Feminist Video Documentaries in Quebec and France

This layover explores six feminist productions filmed on video in France and Quebec between 1971 and 1997, inviting you to discover rare works that document the concerns of the feminist movement during that period, as well as the exchanges and international solidarity that were built between women. Each film is accompanied by texts and critiques written by researchers, artists and curators of special exhibitions on feminist, LGBTQ2S+ and Indigenous issues that bring new perspectives to the corpus.

Why a layover on feminist video documentaries?

The burgeoning feminist movement of the 1960s and 70s led to the production of multiple films and video documentaries that are now fairly difficult for the general public to access. The release of Sony’s new Portapak video camera in 1965 led quite a few artists and women’s groups to consider using this tool to further their goals. Easy to use, more affordable than a film camera, and lightweight, video cameras allowed these artists to express themselves more freely, without fear of censure from film institutions and the mass media. In addition, portable video recorders made it possible for them to watch footage filmed the same day (unlike film cameras, which require the film to be developed in a lab). Even better, video was an unexplored medium, with no baggage or history, and therefore free from the hierarchical constraints imposed by the white, abled, cis men dominating the film industry.

And so emerged a new movement of feminist video artists and filmmakers, who would determine for themselves how to best produce and distribute their own films. Multiple collectives, such as the Groupe Intervention Vidéo, Arnait Video, the Réseau Vidé-Elle and Vidéo Femmes in Quebec and Canada, and Vidéa, Les Insoumuses and Aire-Elles Vidéo in France, became veritable sites of liberation for artists and amateurs from all backgrounds. Fervently addressing topics as varied as abortion rights, access to contraception, sexual assault, self-defense strategies and the struggles of female workers, the works they produced defied the aesthetic standards established by artistic communities at the time. In addition to proposing a new vision for production and distribution, these feminist collectives made enormous contributions to preserving and distributing works and documents produced since the 1970s. Major collections were developed that documented the history and evolution of feminist and cultural heritage as it flourished. Such was the case at the Centre Audiovisuel Simone de Beauvoir in Paris, Arnait Video in Igloolik and Groupe Intervention Vidéo in Montréal. Exploring the depths of these collectives’ archives does more than allow us to savour the unique character of these films, often overlooked by the cultural and academic communities—it also helps us become aware of the fragility of these forms of media which, given their political nature, have long been outside the reach of archival institutions.

Vacillating between artistic and engaged practices, the body of work selected for this layover bears witness to the aspirations of groups of professional artists and amateurs with a profound desire to make women’s culture more visible. These productions also shed light on little-known social and political contexts, inviting us to further research these hidden corners of our feminist heritage. In this time of cultural upheaval, new feminist solidarities also grew, leading to rich exchanges across both in the cinema and political spheres. Several co-productions between Quebec and France took place during this period, some of which, like À notre santé, which collectively denounces patriarchal violence against women’s bodies, are available in this program. The film Chaperons Rouges (a collaboration between Montréal-based video artists) passed the microphone to multiple women victims of rape and sexual violence in a Quebec only recently liberated from the power of the Catholic church. Following that same train of thought, Luce Guilbeault’s D’abord ménagères shares the words of several homemakers, breaking a major taboo about women’s invisible labour, which shares qualities with our next opus, Histoire des luttes feminists au Québec. Through interviews with historian Michèle Stanton-Jean, this documentary presents a crucial overview (backed up with archival documents) of the gains won by a group of women activists in Quebec. Finally, we return to France, to listen in on the fiery debates of the early days of the Front homosexuel d’action révolutionnaire, before landing in Igloolik to admire the Inuk artist Mary Kunuk’s animated work, Unikausiq.

Including these films in our programming has provided us with a critical opportunity to reflect on many ways in which different generations of feminists have diverged and found common ground. While we may have succeeded in proposing a selection of rare and little-known films, it is important to contextualize them now within the dynamics of power present in those feminist movements. As such, we consider it important to mention that these international exchanges are also the result of a colonial history rife with violence against First Peoples and people of colour, who are all too frequently underrepresented in this body of work.

We hope that this layover will contribute to creating spaces for broader dialogue on the future of our feminist heritage; if for no other reason than to take inspiration for new strategies for resistance in a context where our movements are perpetually under fire and threatened with total censure.

Happy watching!

Julia Minne
PhD student and programmer

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