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Samara Grace Chadwick’s 1999 opens October 19 at Cinémathèque québécoise. The director will attend the Montreal release of her hard-hitting NFB co-produced documentary on the heels of festival screenings in North America and Europe.

PRESS RELEASE
04/10/2018

October 4, 2018 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Samara Grace Chadwick’s feature documentary 1999 will open in Montreal at the Cinémathèque québécoise on October 19 and on October 21 in English at Cinema Moderne, a few days after making its grand American premiere at the Museum of the Moving Image (New York). Co-produced by Parabola Films, Beauvoir Films and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), 1999 has been screening at festivals in Canada and abroad since the spring, garnering acclaim at Hot Docs (Toronto), the Festival international de cinéma Visions du Réel (Nyon, Switzerland), the Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma (Montreal) and the Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie (Moncton). Four of the Montreal screenings will include discussions with the director and special guests. The film is screening in French with English subtitles.

Screenings with Samara Grace Chadwick in attendance
Cinémathèque québécoise

October 19
Discussion with the director, Selin Murat (producer, Parabola Films) and Kat Baulu (NFB producer)

October 23
Discussion about grief and suicide prevention with the director and Jean-Claude Daoust (responder at Suicide Action Montréal in charge of services for people who have lost a loved one)

October 25
Discussion on cinema and mediation with the director and Catherine Grabherr (holder of a master’s degree in the arts and currently a PhD candidate in psychology at Université du Québec à Montréal)

Date to be confirmed
Discussion on the musical score with the director and Vivianne Roy (musician)

Synopsis

When death haunts a high school in Moncton in the late 1990s, everyone in this Acadian community is forever transformed. In her gentle and evocative film, 1999, director Samara Grace Chadwick returns to the town she fled as a teen to re-immerse herself in the memories still lurking there. The void left by the wave of teenage suicides still resonates with unanswered questions, trauma and regret. The filmmaker encounters inspiring people who harbor deeply painful memories and who, after nearly 20 years, are finally able to mutually comfort one another by breaking the long silence. 1999 ultimately weaves together multiple voices in a collective reflection on how grief is internalized, and the need to learn to affirm our will to live.

A Canada/Switzerland co-production

1999 is produced by Parabola Films (Selin Murat and Sarah Spring), in co-production with Beauvoir Films (Aline Schmid) and the NFB (Kat Baulu from the Quebec and Atlantic Studio and Jac Gautreau from the Canadian Francophonie Studio – Acadie) in collaboration with Radio-Canada Acadie (Marie-Claude Dupont), CALQ, and SODEC, and supported internationally by Eurimages through Telefilm Canada. The film features an original score by Swiss musician Cyril Hahn as well as Acadian musicians Gabriel Malenfant from the band Radio Radio and Vivianne Roy from trio  Les Hay Babies.

About Samara Grace Chadwick

Samara Grace Chadwick grew up in Moncton, New Brunswick, and left the city when she was 16. She holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies and has worked throughout Europe and North and South America for over 15 years as a documentary filmmaker, editor and festival programmer. She is currently a programmer for the Points North Institute and the Camden International Film Festival, and previously worked with the Hot Docs festival in Toronto, the RIDM festival in Montreal, and Philip Groening Filmproduktion in Berlin.

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Related Products

Electronic Press Kit | Images, trailers, synopsis: 1999

Associated Links

Cinémathèque québécoise
Cinema Moderne
Museum of the Moving Image
Parabola Films, Beauvoir Films
Radio-Canada Acadie
CALQ
SODEC
Telefilm Canada
Radio Radio
Les Hay Babies

Media Relations

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