“Life isn’t what happens inside molecules, but in the links that bind them together.”

Québékoisie opens with this quote from pioneering molecular biologist Linus Pauling, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work on the nature of chemical bonds and their applications for demonstrating the structure of complex compounds, as well as a Nobel Peace Prize for his opposition to nuclear weapons and war as means for resolving international conflicts. One could wonder if his interest in the very nature of coexistence at an infinitesimally tiny scale brought him to work to improve the common good of all of humanity.

Pauling’s words echo throughout this engaging documentary from Carrier and Higgins, centred around relationships. For this filmmaking duo, learning about something always leads to action: hitting the road, seeking out encounters with others and learning about how they experience the world. In other words: filming and listening as a way to fight ignorance. Québékoisie confronts us from the very start with the question of prejudice towards First Nations peoples in a gut-wrenching scene where a passerby blithely lets loose a series of crassly ignorant and racist remarks. This all-too-present reality must absolutely be unmasked in order for us to speak out against it—all it takes is a quick look at recent news to recognize this sad fact. It’s long past time for us to pick apart these still-perpetuated myths upon which we’ve built a society, and to fight against a sterile homogenization of different cultures.

Québékoisie is a film that leaves us with the irrepressible desire to become better listeners, so that we can build a better society.

Jason Burnham
Tënk's programming assistant