Philippe Lavalette

The climbing of an immense staircase made up of the most varied stairs. Symbolic scenes occur on different levels where characters seem to be prisoners of their deeds and of their own folly. The steep staircase leads little by little towards the zones of great light where human beings and nonhuman beings meet.

After a Dantean journey, women from Nigeria arrive alone and ever younger in Italy, looking for a better life. Such horrors as human trafficking and sexual slavery are waiting for them, as we discover in this ensemble film featuring harrowing stories told in a sensible way that spares us from the unbearable. These tales provoke a broader reflection on migration and otherness.

Youssef, leads a lonely and orderly life. But the chance meeting with an intriguing girl in front of a mysterious house awakens in him the confused images of a past family tragedy.

A Canadian doctor finds her sympathies sorely tested while working in the conflict ravaged Palestinian territories.

The life and work of German political philosopher of Jewish descent Hannah Arendt (1906-75), who caused a stir when she coined a subversive concept, the banality of evil, in her 1963 book on the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann (1906-62), held in Israel in 1961, which she covered for the New Yorker magazine.

Her publisher forces Marianne to rewrite the manuscript of a novel she wrote and burned in a fit of anguish. Her obsession with her story where the characters she creates murder her own husband becomes overwhelming. She comes to believe he is leading a double life and she imagines the worst. As a matter of fact, her husband Robert is leading a double life: every day, at noon, for a year, he has locked himself up in a small hotel room to also write a novel.

2039... A third world war on every continent... Isolated in an old building with his partner, a young man refuses to seek shelter during an alert. He rejects all historical awareness. But tragic circumstances will decide otherwise. Day One: BEYOND THE WIND. Day Two: VERTICAL COMBAT. Day Three: HORIZONTAL COMBAT. 2045. Day Four: BEYOND THE WIND.

For the first time, Édouard Beaupré’s story is told by a member of his own family. Filmmaker Jessie Ray Short blends documentary with carefully crafted recreations to conjure an oneiric space shaped by memory, dreams, and truth.

As the country explodes under racial tensions after the assassination of Martin Luther King, writer Romain Gary, humanist and animal lover, and his wife, star Jean Seberg, civil rights activist, welcome an abandoned dog into their home, trained to jump at the mouths of blacks: a White Dog.

An Irishman falls in love in turn-of-the-century Quebec (in Canada).

In the spring of 2016, for the first time in 54 years, Ariane Mnouchkine entrusts her troupe, the Théâtre du Soleil, to another director. Robert Lepage then embarks on the creation of Kanata, a work that imagines the meeting of Europeans with First Nations people in Canada over two centuries. Lepage au Soleil: The origin of Kanata shows how, the 36 comedians from 11 different countries, discover in their own stories astonishing resonance with those of the natives. How, inspired by the cosmopolitanism of comedians, Robert Lepage tries to get them to talk about their own stories through those of the natives. The documentary plunges into the heart of a theatrical creation in search of universality turned upside down by a media scandal even before its premiere.

Nicolas loves baseball. Every day during vacation he and his friends meet at the town’s old baseball field to play their favourite game... Until one infamous day at the start of summer when Nicolas discovers that the gates to the field have been locked and that old boards and assorted junk are strewn across what used to be the baseball diamond. It seems the town council has decided to use the grounds as a dump. The kids are outraged.They decide to contest this decision, to defend their territory.

With his job in the balance, Gérard bets his boss that he can transform bad-tempered street person Lola into television star material. With the inducement of stardom as his lure, he takes Lola in hand and becomes her instructor, sending her to ballet and acting classes, where she misbehaves. Most of her petulance is reserved for Gérard, however, but in the tradition of Pretty Woman and My Fair Lady, in the end he gets the girl and a new star -- in the same package.

In 2001, Haruhiro Shiratori lost his only child in the attacks on the World Trade Center. Instead of isolating himself in grief, he decides to meet the Afghan people and help them prevent such attacks from happening again. A Japanese Don Quixote, he dreams of building a cultural centre for the children of Kabul. A Dream for Kabul charts Shiratori’s double effort – to advance a humanist project in the face of adversity while seeking reconciliation with his dead son.

A woman travels from the big city to the countryside. The locals are suspicious.

To satisfy his appetite, the mischievous dragon Bijou makes his way across the Milky Way, devouring everything that shines in his path -- including the Sun. Earth is plunged into darkness, and the villagers of Tomtitou are left in despair, until young Hugo—armed with his telescope—makes contact with a mysterious star named Aramis. Together, they embark on a fantastic celestial journey. Will Hugo and his new friend succeed in restoring order to the universe?

Ghislain is shocked to find his heart beating by his coccyx. He seeks the help of his brother, who concludes he must learn to laugh again.

In Pursuit of Peace follows four Canadians on the front lines of international peace initiatives - in South Sudan, Turkey, Congo and Iraq. We experience the challenges of their work, exploring how their peace building strategies are put to the test in this new 21st century paradigm of conflict resolution.

Abandoned on the doorstep of a Montreal orphanage, Johanne Harrelle eventually rose to prominence as a gifted artist, actress, and one of North America's first Black models. Simply Johanne deftly explores her complex and audacious life through archival footage, interviews with loved ones and performances of her writings by three contemporary actresses. The film chronicles the journey of a magnetic and passionate woman who defied the expectations of her time.