Quebec: The Disputed State 

A Docu-drama of my Own:

This short film was initially made for the Town of Guilford Short Film Contest in 2018. As a Canadian by birth, I wanted to share some history about the part of Canada that I was from with an audience that understandably wasn’t as fully aware of Canada’s often turbulent political past; as American history is seen as more tangible to the locals. 

Plot:

The October Crisis follows the political retaliation of the FLQ (Front de libération du Quebec/The Quebec Liberation Front), against the Canadian government through bombing government infrastructure and kidnapping of a British trade commissioner. In order to try and control the situation, Pierre Elliot Trudeau (the Prime Minister of Canada at the time) attempts stop the FLQ through military pressure and arranging the exile of the organixation to Algeria in order to save the British trade commissoner. 

Materials / Process

• NLM Films (my personal production company) managed the project while I wrote the script, played a few of the roles, directed the project, ran the camera, and edited the project together. 

• A Sony video camera was utilized to film the original footage, while a RHODE shotgun microphone was equipped to capture the audio in a clean manner.

• The film was shot on location at Talltree Studios and at the Guilford Community Television studios while utilizing historical footage to splice in around historical footage obtained from the National Film Board of Canada.

• The footage was edited together on Final Cut Pro, with footage obtained from the National Film Board of Canada.

• While the short film didn’t win, it was praised for the effort in its storytelling.