In their second opus, Mélanie Carrier and Olivier Higgins continue in a similar vein to their début film, although this one is set in their home country. Once again, we’re brought on a journey where humans are pushed to their limits, and once again, the filmmakers are interested in encounters with the Other. This time, however, the film turns around the complicated relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. From the very start, the three nations represented in the film (Innu, Huron and Québec,) are on uneven footing. But as the challenges, mosquitos, rain and physical exertion mount, we watch as tongues start to loosen, barriers start to fall away, and heartfelt connections start to grow. Brought together by their shared consciousness of the history of the land they are traversing and their shared pride in their difficult journey, these young people bear witness to the grandeur of their experience. The friendships that take shape over their journey form a sort of safety net that will follow the film’s young subjects long after its completion. Encounters catches us off guard and leaves us daydreaming of encounters between vast nations where people could trade, laugh, and learn from one another, with no walls between them: only the endless horizon and the star-speckled vault of the sky.

Naomie Décarie-Daigneault
Tënk's Artistic Director