Archipelago (2021 film)

Archipelago
FrenchArchipel
Directed byFélix Dufour-Laperrière
Written byFélix Dufour-Laperrière
Produced byFélix Dufour-Laperrière
Nicolas Dufour-Laperrière
Narrated byFlorence Blain Mbaye
Mattis Savard-Verhoeven
Edited byFélix Dufour-Laperrière
Music byStéphane Lafleur
Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux
Production
company
L'Embuscade Films
Distributed byLa Distributrices de Films
Miyu Distribution
Release date
  • February 4, 2021 (2021-02-04) (IFFR)
Running time
72 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguagesFrench
Innu-aimun

Archipelago (French: Archipel) is a Canadian animated documentary film, directed by Félix Dufour-Laperrière and released in 2021.[1] A poetic essay film that blends diverse styles of animation, the film is a psychogeographic meditation on the islands in the St. Lawrence River,[2] forming a metaphor for Quebec's status as an "uncertain country" defined by the tensions between its status as a province of Canada and the Québécois people's conception of themselves as a distinct nation.[3]

The film is narrated principally by Florence Blain Mbaye and Mattis Savard-Verhoeven, with a shorter narration by Joséphine Bacon of one of her own poems in Innu-aimun.[1] The animation team included Malcolm Sutherland, Philip Lockerby, Jens Hahn, and Eva Cvijanović.[3]

The film premiered in February 2021 at the International Film Festival Rotterdam,[4] and had its Canadian premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in April.[5] It was released commercially on October 19.[6]

  1. ^ a b Wendy Ide, "‘Archipelago’: Rotterdam Review". Screen Daily, February 5, 2021.
  2. ^ Martin Gignac, "Poésie animée". La Presse, October 29, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Chris Robinson, "Enter The Impossible Province: Félix Dufour-Laperrière On His Québec-Set Feature ‘Archipelago’". Cartoon Brew, February 3, 2021.
  4. ^ Mercedes Milligan, "Félix Dufour-Laperrière’s ‘Archipelago’ to Premiere at Rotterdam". Animation Magazine, January 12, 2021.
  5. ^ Patrick Mullen, "Mystic River: Félix Dufour-Laperrière’s Archipelago". Point of View, May 4, 2021.
  6. ^ François Lévesque, "Félix Dufour-Laperrière et la femme aux grandes eaux". Le Devoir, October 22, 2021.