Synopsis
In the stark Québec winter, ice floes cover the St. Lawrence River. Otherworldly, determined silhouettes appear, and we fall into the cadence of ice canoes rowing into an unfathomable landscape. Producing sensations as extreme as the surroundings, the voyage immerses us in the elements and confounds us with a close focus on astonishing, minute details. The film explores how our interior and exterior landscapes shape and define us, bringing humans together in inscrutable surroundings. A synesthetic journey that mirrors the trials our bodies push through.
A word from Tënk
The questions which concern the mimesis, relative to the norms of representation, are inherent to any process of creation. Pushing Through disturbs us precisely because it subverts our expectations in terms of figuration. The landscape presented to us is not made up of shots to be observed in an outward and passive way. This film involves us in a complete sense; we inhabit the ice, and more importantly, we feel it. The image is not used as a medium of direct and linear transmission, the sound does not faithfully describe what we see, and the light doesn’t provide conventional illumination on what is shown either. The ultra-attention brought to the senses is deployed in various synesthetic processes, which produce at once a sensation of proximity and disorientation. Our reference points are disrupted and our attitude toward the work is redefined. The sound and film work stimulates all of our senses, which allows us to build a renewed emotional relationship with this icy expanse. It is perhaps no longer really a question of the landscape itself, but of the echo that it is capable of eliciting within us.
Yulia Kaiava
Tënk Canada's editorial assistant
