RIDM festival to bring the best documentary cinema to Montreal screens Nov. 20 to Dec. 1

For its 27th edition, the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) will be presenting a selection of 146 films from 54 countries. A bold and stimulating overview of documentary cinema from across the world, the festival features a wide range of events, panels and encounters that elevate and support the very best of non-fiction cinema. As always, after the nightly screenings, the festival invites audiences to join them at the RIDM’s Headquarters for “RIDM Late Nights,” a series of free concerts and DJ sets. 

The festival will open on Nov. 20 with Preparations for a Miracle, in the presence of Swiss director Tobias Nölle, at Théâtre Outremont and close on Dec. 1 with Ninan Auassat: We, the Children, directed by Kim O’Bomsawin, who will also be present for the occasion. Screenings and events will take place at Cinéma du Parc, Cinéma Musée, the Cinémathèque Québécoise, Concordia University and Cinéma Quartier Latin. This year, the festival is welcoming 29 international filmmakers and to showcase the achievements of local documentary filmmakers with the presentation of 58 Quebec and Canadian films.

With six competitive categories and a wide selection of films featured in the Panorama section, this year’s edition features films ranging from personal inquiries into the past, to vast political undertakings. Many themes emerge: the ecological crisis, the challenges of decolonization and liberation of Palestine among them. 

As part of the Forum RIDM, the festival’s documentary market, industry professionals from around the world will gather to discuss, connect and invest in the future of non-fiction filmmaking. The Forum includes pitches, panels, round-table discussions and one-on-one meetings for aspiring and established filmmakers alike.

With a such a variety of films screening at RIDM 2024, let us guide you through a few of our personal highlights from this year’s program.

The Flats

Alessandra Celesia’s The Flats follows Joe, a resident of a tower-block apartment in New Lodge, Belfast. Through re-enactments, Joe is joined by his neighbours as they work together to piece together a collective memory of the past. Set in a Catholic neighbourhood in Belfast beset by violence and death, the film allows a path for its subjects to find peace.

The Flats is screening at Cinémathèque Québécoise (335 de Maisonneuve E., Salle Fernand-Seguin) on Nov. 22, 9:15 p.m. and at Cinéma du Parc (3575 Parc) on Nov. 23, 4 p.m.

Apprendre

Apprendre is the latest film from the great French filmmaker Claire Simon (Notre Corps). Shot in the Makarenko public elementary school on the outskirts of Paris, the observational documentary follows children and teachers in a portrait of public education that examines the role of schools in shaping children’s futures. The film premiered at Cannes earlier this year and has been celebrated for the unrelenting charm of its child subjects. 

Apprendre is screening at Cinéma du Musée (1379A Sherbrooke W.) Nov. 23, 1:30 p.m. and at Cinéma du Parc (3575 Parc) on Nov. 24, 1:45 p.m.

A Fidai Film

Kamal Aljafari’s A Fidai Film is a documentary about reclamation. During the military intervention in Lebanon in the summer of 1982, the IDF seized the archive collection of photos and film from the Palestine Research Center in Beirut. Now, Aljafari takes hold of those images and reconstructs a visual memory for a people whose history and lives are being erased.

A Fidai Film is screening at Cinémathèque Québécoise (335 de Maisonneuve E.) on Nov. 24, 4:30 p.m. and on Nov. 27, 3:15 p.m.

Rule of Stone

Danae Elon’s Rule of Stone exposes the power of architecture and the role it has played — aesthetically, ideologically and strategically — in the creation of modern Jerusalem after the 1967 war. Elon’s film highlights the ways in which building and architecture have been used to erase Palestinians and their history, through this probing and reflexive documentary.

Rule of Stone is screening at Cinéma Quartier Latin (350 Émery, Salle 10), Nov. 27, 8:30 p.m. and at Cinémathèque Québécoise (335 de Maisonneuve E., Salle Principale) on Nov. 30, 12:45 p.m.

Union

In Union, directors Stephen T. Maing and Brett Story bring us to Staten Island, NY, where workers at an Amazon warehouse fight to establish a union. The film does a deep dive into the difficult but inspiring process of unionization and the struggle against one of the world’s largest companies. 

Union is screening at Concordia (1455 de Maisonneuve W., H-110) on Nov. 25, 7 p.m., and at Cinéma Quartier Latin (350 Émery, Salle 10) on Nov. 30, 4:45 p.m.

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