Tina, Photographer And Revolutionary

Ma traversée is a personal quest, filmed over 20 years, recounting the racial issues and privileges that have punctuated the filmmaker’s life in three French-speaking societies: Guadeloupe, France and Quebec. From her own story emerges the broader narrative of colonization, colorism, assimilation, integration and the social benefits of “race” and their impact even today. Brutalized by police officers in Montreal in December 2017 in front of witnesses, the filmmaker takes a step back to understand this gesture, which speaks to the social interpretation of skin color.

When ten-year-old Birahima’s mother dies, he leaves his native village in Guinea, accompanied by the sorcerer and cook Yacouba, to search for his aunt Mahan. Crossing the border into Liberia, they are seized by rebels and forced into military service. Birahima becomes a child-soldier. Fighting in a chaotic civil war alongside many other boys, Birahima sees death, torture, dismemberment and madness but somehow manages to retain his own sanity.

In the mid-1970s, Rico, a 9-year-old Haitian boy, was brutally torn from his native land along with Erzulie, his mother, to a strange planet called Canada. Since their arrival, a distance seems to have grown between mother and son. To regain the love of his mother, Rico will have to understand this New World populated by individuals with strange habits and customs. Fortunately for him, he can count on Kana, his imaginary friend who comes straight out of Haitian mythology.

A street artist, an urban cowboy. A bruised man, a handsome poqué, but a survivor. With broad strokes of the brush, humor and friendships, he brings life to the windows of Montreal, embellishes the hearts of merchants and the souls of passers-by. Painter-poster artist – an endangered profession – Claude Dolbec chose the margins to better rediscover his fellow human beings and a sense of beauty. An inspiring love story, a story of extraordinary resilience.

Jeanne is a black artist in her sixties who hasn't had the career she'd hoped for. She has fallen into a deep depression. Bitter, she is unable to communicate with her thirty-year-old daughter, whose mere presence reminds her of her failures. Will she be able to rise above her bitterness to start living again and break out of her solitude? Perhaps one day.

Afro Canada is a documentary series that traces 400 years of Afro-descendant presence in Canada. This docuseries, rich in historical and social significance, will leave a lasting impact. By re-appropriating various narrative techniques, Afro Canada pays tribute to the collective memory of Afro-Canadians, whose history is marked by slavery, forced displacement of their bodies and families, and, above all, their resilience — an essential resilience for ensuring that future generations can live freely.