A plunge into the forests of Quebec awaits Millau spectators. The Cinemas of Millau, located on rue de la Pêpinière, will host Canadian filmmaker Pascale Ferland on Tuesday, May 12th at 8:00 pm for the screening of her feature film “Dans la forêt”. The session will be followed by an exchange with the director, who will be visiting from Quebec.
A Choral Documentary Essay
Lasting two hours, “Dans la forêt” is presented by its director as a documentary essay exploring the deep connections between humans, animals, and the forest. Filmed over three years across five regions of Quebec (Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Gaspésie, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Charlevoix, and Côte-Nord), the film adopts a choral structure, with intersecting, responding, and contradicting life fragments.
Pascale Ferland follows animals and several characters, sometimes controversial, sometimes discreet, throughout the seasons, whose personal or professional lives are rooted in the Quebec forest space. The result portrays a complex and nuanced world where the desire to protect and exploit coexist, intertwining three languages: French, Anishinaabemowin, and Innu-aimun.
Mixing Realism, Political Engagement, and Dreaminess
The director claims a tone that oscillates between realism, political engagement, and poetry. The camera is patient when observing wildlife (caribou, moose, foxes, bears), sometimes delving into dreaminess to evoke what the forest represents beyond the visible: a place of life, memory, peace, conflicts, identity. Faced with climate change and the sixth mass extinction, the film invites us to rethink our relationship with living beings, not as a resource, but as a shared and inhabited space.
A Recognized Filmmaker
As a screenwriter, director, and producer for over twenty years, Pascale Ferland has developed a personal and award-winning documentary oeuvre. Her works include “L’Immortalité en fin de compte” (2003), “Adagio pour un gars de bicycle” (2008), which won the Victor-Martyn-Lynch-Staunton Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts, and “Pauline Julien, intime et politique” (2018). “Dans la forêt”, released in 2025, continues her reflection on contemporary issues related to nature and territories.
Screening Information
The screening will take place on Tuesday, May 12th at 8:00 pm at the Cinemas of Millau, rue de la Pêpinière in Millau. Entry fee: 5 euros. The session will be followed by a meeting with director Pascale Ferland. For more information about the film, visit: https://f3m.ca/film/dans-la-foret/
