On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Concordia University, the Department of Cinema has accepted the invitation for a carte blanche in collaboration with Associate Professor Jean-Claude Bustros, a specialist in experimental and interactive cinema. This initiative led to the creation of a program featuring works that explore various facets of contemporary cinema and reflect Concordia’s commitment to innovation and creativity.
Curator’s note:
Over the past fifty years, an undeniable dynamic has been established between Montréal, Concordia University’s film school, and experimental cinema. Let’s say it: in the 1970s, experimental or so-called “avant-garde” cinema was largely dominated by the Anglo-Saxon world, particularly the USA. It is therefore no surprise that a new film school in an English-speaking university, with several professors coming from the United States, introduced a curriculum focused on American avant-garde cinema. One course in particular, Experimental Cinema taught by Professor Mario Falsetto, had an undeniable impact.
Beyond its broad influence on the program, the Experimental Cinema course was a catalyst for many experimental artists who went on to make their mark both locally and internationally. I count myself among this group, but I also think of Lysanne Thibodeau, Peter Sandmark, François Miron, Mark Nugent, Karl Lemieux, Louise Bourque, Nancy Baric, to name just a few.
The program presented here does not claim to be an exhaustive retrospective of fifty years of experimental cinema at Concordia/Montréal. Rather, it is a series of impressions, moments. Each of the films included here serves as a milestone along this trajectory.
We begin with Mongoloid by Bruce Conner, a film that so perfectly captures the early days of the school. Many generations of students from that era will remember this irreverent film, which combines music from the conceptual group Devo with 1950s propaganda and corporate imagery to deconstruct the dominant social normativity of the time.
Bad Blood for the Vampyr by Lysanne Thibodeau, a Montréaler and graduate of the film school in the early 1980s, was a pioneering and emblematic underground figure of that period. This film was made during her Berlin years, which began right after she finished her studies at Concordia — Berlin before the fall of the Wall…
The films of Cécile Fontaine (France), the Schmelz Dahin group (Germany), and Martin Arnold (Austria) introduce the European influence that developed from the late 1980s through the 1990s. This European school brought its own technical experimentation to the practice. These films arrived in Montreal through Concordia graduates who formed the Main Film production coop in the early 1980s. The Five Days of Independent Cinema event, organized by Main Film at Cinéma Parallèle, played a key role in this exchange. There was also a collaboration between Main Film and Foufounes Électriques, through which Schmelz Dahin was invited to Montreal to create live experimental films on the dance floor at Foufounes. Notably, the film presented here, Stadt in Flammen, incorporates a segment from the American disaster-action film City on Fire, which was shot in Montréal in the 1970s.
Stan Brakhage is undoubtedly one of the most influential figures in experimental cinema, and Concordia’s film school has always maintained a special relationship with his work — and with him personally. In 2001, following an invitation from the Cinémathèque Québécoise, Brakhage visited Montreal. He took the opportunity to stop by the school, where he screened some of his films for a small group of students. This was likely one of his last public appearances — he passed away a year later.
Louise Bourque is another “pioneer” who has left her mark on the experimental film landscape. She was at Concordia in the early 1990s and remains active to this day. Her work is unique, and her longevity is remarkable. Her films are deeply intimate, rich, and textured, dedicated to the materiality of film stock, as evidenced by L’éclat du Mal / The Bleeding Heart of It, presented in this program.
Ville Marie by Alexandre Larose holds a special place here because, in my view, it best embodies the Concordia/Montréal/Experimental Cinema dynamic. Everyone knows that Fort Ville-Marie is the original geographic site that became Montréal and is now the city’s downtown core. The film was shot in this very district, around the Place Ville Marie tower. Alexandre Larose created this film largely during his time at the film school in the early 2000s.
Finally, although Karl Lemieux is not a Concordia graduate, he briefly attended the school before deciding to pursue his path elsewhere. Nonetheless, his impact on experimental filmmaking from the 2000s to today — and his role in the emergence of Double Negative, in collaboration with fellow Concordian Daichi Saito, has been crucial to the evolution of experimental cinema in Montréal to this day.
— Jean-Claude Bustros
Jean-Claude Bustros is a professor and researcher at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. He is known for directing several landmark works in Quebec experimental cinema, including La Queue Tigrée d’un Chat, comme un Pendentif de Parebrise, Zéro Gravité, and Rivière. These films have been featured in multiple retrospectives, notably Les Cinémas du Canada at the Centre George Pompidou, and have been widely distributed internationally through the Paris-based distributor Light Cone.
At Concordia, he conducts research in collaboration with computer scientists on the development of intelligent systems applicable to cinema.
Bruce Conner — Mongoloid (1978, United States, 4′)
Lysanne Thibodeau — Bad Blood for the Vampyr (1986, Canada 20′)
Cécile Fontaine — Cruises (1989, France, 7′)
Schmelz Dahin - Stadt in Flammen (1984, Germany, 5′)
Martin Arnold — Pièce touchée (1989, Austria, 15′)
Stan Brakhage — Lovesong #3 & #4 (2001, United States,11′)
Louise Bourque — L’éclat du Mal (2005, Canada, 8′)
Alexandre Larose — Ville Marie (2009, Canada,12′)
David Bryant et Karl Lemieux — Ondes et silences (2015, Canada, 14′)
Curator’s note:
Over the past fifty years, an undeniable dynamic has been established between Montréal, Concordia University’s film school, and experimental cinema. Let’s say it: in the 1970s, experimental or so-called “avant-garde” cinema was largely dominated by the Anglo-Saxon world, particularly the USA. It is therefore no surprise that a new film school in an English-speaking university, with several professors coming from the United States, introduced a curriculum focused on American avant-garde cinema. One course in particular, Experimental Cinema taught by Professor Mario Falsetto, had an undeniable impact.
Beyond its broad influence on the program, the Experimental Cinema course was a catalyst for many experimental artists who went on to make their mark both locally and internationally. I count myself among this group, but I also think of Lysanne Thibodeau, Peter Sandmark, François Miron, Mark Nugent, Karl Lemieux, Louise Bourque, Nancy Baric, to name just a few.
The program presented here does not claim to be an exhaustive retrospective of fifty years of experimental cinema at Concordia/Montréal. Rather, it is a series of impressions, moments. Each of the films included here serves as a milestone along this trajectory.
We begin with Mongoloid by Bruce Conner, a film that so perfectly captures the early days of the school. Many generations of students from that era will remember this irreverent film, which combines music from the conceptual group Devo with 1950s propaganda and corporate imagery to deconstruct the dominant social normativity of the time.
Bad Blood for the Vampyr by Lysanne Thibodeau, a Montréaler and graduate of the film school in the early 1980s, was a pioneering and emblematic underground figure of that period. This film was made during her Berlin years, which began right after she finished her studies at Concordia — Berlin before the fall of the Wall…
The films of Cécile Fontaine (France), the Schmelz Dahin group (Germany), and Martin Arnold (Austria) introduce the European influence that developed from the late 1980s through the 1990s. This European school brought its own technical experimentation to the practice. These films arrived in Montreal through Concordia graduates who formed the Main Film production coop in the early 1980s. The Five Days of Independent Cinema event, organized by Main Film at Cinéma Parallèle, played a key role in this exchange. There was also a collaboration between Main Film and Foufounes Électriques, through which Schmelz Dahin was invited to Montreal to create live experimental films on the dance floor at Foufounes. Notably, the film presented here, Stadt in Flammen, incorporates a segment from the American disaster-action film City on Fire, which was shot in Montréal in the 1970s.
Stan Brakhage is undoubtedly one of the most influential figures in experimental cinema, and Concordia’s film school has always maintained a special relationship with his work — and with him personally. In 2001, following an invitation from the Cinémathèque Québécoise, Brakhage visited Montreal. He took the opportunity to stop by the school, where he screened some of his films for a small group of students. This was likely one of his last public appearances — he passed away a year later.
Louise Bourque is another “pioneer” who has left her mark on the experimental film landscape. She was at Concordia in the early 1990s and remains active to this day. Her work is unique, and her longevity is remarkable. Her films are deeply intimate, rich, and textured, dedicated to the materiality of film stock, as evidenced by L’éclat du Mal / The Bleeding Heart of It, presented in this program.
Ville Marie by Alexandre Larose holds a special place here because, in my view, it best embodies the Concordia/Montréal/Experimental Cinema dynamic. Everyone knows that Fort Ville-Marie is the original geographic site that became Montréal and is now the city’s downtown core. The film was shot in this very district, around the Place Ville Marie tower. Alexandre Larose created this film largely during his time at the film school in the early 2000s.
Finally, although Karl Lemieux is not a Concordia graduate, he briefly attended the school before deciding to pursue his path elsewhere. Nonetheless, his impact on experimental filmmaking from the 2000s to today — and his role in the emergence of Double Negative, in collaboration with fellow Concordian Daichi Saito, has been crucial to the evolution of experimental cinema in Montréal to this day.
— Jean-Claude Bustros
Jean-Claude Bustros is a professor and researcher at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. He is known for directing several landmark works in Quebec experimental cinema, including La Queue Tigrée d’un Chat, comme un Pendentif de Parebrise, Zéro Gravité, and Rivière. These films have been featured in multiple retrospectives, notably Les Cinémas du Canada at the Centre George Pompidou, and have been widely distributed internationally through the Paris-based distributor Light Cone.
At Concordia, he conducts research in collaboration with computer scientists on the development of intelligent systems applicable to cinema.
Bruce Conner — Mongoloid (1978, United States, 4′)
Lysanne Thibodeau — Bad Blood for the Vampyr (1986, Canada 20′)
Cécile Fontaine — Cruises (1989, France, 7′)
Schmelz Dahin - Stadt in Flammen (1984, Germany, 5′)
Martin Arnold — Pièce touchée (1989, Austria, 15′)
Stan Brakhage — Lovesong #3 & #4 (2001, United States,11′)
Louise Bourque — L’éclat du Mal (2005, Canada, 8′)
Alexandre Larose — Ville Marie (2009, Canada,12′)
David Bryant et Karl Lemieux — Ondes et silences (2015, Canada, 14′)
Present in these collections
Session
• Université Concordia - J.A. de Sève, LB-125, Pavillon J. W. McConnell
Friday, march 21, 2025, 08:00 p.m. — 09:36 p.m.
In the same session
Université Concordia - J.A. de Sève, LB-125, Pavillon J. W. McConnell
Friday, march 21, 2025, 08:00 p.m.
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