There's a misconception that experimental cinema and social commitment are incompatible as if these filmmaker-researchers were living in a parallel world, isolated from our own. Without generalizing, Anne-Marie Bouchard's Salin explores an organic film process created from green algae, the result of a research project carried out by the Toronto Animated Image Society. In a way, she challenges the theory and, above all (!) highlights the significant ecological footprint of the seventh art. Conceived first and foremost for their photochemical qualities and their consequent lifespan enabling theoretically unlimited archiving, the various films are by nature an ecological burden that has only accumulated since their creation. Hence our recent efforts to design a film that is photosensitive, accurate and environmentally friendly. Although this film has not yet been perfected, Anne-Marie Bouchard has nonetheless drawn inspiration from these efforts to design a sensitive work that draws on genealogical memories and scents (ah! that particular Gaspé smell that will be familiar to all those who live along the river) and makes it an amusing and evocative object, otherwise ending up with rot-proof film.

Paul Landriau
Director of Programming
Festival de cinéma de la ville de Québec