Denis Chouinard, Committed Filmmaker
Denis Chouinard (centre), Costa Gavras (right) and Tahar Ben Jalloun.
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What drives Denis Chouinard to make films? Immediately on meeting the likeable filmmaker, one realizes that he is seeking neither glory nor box-office success. Openly critical of commercial cinema and its diktats, he is among those who have chosen to make art that is committed, if not denunciatory.
As anyone would readily admit after watching his feature films, Clandestins (Stowaways) and L'Ange de goudron (Tar Angel), which touch upon the challenges of immigration, Chouinard's quest is worthy and genuine. "I wanted to draw attention to those people who live among us, sometimes for years, but whom we don't know," he comments.
"Those people," to Chouinard, are all those who could not be described as pure laine Quebecers on account of their origins, but have nonetheless contributed to enriching Quebec society and making it what it is. They or their parents were born in Bangkok, Jakarta, Rabat, Quito, Bucharest or Dubai. They are sometimes tactlessly called "neo-Quebecers," perhaps because we have neglected to make them full members of society and integrate them wholly into the collective imagination.
From the start of his career, Chouinard recognized the democratic power of the camera in establishing dialogue between cultures by forcing us to take a second look at the "stranger" on our street corner. "Making films is a way of being a citizen, of maintaining a critical distance from what we are told in politics," he observes.
Denis Chouinard was born in Montreal in 1964, the youngest of five children, and grew up in the suburbs of Laval. As a youth, he was drawn to punk music and its virulent criticism of social injustice. The authors that stimulated him most were Lautréamont, Sartre and Camus. "I quickly realized that the stories, films and books that touched me were those that spoke of the less fortunate members of society," he explains.
As one might expect, he was also fascinated by cinema. At the age of 17, he enrolled in the cinema program at the Collège de Saint-Laurent. For the suburbanite that he was, the move to the city was a shock: he discovered the multicultural face of Montreal. It would become the source of all his inspiration.
Wanting to know the Other
"I discovered St. Lawrence boulevard with its shops run by Hungarian, Jewish, Yugoslavian and Latino immigrants," he recalls. "People spoke a language that I didn't understand. Some had lived there longer than I and I didn't know them. I had the impression that here was a subject that had not been explored. To make films, you have to be curious and talk about things that interest people. I wanted to know the other, and I realized I could satisfy that desire through cinema."
During his college years, he became a regular at the Cinémathèque québécoise, which opened his eyes to world cinema. He would pursue his discoveries in a second-year course given by Henri-Paul Chevrier, who recalls the young student just arrived from Laval: "I remember the shock he experienced when I showed the Polish film Man of Marble in my course on national cinemas. He didn't want to get out of his seat and insisted on watching it a second time. Denis was discovering not only cinema, but the world."
Chouinard's talent was already evident in the first super-8 short films he made, which were well-received internationally. "We won some awards and the films started to be shown. I felt there was a certain interest in what I was doing," the filmmaker acknowledges.
Encounter with the director of Gaz bar blues
No doubt stimulated by this early success, Chouinard entered the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM) in 1986. He embarked on a Bachelor of Communications degree, in the cinema program (of course!). There, he met Louis Bélanger, director of Gaz bar blues. The meeting was decisive. The two discovered affinities and found they shared the same vision of film. The friendship would lead them to co-direct several short and medium-length films, including Le Soleil et ses traces and Les 14 définitions de la pluie.
After that, Chouinard began to dream of making a "real" film. Despite the success of his previous films, he struggled to find a producer who would invest in a feature. In 1994, he decided to go to Geneva, Switzerland, to meet up with a former university classmate and fellow cinema enthusiast, Nicolas Wadimoff.
"I suggested that we write a script telling a story that would take place between his continent and mine. A film that would speak of Europe and America, of the American dream, and of the stowaways who hide in cargo containers to achieve their goal."
Eventually, a Swiss producer expressed interest in the project and obtained funding for the two to write the script. Chouinard spent two years in Switzerland, living in a squat because he couldn't afford to rent an apartment. But the sacrifices were worth it in the end. In 1997, Clandestins (Stowaways) was released to critical acclaim. The filmmaker had achieved his goal.
Countering the negative image of the Arab world
Back in Montreal, Chouinard was already thinking about his second feature, which would again deal with the issue of immigration.
"I was reacting to the negative image of the Arab world that is conveyed in the media. All you hear about is bombs, murder, and bloodshed. But those people also perform open-heart surgery, they do research. They produce literature and poetry - but the media doesn't talk about that."
Chouinard decided to tell the story of an ordinary Arab family that settles in Quebec. L'Ange de goudron, released in English as Tar Angel, centres on an Algerian immigrant who is about to receive the citizenship papers that will finally make him a Canadian and open the doors to a better future for him and his family. But his peaceful dream is thrown into disarray by the political activities of his son Hafid, who takes the path of civil disobedience to prevent the deportation of other immigration applicants.
The filmmaker compels us to reflect on the sometimes absurd bureaucratic rules that stem the arrival of immigrants and, more fundamentally, on our genuine desire to open our doors to them.
The views of actor Zinedine Soualem
Speaking on the telephone from Paris, actor Zinedine Soualem, who plays the role of the father in Tar Angel, admits to being struck that a Quebecer had the sensitivity to make such a relevant film.
"I was surprised to read a well-written script that avoided all the usual stereotypes about Islam and fundamentalism. I also discovered a highly intelligent, charming, and very cultivated person. Denis is very open-minded and has a great sense of humour. We quickly established a good relationship."
Tar Angel was released in theatres in the fall of 2001, shortly before a fateful day in September… Although the film was successful in Quebec and won an award at the Montreal World Film Festival, the timing affected the English version and it played to small audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2002, however, the film got its just deserts with an Ecumenical Jury Award for Best Film in the Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival.
To Zinedine Soualem, Chouinard's cinema unquestionably contributes to breaking down barriers and laying the foundations of renewed dialogue. "Chouinard is very open to the world; he is interested in others. That's what touched me. He could have been content to make second-rate auteur films. Tar Angel is evidence of great generosity and that shows that the doors are not closed," he concludes.
Translated by Christine York.
* Photos: Personal Collection of Denis Chouinard.
To learn more:Denis Chouinard's filmography
Dogmatisme ou Le Songe d'Adrien (1988), short film co-directed with Louis Bélanger.
Le Soleil et ses traces (1990), medium-length film co-directed with Louis Bélanger.
Les 14 définitions de la pluie (1993), medium-length film co-directed with Louis Bélanger.
Clandestins (
Stowaways) (1997), feature film co-directed with Nicolas Wadimoff.
Le Verbe incendié (1998), medium-length documentary.
L'Ange de goudron (
Tar Angel) (2001), feature film.
Voir Gilles Groulx (2002), feature documentary.
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