Vtape x Vidéographe

Programming

March 6th, 2025 at 7 pm

Vtape, Bachir/Yerex Presentation Space
Addresse: 401 Richmond St W Suite 452, Toronto, ON M5V 3A8

Free

Vidéographe and Vtape, in partnership with Le Labo, join forces to celebrate the richness and diversity of video art practices in the Montreal and Toronto scenes. This program brings together nine works from their respective collections, created by thirteen emerging artists. Through this joint initiative, Vidéographe and Vtape aim to highlight and continue their longstanding collaboration.

PROGRAM (70 min)

Ko pyhare, para siempre, Fiorella Boucher, Laura Criollo-Carrillo, 2022, 5 min
Am I Human?, Gladys Lou, 2022, 1 min 37 s
Hommage à Rose Drummond, Antoine Amnotte-Dupuis, 2023, 12 min 23 s
Horse in Motion, Lillian Ross-Millard, 2022, 10 min 17 s
En attendant Lolo, Jules Ronfard, 2022, 8 min
The Propagation of Uncertainty, Emily DiCarlo, 2020, 5 min 50 s
Mindscapes, Valeryia Naboikina; Malte Leander, 2023, 8 min 40 s
Kauaʻi ʻōʻō, Samy Benammar, 2023, 3 min 48 s
Hoa, Tram Anh Nguyen, 2022, 14 min 24 s

SYNOPSES

Ko pyhare, para siempre, Fiorella Boucher, Laura Criollo-Carrillo, 2022, 5 min

Child of two worlds that do not speak to each other, a girl speaks to her mother and her grandmother. She travels through the dilated space of origins, impostures and wounds.

Am I Human?, Gladys Lou, 2022, 1 min 37 s

Am I Human? is a post-human exploration of data, artificial intelligence, and surveillance using video and sound. The glitch on screen disrupts communication and reflects my questioning of the challenges of being human within normative cultural standards.

Hommage à Rose Drummond, Antoine Amnotte-Dupuis, 2023, 12 min 23 s

Composer Jean Derome and his ensemble pay vibrant tribute to the prominent Quebec land art artist Rose Drummond through a collection of whimsical, ready-made songs brought to life by reassembled 16mm family archives and altered filmed performances.

Horse in Motion, Lillian Ross-Millard, 2022, 10 min 17 s

A figure walks through a digitally saturated landscape on a quest to find her grief, using old phone photos and videos as landmarks to help her navigate. This piece explores an amnesiac experience of loss, inspired by the artist’s fragmented experience of grief and melancholia during and around the pandemic.

En attendant Lolo, Jules Ronfard, 2022, 8 min

On a country road, a couple gone for a ride on a scooter find themselves immobilized after running out of gas. While waiting for their friend Lolo, a philosophical discussion ensues.

The Propagation of Uncertainty, Emily DiCarlo, 2020, 5 min 50 s

Emily DiCarlo’s three-channel video installation, The Propagation of Uncertainty, explores the friction between what she terms “the infrastructure of time and the intimacy of duration.” The work focuses on time frequency standards and how our accelerated, networked world relies on the foundation of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). While airports, stock markets, and telecommunications operate through precise temporal orchestration, UTC reigns as an authoritatively omnipresent force that, in reality, is far from absolute.

Mindscapes, Valeryia Naboikina; Malte Leander, 2023, 8 min 40 s

The notion of escapism refers to the tendency of individuals to retreat from the customary challenges of life into the comforting, yet deceptive, embrace of fantasy. Through a multidimensional exploration, this film maps a journey that encompasses the transformative phases of departure, immersion, and return.

Kauaʻi ʻōʻō, Samy Benammar, 2023, 3 min 48 s

In 2000, the International Union for Conservation of Nature declared the Oʻō of Kauai officially extinct. All that remains of this endemic bird from the eponymous Hawaiian island is a recording of its song by ornithologist David Boynton. Between the territories and the treetops, the artist is still hoping to find a trace of the extinct birds.

Hoa, Tram Anh Nguyen, 2022, 14 min 24 s

In Vietnamese, “hoa” means flower. It is also the first name of the filmmaker’s bà nội (paternal grandmother). Before developing memory disorders, his grandmother, Tuyết Hoa, wrote an autobiographical book about her life and its events. The book, translated from Vietnamese, is titled Memories of Tuyết Hoa and subtitled When My Country is Peaceful: Memoirs of a Saigon Female Student. She now reads this book every day in her home in Hanoi.

PARTNERS

Vtape

Incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1983, Vtape is one of Canada’s leading media arts distributors. Its distribution catalog includes more than 6,700 independent artworks by about 1,500 Canadian and international artists, spanning the years from 1969 to the present. In addition, Vtape provides public access to a large collection of research materials on video art and artists, and runs a restoration and digitization service for artists, museums, galleries, arts organizations, and other clients.

Vidéographe

Established in 1971 in Montréal, Vidéographe is an artist-run center dedicated to the research and the dissemination of moving image practices. This includes experimentation in video art, animation, digital arts, documentary, essay, fiction and dance video.

Le Labo

Le Labo Centre for Francophone Media Arts of Toronto has the special responsibility to help connect the artistic and the francophone communities of Toronto. Central to Le Labo’s mandate is to support creation, production and innovation in the Media Arts Sector in addition to fostering artistic collaboration and providing exhibition opportunities. In addition to providing access to a media production studio space with professional state-of-the-art technology, the Labo’s annual programming includes residencies, exhibitions, installations, workshops, conferences and artist talks.

vidéo-club: First Works

PROGRAMMING

April 29, 2025 at 7 pm

Cinéma Moderne

Vidéographe invites film buffs to a screening of First Works, a program bringing together the first short films of recognized artists in the film industry. The event will include a discussion with several guest filmmakers, including Chloé Leriche, Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre, Anne Émond, Alexa-Jeanne Dubé and Étienne Lacelle.

Through the programming of these nine films made between 1988 and 2019, Vidéographe celebrates the importance of audacity and experimentation in the journey of several unique voices in Quebec and Canadian cinema. From fiction to animation and documentary, these short films demonstrate deliberate risk-taking in terms of form, themes addressed, production methods and technologies used.

► Click here to get your tickets

PROGRAM

Once You’ve Shot the Gun, You Can’t Stop the Bullet, Jayce Salloum, 7 min 13 s, 1988
The Bridge, Karl Lemieux, 3 min 30 s, 1998
L’homme et la fenêtre, Chloé Leriche, 2 min 30 s, 2001
Post-partum, Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre, 10 min, 2004
Juillet, Anne Émond, 9 min 58 s, 2006
Parallèle Nord, Félix Dufour-Laperrière, 6 min 48 s, 2012
Tengri, Alisi Telengut, 5 min 34 s, 2012
Scopique, Alexa-Jeanne Dubé, 12 min 6 s, 2017
En el tumulto de la calle, Étienne Lacelle, 5 min 50 s, 2019

Illustration: Lee Lai

Eleven cultural organizations in Montreal affirm or reaffirm their endorsement of PACBI and restate their commitment to the liberation of Palestine.

PRESS RELEASE

In a strong statement of solidarity, eleven cultural organizations in Montreal have officially endorsed the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), highlighting their commitment to the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This collective action underscores the essential role of culture in resisting colonial oppression and supporting the liberation of Palestine. While a ceasefire agreement has been partially reached, this support affirms that the struggle for justice, resistance, and liberation is more important than ever.

The BDS movement, launched in 2004 by Palestinian civil society, calls for sustained and nonviolent pressure to end the Israeli colonial project and the ongoing occupation of Palestinian lands. The demands of the movement are as follows :

End the occupation and colonization of all Palestinian lands and dismantle the apartheid wall
Recognize the full rights of Palestinians to equality, both within the 1948 borders and in the occupied territories
Uphold the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, as enshrined in international law and United Nations Resolution 194.

By supporting PACBI, these organizations reject complicity in the normalization of the Israeli colonial regime. On the contrary, they commit to supporting Palestinian self-determination by promoting artistic practices and cultural collaborations that resist colonial oppression and amplify the voices of liberation.

In October 2023, over 4,000 Canadian artists and cultural workers signed a solidarity letter stating: ”As artists, cultural workers, and academics, we firmly support the Palestinian struggle for freedom and against all forms of racism and colonial violence.” This collective statement underscores the belief that art is inherently political and that artists have a responsibility to stand in solidarity with oppressed communities, including Palestinians. (Hernandez, Cassie. “4,000 Canadian Artists and Cultural Workers Sign Palestine Solidarity Letter.” Hyperallergic, 20 Oct. 2023.)

Montreal, known for its vibrant cultural landscape, has a long history of engagement in global struggles for justice. This collective decision reflects a growing awareness among cultural workers of the importance of international solidarity in the fight against colonialism and apartheid.

This support comes at a critical time, as Palestinians face escalating land theft, systemic violence, and forced displacement under the ongoing Israeli occupation. The decision of these organizations to join PACBI is a long-awaited declaration that culture must align with the values of justice and liberation.

The organizations supporting this initiative are joining a growing global movement of artists, academics, and cultural workers committed to supporting the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation and self-determination. These organizations hope that more groups will adopt PACBI across Quebec and Canada.

To date, the following organizations have united their efforts to support or reaffirm their commitments to PACBI: Ada X, articule, Atelier La Coulée, Céline Bureau, Centre Clark, Centre des arts actuels SKOL, Dazibao, Metonymy Press, Oboro, PME-ART, and Vidéographe.

About PACBI

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) was launched in 2004 as part of the BDS movement. It calls on cultural institutions and individuals to refuse complicity in violations of international law and human rights committed by the colonial regime, emphasizing the transformative power of global solidarity. PACBI is committed to freedom of expression as outlined in the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and, in principle, rejects boycotts of individuals based on their opinions or identity (such as citizenship, race, gender, or religion).