By taking me around the world to people and situations, the RIDM, Montreal’s annual documentary festival, gets me through November’s wet, cold, dark days. Every year, I learn about the resilience of the disadvantaged, tragically heroic fights of underdogs against wealthy opponents that occasionally result in a win and more often a lose, the impact of family over generations, and environments that could be alien but are right in my own backyard. It’s a delight to go with over 1136 films from 47 different countries taking place from November 20 to 30. Directors are often present, including Arjun Talwar who will be screening Letters From Wolf Street as the festival opener. Andres LIvov’s The Blueberry Blues about the Lac-Saint-Jean region is this year’s closer. 12 films are world premieres, and familiar directors are back with works as well. Taiwanese documentary cinema gets a special nod this year, and there is a retrospective of Louise Bourque’s work and a selection of films about the sonic work of Brazilian group O Grivo.
With so many films, it’s hard to know what to catch, so here are our picks!
While the Green Grass Grows: A Diary in Seven Parts
By Peter Mettler
For those up for a 7-part, 420 minute film (that’s 7 hours, friends), Peter Mettler’s intimate film pays tribute to his aging parents. It serve as a kind of living diary and was filmed from 2019 to 2021, and deals with, surprise, mortality and grief, but also cycles of nature and human longing. The work has been making the rounds of film festivals and has won prizes and critical praise.
November 22, 24, 25. Tickets HERE.
CycleMahesh
By Suhel Banerjee
22-year old Mahesh wanted to get home, but the outbreak of the COVID-19 closed public transit in India. Undaunted, this migrant construction worker rode his bike home, a distance of 1700 kilometres, in just 7 days. Mahesh became a media sensation in India, though the film follows what happens after his moment of fame.
November 21 and 23. Tickets HERE.
Rising Through the Fray
By Courtney Montour
Roller derby is a brutal sport that meshes competition, camp, camaraderie, and athleticism. But by bringing together indigenous players from several countries, the Indigenous Rising Roller Derby is something more — a place to find acceptance, healing, and sisterhood. The film follows three teammates who come from different parts of North America who have faced displacement, disconnection, intergenerational trauma, power, belonging, and resilience.
November 21 and 23. Tickets here.
Sirens Call
By Miri Ian Gossing and Lina Sieckmann
Subcultures summon me. Merculture? I’m all in! In this case, Una, a nomadic mermaid seeks her community in a drought-stricken, post-modern world. The film takes a queer, feminist aesthetic and celebrates alternative lifestyles. Not exactly documentary, the film combines documentary, sci fi, and a road film all in one. In this case, though, through the eyes of Una, the United States with its diners, consumerism, and pro-Trump culture is made visible.
November 29 and 30. Tickets HERE.
Always
By Deming Chen
A young talented student and poet, Youbin Gong, lives in the mountains of Hunan, far from China’s contemporary skyscrapers and economy. The film follows him from the ages of 9-13, as he heads to school for poetry lessons amidst the rural, agrarian world he is part of. Gong’s life, though, is marked by much hardship — his mother runs away and he lives with his disabled father and grandparents — but together they do better than survive their poverty; they thrive and persist.
November 28 and 30. Tickets HERE.
Estados Generals
By Mauricio Freyre
The effects of colonialism is everywhere, even plant seeds. T his film looks at how plants have been transported around the globe or alternatively, destroyed on their native soil. It includes the Kafkaesque history of some “New World” seeds that were brought back to Spain but can neither be discarded nor identified, living in a limbo state in their own room. Other misfortunate tales of plant life, removed from its place of origin are covered.
November 23 and 25. Tickets HERE.
There are plenty of films to choose from at the RIDM. For tickets and info, click HERE.
