JONGUÉ, A NOMAD’S JOURNEY (Jongué, Carnet Nomade)
Director: Carlos Ferrand
Québec/France, 2019 | English & French with English subtitles | 80 min
Viewing available ACROSS CANADA from August 27 – September 6
Live stream Q&A with director: TBA
Serge Emmanuel Jongué was a writer and photographer haunted by questions around the identity and memory of colonized peoples. Jongué’s origins were Guyanese and Polish. He was a fan of comic books, journalism and literature, and he created an original, powerful body of work. His poetic and political texts enter into dialogue with images whose remarkable textures bring the shadows into sharp relief. In the 1970s, Jongué settled in Montreal, where he became closely involved with First Nations concerns and was an early activist on issues that have since become crucial. Composed entirely of words and images by Jongué, Carlos Ferrand’s latest film creatively immortalizes an activist artist who died too young, a precursor to many of the voices we hear today.
Jongué’s work grapples with questions of identity, origin, immigration, and colonization, which is perhaps inevitable, as he spent his life exploring much of the French-colonized world that he both did and didn’t call home. -Madeline Lines, RIDM Review
Serge Emmanuel Jongué fue un escritor y fotógrafo atormentado por preguntas sobre la identidad y la memoria de los pueblos colonizados. Los orígenes de Jongué eran guyanés y polaco. Era fanático de los cómics, el periodismo y la literatura, y creó un cuerpo de trabajo original y poderoso. Sus textos poéticos y políticos entran en diálogo con imágenes cuyas texturas notables ponen de relieve las sombras. En la década de 1970, Jongué se estableció en Montreal, donde se involucró estrechamente con las Primeras Naciones y fue uno de los primeros activistas en temas que desde entonces se han vuelto cruciales. Compuesta completamente por palabras e imágenes de Jongué, la última película de Carlos Ferrand inmortaliza de manera creativa a un artista activista que murió demasiado joven, un precursor de muchas de las voces que escuchamos hoy.
Carlos Ferrand was born in Lima, Peru and now makes his home in Montreal, Quebec. For the past 35 years he has worked in filmmaking as a screenwriter, director of photography, and director. He has directed more than forty films and videos, including Americano, Cimarrones, Cuervo, Il parle avec les loups, Visionnaries and Casa Loma. As a director of photography, he has collaborated on productions such as Céline Baril’s Du pic au cœur, Jean-Philippe Duval’s Lumière des oiseaux and Catherine Martin’s L’esprit des lieux and Dans les villes. He works in both fiction and documentary.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
