The Ones Who Stay

Jean-François Bouchard has developed a visual arts practice that engages with individuals and communities situated outside dominant social frameworks. At the intersection of documentary and a subjective approach informed by a strong conceptual framework, his work explores marginal and subcultural worlds as social systems that generate their own forms of meaning and belonging. He is driven by the conviction that encountering alternative perspectives and little-known contexts can transform the way we perceive and understand social reality.

Olivier Côté is a director and screenwriter who holds a bachelor’s degree in film, with a concentration in directing, from UQAM. Even during his university studies, his short fiction films stood out on the festival circuit, both in Quebec and internationally. His fiction films have been screened at events including the Palm Springs ShortFest, Regard, FIFF Namur, Interfilm Berlin, Flicker’s Rhode Island, and the Norwegian Short Film Festival, and have earned him nominations for the PCCQ, the Japan Prize, the Prix Réal, and the CALQ Emerging Artist Award.