Montreal: Seven prominent Quebec-based documentary filmmakers joined forces earlier this month to create an eye-witness account of the activities of seven protagonists at the April 20-22 Summit of the Americas in Quebec City.

The cinema-verite style report, View from the Summit, adopts a strong visual leitmotif using footage from six production crews, representing a full crew of 35.

Director Luc Cote was assigned to follow Graciela Rodriguez, director of an Argentinean NGO. Marie-Claude Harvey followed Tanya, a 22-year-old member of CLAC (Anti-Capitalist Convergence of Montreal) and Anne Henderson shadowed Thomas D’Aquino, president of the powerful pro-free-trade group the Business Council on National Issues.

Magnus Isacsson, who co-ordinated the work of the directing units, was assigned to Philippe Duhamel and his wife Mireille Audet, both leaders of Operation SalAMI, a Montreal-based organization that advocates non-violent civil disobedience. Paul Lapointe, who is coproducing the documentary with the National Film Board through his POV specialty house Erezi, tracked Inspector Pierre Goupil of the Surete du Quebec. Patricio Henriquez and Phillippe Falardeau were also part of the directing team.

Doris Lapierre was the shoot’s PM and Patricia Kearns created a Web diary of the directing teams activities.

The doc received its final go-ahead only weeks before the summit opened when the NFB joined the project as coproducer.

View from the Summit is a coproduction between the NFB English and French Programs. Producers for the NFB include Sally Bochner, exec producer NFB Documentary East Studio; Jacques Menard, producer with the NFB’s Ontario/Ouest Studio in Toronto; and Germaine Ying Gee Wong, special mandate producer for the NFB’s Documentary East Studio. *

-www.nfb.ca/viewfromthesummit/