© Marc Paradis, Réminiscences carnivores, 1989
Marc Paradis, un désir d’ogre at the FNC
PROGRAMMING
Two pgroams presented in collaboration with the FNC, la Cinémathèque québécoise et Vidéographe.
Marc Paradis (1955-2019) is a pioneer of queer video in Quebec and Canada. From his first work, Le voyage de l’ogre (1981), he questions sexuality, the body, and homosexual identity. Obsessive and transgressive, his aesthetic oscillates between a raw and explicit realism (La cage) and a certain classicism, in the representation of bodies and pictorial references (Harems). The texts, their literary quality, and their declamation play a central role (Reminiscences carnivores) giving a tragic resonance to these stories of love, break-ups, and death. L’incident « Jones », Lettre à un amant, and Délivre-nous du mal form a triptych that condenses these intimate and plastic questions.
These two programs bring together 7 titles produced between 1981 and 1991. They accompany the launch by Vidéographe of the bilingual digital publication Marc Paradis, un désire d’ogre, which brings together three new texts by Luc Bourdon, Alexis Lemieux, and Denis Vaillancourt, the 17 videos produced by Paradis, two of which are unpublished, and a rich selection of personal documents – scripts, notes, and photos.
► Consult Marc Paradis, un désir d’ogre on Vithèque
PROGRAM 1 (69 min)
PRESENTED BY LUC BOURDON
- Marc Paradis, Le voyage de l’ogre, 1981, 24 min
- Marc Paradis, Harems, 1991, 45 min
PROGRAM 2 (65 min)
PRESENTED BY LUC BOURDON
- Marc Paradis, L’incident « Jones », 1986, 7 min
- Marc Paradis, Délivre-nous du mal, 1987, 9 min
- Marc Paradis, Lettre à un amant, 1988, 10 min
- Marc Paradis, Réminiscences carnivores, 1989, 19 min
- Marc Paradis, La cage, 1983, 20 min, vosta
► Check FNC‘s full program here
BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1955 in Montréal, Marc Paradis studied in theater and visual arts. He has also participated to many training workshops from 1978 to 1990, with Josef Robakowsky, Bruno Bigoni, Grotowsky and Michael Kriegman, among others. In 1984, he co-produced Sheme-vidéo with Luc Bourdon, and Say Cheese for a Trans-Canadian Look, in 1985. He has produced video captures of artists’ performances such as Denis Lessard, John Mingolla and Yves Lalonde. Through his works, he earned a certain national and international recognition, they have been largely commented by the critics. His works question love relationships between men, desire, fantasm, sexual representation, sometimes playing on the pornography borders. Marc Paradis’ interest for video started in 1981, while he was doing a screen-test for Jean-François Garsi’s movie “La chambre blanche”, he was then the assistant of the french director. This screen-test will be the creative matter for his first production entitled Le voyage de l’ogre (24 min.).In this videotape, the author identifies himself to the murderer called John Wayne Gacy, who was widely talked about for the cruelty of his acts on young adults victims. Fantasizing about the lived experience of the witnesses, Marc Paradis will appropriate their testimonies recorded on camera. La cage (1984), and the following video tryptic: L’incident Jones (1986), Délivres-nous du mal (1987), Lettre à un amant (1988), are also talking about love interaction, on various ways. Harems will be produced afterwards in 1991.
