RIDM: Doc Your Heart Out

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The annual RIDM festival brings the best of documentary film to Montreal for a week and a half. With films ranging in topics from comedy to conservation to decolonization, and sometimes all in the same film, there’s something relevant for everyone. Documentary film always feels like an education, shedding light on lesser known perspectives and challenging assumptions. Get ready to be shocked, awed, and enlightened by this years robust curation.

Opening Film: Preparations for a Miracle

Nov 20 and 22

Tobias Nolle’s film isn’t exactly a documentary. The frame story is about an android who comes from a truly post-human future comes seeking the King of Humans. Within this sci-fi structure the android encounters a group of German activists in Lutzerath who clash with police over the RWE Energy Company’s intent to evict the farmers and inhabitants village and extract lignite from the ground. And yes, the protestors and their struggle are real. Corporate development vs. protestors… well… you can guess where this will go, but even losing battles can be mighty stories.

Les yeux ne font pas le regard / Seeing Through the Darkness

Nov 22 and 24

Many years ago, I had the good fortune to work with two blind men who openly recounted their experiences navigating life in a world mostly designed for the sighted. Advocating for a more inclusive world that takes in those rendered invisible by their disabilities remains a passion of mine. For this reason, I am excited to see local filmmaker Simon Plouffe’s film about five people who lost their sight to weapons of war. While they may be blind to the visible world, they see the horror, cruelty, and human toll of war that we become blind to from over-exposure. Immersive sound is key in this piece in bringing forward the stories of this resilient group.

Omi Nobu, l’homme nouveau / The New Man

Nov 23 and 25

77-year old Quirino lives in a small village in Cabo Verde, a West African island nation on San Nicolau. Nature – mountains and sea – define Quirino’s quiet life as the rest of the town’s inhabitants have left. While his days are quiet, lonely, and contemplative, it is only when he faces isolation, old age, and illness that he realizes he must leave the only place he has ever known. I feel my tears already trickling down my cheeks.

To Our Friends

Nov 23 and 25

I’m a sucker for any coming of age film. Sara, Pedro, and other members of this Madrid friend group spend their young adult lives up to mischief and mayhem. To them, everything is possible. But as Sara begins university, she undergoes a transformation. After discovering Paula and the theatre, she finds herself separate from her earlier identity.

Holy Electricity

Nov 24 and 25

It’s not too often that one gets to see working class Georgia. Gonga and Bart visit their neighbourhood scrapyard in search of treasure. Their discovery of a suitcase of discarded, rusted crosses proves a business opportunity. Transforming them into neon crucifixes, the film follows the pair’s attempts to sell their treasure to both the religious and the sacrilegious in a city transformed by capitalism.

Songs of Love and Hate

Nov 30 and Dec 1

Saurav Ghimire’s 17 minute piece seems particularly appropriate at the moment, even if your heartbreak is the US Election. A bereft radio host traverses the mountains of Nepal and considers the advice questions he was asked by audience members, while they must deal with his absence. I suspect many people would rather disappear into a wormhole and find themselves trekking in the mountains of Nepal right now.

Closing Film: Ninan Auassat: Nous, Les Enfants

Nov 30 and Dec 1

Winner of Best Canadian Documentary at the Vancouver International Film Festival, closing film Ninan Aussat focuses on indigenous youth. With attention given to both the environment and the perspectives of the young, the film takes presents a moving snapshot of life as it is lived now. Abenaki filmmaker Kim O’Bomsawin is known for being an outspoken critic on misrepresentations of Indigenous peoples and her films do much correct ignorance from the direction of nuanced portraiture. It is no surprise this is the closing film of the festival.

The RIDM takes place from Nov 20 to Dec 1. Tickets can be obtained HERE.