Trailer
“The hands of the dancers are the hands of my mother and sister, the hands of our grandmother, the hands of their mothers.” These words by Cornelius Eady, a renowned American poet, lie at the heart of the short film Miséricorde, which combines poetry, imagery, gestures, movements, and voices to create a rich and delicate meditation on Black womanhood. Eady’s cycle of poems is inspired by Phillis Wheatley, the first enslaved woman to publish a poetry collection in America.
This poetic film, directed by Philip Szporer, delves into themes of ethnicity, identity, place, and the dual discourse of a specific Black literary tradition, one that grapples with the reality of enslaved people learning the language of their captors.
In the presence of director Philip Szporer and producer Marlene Millar on March 14th in Montreal.
This poetic film, directed by Philip Szporer, delves into themes of ethnicity, identity, place, and the dual discourse of a specific Black literary tradition, one that grapples with the reality of enslaved people learning the language of their captors.
In the presence of director Philip Szporer and producer Marlene Millar on March 14th in Montreal.
| Author | Cornelius Eady, Philip Szporer |
| Director of Photography | Pablo Córdoba Salcido |
| Editing | Pablo Córdoba Salcido |
| Choreography | Ami Shulman |
| Artist | Amara Barner, Angélique Willkie |
| Director | Philip Szporer |
| Sound mixing | Devon Bate |
| Music | Devon Bate |
Session
• Université Concordia - J.A. de Sève, LB-125, Pavillon J. W. McConnell
Friday, march 14, 2025, 05:00 p.m. — 06:31 p.m.
Production
Philip Szporer
With a background spanning dance arts, performance, journalism, education, and filmmaking, Philip Szporer has been immersed in the Canadian dance world for over 40 years. Throughout his career, he has been actively giving voice to perspectives on dance.
Audience engagement to further literacy around the discipline of dance and dance-film, as well as guiding workshops, has taken him around the globe. Mentoring emerging artists in practice, research, and dialogue is an important part of his evolution.
In 2001, Philip along with Marlene Millar, co-founded the Montréal-based award-winning media arts production company, Mouvement Perpétuel. Together they have co-directed and co-produced a critically acclaimed collection of documentaries, short dance films, and installation work. In 2018, he co-founded dance+words, with Kathleen Smith, an initiative to disseminate ideas and facilitate conversations around dance and movement arts.
Philip teaches at Concordia University and was recognized with a Fine Arts Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award in 2016. He served as a Scholar-in-Residence at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts (2000−2016). In 1999, he was awarded a Pew Fellowship (National Dance/Media Project), at the University of California, Los Angeles. And in 2010 he was the recipient of the Jacqueline Lemieux Prize awarded by the Canada Council of the Arts.
Philip has worked as a broadcast journalist for CBC Radio, Radio-Canada’s radio arts magazine Aux arts, etc., and as correspondent for The World (BBC/WGBH-Boston).
Biographical notes provided by the film production team and edited by Le FIFA’s team
Audience engagement to further literacy around the discipline of dance and dance-film, as well as guiding workshops, has taken him around the globe. Mentoring emerging artists in practice, research, and dialogue is an important part of his evolution.
In 2001, Philip along with Marlene Millar, co-founded the Montréal-based award-winning media arts production company, Mouvement Perpétuel. Together they have co-directed and co-produced a critically acclaimed collection of documentaries, short dance films, and installation work. In 2018, he co-founded dance+words, with Kathleen Smith, an initiative to disseminate ideas and facilitate conversations around dance and movement arts.
Philip teaches at Concordia University and was recognized with a Fine Arts Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award in 2016. He served as a Scholar-in-Residence at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts (2000−2016). In 1999, he was awarded a Pew Fellowship (National Dance/Media Project), at the University of California, Los Angeles. And in 2010 he was the recipient of the Jacqueline Lemieux Prize awarded by the Canada Council of the Arts.
Philip has worked as a broadcast journalist for CBC Radio, Radio-Canada’s radio arts magazine Aux arts, etc., and as correspondent for The World (BBC/WGBH-Boston).
Biographical notes provided by the film production team and edited by Le FIFA’s team
Maboungou : Being in the World (2023)
Inquiry into Time and Perception, Study #2 (2022)
Wamunzo (2019)
Bhairava (2018)
1001 Lights (2017)
Inquiry into Time and Perception, Study #2 (2022)
Wamunzo (2019)
Bhairava (2018)
1001 Lights (2017)
In the same session
Université Concordia - J.A. de Sève, LB-125, Pavillon J. W. McConnell
Friday, march 14, 2025, 05:00 p.m.
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