Films catalogue

Through

Béatriz Mediavilla / 2024 / 18 min. / FRENCH / Canada

Synopsis

Poetic portrait of the Acadian artist Monique Léger. A transmission of Authentic Movement as a driving force for transcending death.

Cast & Crew

  • Screenplay, cinematographer, editor & sound : Béatriz Mediavilla
  • Sound mix : Dominic Despins
  • Music : Jean-François Mallet
  • Choreography and interpretation : Monique Léger

Genre

Documentaire

Topics

Culture and society, Dance, Literature and poetry, Portrait

Trailer

Biography

Béatriz Mediavilla, a filmmaker with a master's degree in film studies, has been teaching at the Cégep de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue since 1996. Born into a family of Spanish origin, her parents having fled Franco's Spain, she takes a sensitive and committed look at the world. Danse avec elles (2014), her first feature-length documentary, was acclaimed at numerous festivals in North America and Europe. Her feature film, Habiter le mouvement, un récit en dix chapitres (2019), explores the relationship between dance and space, and was awarded Best Documentary at the Fine Art Film Festival in California, as well as at the Utah Dance Film Festival. The film also won Best CanadianWork at the International Festival of Films on Art, and earned Mediavilla the Découverte award at the Prix de la danse de Montréal. In 2022, she won the Prix CALQ - Artiste de l'année en Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

Filmography

  • 2014
    Danse avec elles / 90 min.
  • 2016
    3 mouvements de chute  / 9 min.
  • 2019
    Habiter le mouvement, un récit en dix chapitres / 61 min.
  • 2020
    Still feel you with me / 6 min.

Festivals

[2024]  Festival du cinéma international en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (FCIAT), Canada
[2024]  Muestra Movimiento Audiovisual, Guadalajara, Mexico
[2024]  ADF's Movies By Movers, Durham, USA
[2024]  Dans Kamera Istanbul, Turkey
[2024]  Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie (FICFA), Moncton, Canada | Audience Award
[2024]  In Shadow, Lisbonne, Portugal
[2025] Festival International du Film sur l'Art (FIFA), Montréal, Canada
[2025] Vues sur Mer, Gaspé, Canada
[2025] Festival Danse Atlantique, Moncton, Canada
[2025] Mill of Performing Arts, Larissa, Greece
[2025] Bolton International Film Festival, Bolton, UK
[2025] Parrsboro Film Festival, Canada
[2025] IndieCork Film Festival, Ireland
[2025] Silver Wave Film Festival, Fredericton, Canada

[2025] Girona Film Festival, Spain
[2025] Athens Video Dance Project, Greece
[2026] Cinema on the Bayou, USA

Director's statement

This portrait of Monique Léger seemed to me to be important because of the scope of her work in relation to dance and movement, on the one hand, and our relationship with the body today, on the other. Indeed, despite the pressure of body appearances today, I believe that everyone should be allowed to be as they are, in a deeply legitimate way, and to move according to their needs. Monique Léger's approach is all the more important as it is also situated in the Acadian territory, which also embodies linguistic and, by extension, bodily insecurity. Finally, inhabiting one's body and using movement seemed to me an interesting way of transcending death. The device of the filmed diary seemed an appropriate one for exploring her work.

Photos

These films might also interest you

Retracing their steps

X

Retracing their steps

Manuel Orhy Pirón
The meeting of various donors of a queer archive center reveals the colors and history of Montreal's LGBTQIA2S+ community.
Documentaire 20 min. 2024
Available

Cardboard City

X

Cardboard City

André Forcier et Jean-Marc E. Roy
An ode to Ville Jacques-Cartier
Documentaire, Docufiction 80 min. 2025

Our Hands

X

Our Hands

Josiane Roberge
A contemporary dance artist and a home for the elderly resident share their concerns about old age.
Documentaire, Film de danse 15 min. 2025

Greluche

X

Greluche

Daphnée Côté-Hallé
A 64-year-old clown, on the verge of retirement, navigates the intersection of her whimsical stage persona and her real-life identity, revealing how imagination has been her means of coping with aging and preserving her sense of wonder.
Documentaire 17 min. 2025

Balance

X

Balance

Luiza Cocora
After recently arriving in Montreal, Anna, a twelve-year-old Ukrainian gymnast, strives to regain her balance between her war-torn past and her desire for belonging.
Documentaire 20 min. 2024

Después del Silencio

X

Después del Silencio

Matilde-Luna Perotti
In a deeply moving short documentary, a filmmaker returns to her grandmother after six years of silence to confront the family taboo: the sexual assault she suffered.
Documentaire 14 min. 2024

Manicouagan

X

Manicouagan

Nadine Beaudet
An intimate yet expansive project, this film recounts the history of Manicouagan (North Shore, Quebec) a legendary territory shaped by the impact of an asteroid 215 million years ago.
Documentaire 101 min. 2025

Like hearing through sheet metal

X

Like hearing through sheet metal

Mariane Béliveau
Like hearing through sheet metal offers a sensitive and intimate look at the complex world of injection drug use, through the experiences of Marianne, M., and Lion: a wander through the rituals of daily life, the interstices of the city, and the confines of memory.
Documentaire 83 min. 2024
BECOME A MEMBER

Spira is your coop devoted to independent filmmaking.
Become a member today!