Story and photos by Caleb Nickerson –
Over the weekend, film buffs, directors, bohemians and locals all ventured out into the unknown and experienced a new addition into the summer calendar in Fort Coulonge: a women’s film festival.
The first ever Festival international du Cinéma des Femmes de Fort-Coulonge kicked off on Thursday night with a full house at the Adult Education Centre where the majority of screenings were held. All weekend, the films were free of charge but participants were invited to attend various meals and other extra-curriculars as well.
The Equity caught up with organizer Suzanne Vallières-Nollet on Sunday afternoon once the festival had wrapped up.
“I feel like all the pressure is going down, so I might sleep tonight, but we still have all the [teardown] to do,” she said with a laugh.
She said the idea was sparked while she was organizing monthly movie screenings with Phare Ouest and noticed a lack of female representation.
“We realized that we weren’t screening enough women directors, so we started to question our reflex of how we choose the movies,” she explained.

Vallières-Nollet and her compatriots originally looked for ways to include more female directors in their monthly lineup, but came to the conclusion that a festival might be a better way to showcase their talent.
“We thought about it and decided that it would be better to do an event and concentrate on the work, to bring people from all over Quebec,” she said.
In total, the festival featured seven full-length pieces and six shorts, with seven of the directors present for their screenings.
Prior to the opening night, the weekend started with a “canning festival” – a tongue-in-cheek nod to the famous gala in Cannes, France – followed by a spaghetti dinner at the Quartier Général.
The works shown covered a very diverse range of subject matter. Opening night started with two shorts and an hour long feature. L’Hiver le Plus Doux by Laurence Olivier was a more conceptual piece, featuring winter scenes shot on Kodak “Super 8” film with the director talking in the background.
It was followed by La Maison de Yara by Émilie Baillargeon, which focused on the story of a Syrian refugee struggling with nostalgia for a country destroyed by war. The evening finished with Yolanda by Jeannine Gagné, an hour-long production about a woman rediscovering Montreal through the people she meets.
Throughout the weekend the topics varied from female hunters and alpinists to genetically modified crops, cowboy concussions and the political climate in the African nation of Burkina Faso.
Since many of the directors were on hand for the screenings, audience members had the chance to ask them questions and give feedback on the films.
“You have a meeting with the art, but you also have a meeting with the person that built it,” Vallières-Nollet said. “You get to go like behind the screen and learn more about, maybe how you received this. The goal of this festival is to be able to go further, not just watching movies on your sofa.”
In addition to the indoor screenings, there was also an outdoor showing set up on Saturday night behind the Quartier Général.
Vallières-Nollet said that a highlight of the weekend was the discussion on Sunday morning with celebrated director Alanis O’Bomsawin, who showcased her 50th film, Le Chemin de la Guérison. The film focused on education in a Manitoba Cree community.
“I enjoyed all the movies, but I think the discussion with Alanis O’Bomsawin should be written in the books because it was really enlightening and emotional,” she said. “I was really proud to learn that she had the choice to go to four events this weekend and she chose to be here. I was really touched by that. I was like, maybe it’s because our festival is doing something important.”
The festival culminated with a brunch and awards ceremony. Vallières-Nollet explained that while the audience got a chance to vote on their favourites, a panel of judges from L’Entourelle made jury choices in each category.

Winners were as follows:
Audience choice for short films:
Hier à Nyassan by Catherine Hébert.

Audience choice for features:
Modifié by Aube Giroux

Jury choice for short films:
L’affront des cimes by Florence Pelletier
and Caroline Côté

Jury choice for features:
Yolanda by Jeannine Gagné and Le
Chemin de la Guérison by Alanis
O’Bomsawin
L’Entourelle prize for women’s
empowerment:
Burkinabé Rising by Iara Lee

Vallières-Nollet was encouraged with the positive feedback and said that folks should stay tuned for the 2018 edition.
“I feel like it was a success and I’m proud,” she said. “I think that all the directors that were here were really enthusiastic about having another one and coming back next year, not only for a screening of their movies but to come and see movies, because they really liked and enjoyed the [atmosphere].”