filter out these ghost images and, finally, how the camera can capture emotions created by a shimmering puddle or a sparkling coloured glass surface. At the same time, Trouvé raises a new awareness of our urban environment. The editing, which animator Theodore Ushev collaborated on in a spirit of mutual emulation, embraces an animation aesthetic that fully respects the filmmaker’s artistic vision. While examining our relationship with images, this exploration of the city blurs the distinction between real-life shots and animation. Indeed, though inspired by reality, the film is thoroughly immersed in the world of animation.
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September Five at Saint-HenriHubert Aquin 1962 27 minThis short film is a series of vignettes of life in Saint-Henri, a Montreal working-class district, on the first day of school. From dawn to midnight, we take in the neighbourhood’s pulse: a mother fussing over children, a father's enforced idleness, teenage boys clowning, young lovers dallying - the unposed quality of daily life.
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Snow FightersLeslie McFarlane 1957 10 minA close-up of a snow-bound city, and the men, money and machinery it takes to dig it out.
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St-Henri, the 26th of AugustShannon Walsh , Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette , … 2011 1 h 25 minA collaborative work made in the spirit of cinéma-vérité, St-Henri, the 26th of August was directed by Shannon Walsh and16 fellow documentary filmmakers. Chronicling life in a former working-class Montreal neighbourhood over a 24-hour period, St-Henri, the 26th of August follows several compelling stories and characters. The film is an homage to the 1962 Hubert Aquin classic À Saint-Henri le cinq septembre.
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VTR St-JacquesBonnie Sherr Klein 1969 26 minThis short film was an experiment in using video recordings and closed circuit television to stimulate social action in a poor Montreal neighbourhood. A citizen's committee filmed people's concerns and then played back the tapes for the community. Upon recognizing their common problems, people began to talk about joint solutions. It proved an important and effective method of promoting social change.
