La Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC) will support nine documentary projects though its production assistance program.

The medium to feature-length documentary projects are in addition to the ten that were announced last August. SODEC will also support three documentaries in post-production.

The nine documentaries selected for production support include Baie James 1975 (Picbois Productions, Rezolution Pictures), written and directed by Myriam Berthelet, Mathieu Fournier and Mélanie Lameboy. The documentary tells the story of Hydro-Québec’s James Bay project and the opposition to it from Indigenous peoples in Quebec. The film’s broadcaster is Corus’ Historia.

Another supported project is Ba’s Book (Intuitive Pictures, Da-Lê Films), set to be broadcast by TVO in Canada. The documentary, written and directed by Ashley Duong, is a film response to a father’s memoir recounting his experiences in the Vietnam War and Iranian Revolution to his daughter.

Distributed by Immina Films is Bulletin 442-126-128 (Shootfilms), written by Richard Blackburn and Louise Leroux and directed by Leroux. The film follows Shootfilm’s documentary Casques bleuEs and tells the story of a second international mission where a commander is tasked with training the national police of a war-ravaged country.

Two of the selected docs are distributed by Les Films du 3 Mars. Doñana (Films de l’autre), written and directed by François Jacob. The feature-length documentary reflects on the parallels of migration between humans and birds in the Doñana Nature Reserve in Andalucía, Spain. Isabelle Lavigne’s La vie imparfaite de Willy (Coop Vidéo de Montréal) tells the story of Wilhelmina Tiemersma, an organist who deliberately set fire to Montreal’s Unitarian Church in 1987.

Inuguiniq (Nikan Productions) written by Olivia Ikey and Kim O’Bomsawin and directed by Ikey, explores the nearly lost world of sacred birthing traditions among the Inuit. CBC’s Documentary channel is attached as the broadcaster and Maison 4:3 is the distributor.

Distributed by Noble Arts is Laurence B. Lemaire’s Les sœurs Albasha (Productions Leitmotiv). The film follows a Muslim Syrian family who take refuge in Trois-Rivières, Quebec.

Spira is distributing Vincent Toi’s Séga: la musique de l’océan Indien (Arpent Films). The film follows a mixed-race Mauritian musician that seeks to reclaim her Creole identity through music.

Rounding out the films is France/Canada coproduction Viva – la complexité du vivant from writer-director Dominic Leclerc. Produced by Quebec’s Les Productions du Rapide-Blanc and France’s À Table Productions, it explores the friendship between French botanist Francis Hallé and Quebec artist and filmmaker Richard Desjardins (L’erreur Boreale). The film is distributed by Rapide-Blanc.

The three films selected for post-production support include Radio-Canada’s 3500 km de sentiers partagés (Nikan Productions). Written by O’Bomsawin and Brad Gros-Louis and directed by O’Bomsawin, it follows 60 Indigenous and non-Indigenous snowmobilers that take part in an expedition to work towards reconciliation and was released on Radio-Canada and ICI Tou.TV in September 2024.

The remaining two documentaries will debut at the Berlin International Film Festival. The first is Kinga Michalska’s Bedrock (Megafun Productions), which is distributed by Les Films du 3 Mars with Filmoption International as the sales agent. The second is Denis Côté’s Paul (Coop Vidéo de Montréal), distributed by Métropole Films Distribution.

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