In October 2016, during the 45th New Cinema Festival in Montreal, Valérie Mongrin, General Manager of Paraloeil, participated in the jury of the International Short Film Competition. Sandro Aguilar, director of the winning film (Undeclared containers), was awarded a $10,000 creative residency at Paralœil that includes equipment, transportation and accommodation.
Although he was interested in the possibility of shooting a film in Quebec, Aguilar did not see when he would be able to come to Rimouski. I must say that this famous Portuguese director and producer has a very impressive track record. Since 1999, Sandro Aguilar has produced 71 films, directed 17 short films and two feature films, not to mention his work as an editor. His films have been screened at numerous international festivals and have notably been the subject of retrospectives in Rotterdam, New York and Buenos Aires. In 2017 he completed his second feature film (Marivasa) who pushed his own boundaries in framing and lighting precision and through mysterious and enigmatic narrative. After coming out of this intense experience, he felt the need to retreat and perhaps come get some fresh air away from home.
In July 2018, Sandro Aguilar arrives in Rimouski for a month with the aim of shooting a short film that he wants to make far from the obsessions we know about him, or even the opposite of them. Lacking loyal collaborators, he begins to shoot a film alone, armed with a camera, “As small and discreet as possible”Aguilar, during his filming, has become accustomed to not respecting the script and leaving an enviable space for improvisation; this time his short film will be “Little poem” From wandering through the villages and landscapes of the Bas-Saint-Laurent. Among the areas visited are the Park of Pic, the villages of Saint-Fabien and… Saint-Marcellin during the Medieval Festival! Needless to say, thanks to the vision of this director with his unique approach, these lower places of Laurent will undoubtedly be presented in an unexpected light.
This is the first time that the distribution and production organization Rimouski Paraloeil welcomes an international artist to the creative residency. This baptism could be a starting point for dialogue and connection between filmmakers from the region and others from elsewhere. By being willing to bear witness to the reality that surrounds us, it is possible to forget the possibility of strangeness and difference in all things. Looking elsewhere, looking differently, forgetting for a moment to reinvent ourselves better, this is perhaps what awaits us. Meetings and collaborations that could help enrich and change the face of regional film production.
