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Rituals on the silver screen  

Student-run ethnographic film fest draws big crowds

By Anna Sarkissian

On a freezing cold Friday evening, every seat in the J.A. de Sève Cinema was taken as the crowd waited for the lights to dim and the screening to begin.

The Festival international du film ethnographique du Québec took over the theatre on Jan. 29 to screen seven films at Concordia, including the popular Shugendô Now, directed by Jean-Marc Abela and produced by Concordia doctoral candidate Mark Patrick McGuire.

McGuire has attended FIFEQ for the past two years and was always impressed with the lineup.

Shugendô Now, which is based on McGuire’s own dissertation research, is a feature-length film about the mystical practices of mountain asceticism in Japan.

Following the screening, McGuire engaged in an hour-long discussion with the audience about how the pilgrims responded to having two Canadians filming their rituals, building rapport with subjects and deciding who to focus on, and the pilgrims’ motivation for hiking through the forest for 26 km.

“Mark answered questions very thoughtfully,” said anthropology major Kate Husted, who was on the FIFEQ organizing committee. “It was really one of the highlights of the entire festival. People were very impressed.”

Husted is one of several Concordians who worked with students from McGill and Université de Montréal to produce the three-day event, which also featured screenings and discussions at the other two schools.

They received over 100 submissions from around the world and narrowed the selection down to 23 films.

Started by Concordia students in 2003, FIFEQ is free and open to the public. The festival screens films which capture a lifestyle or element of culture such as a ritual, practice or ceremony.

Other films touched on avant-garde music, the life of migrants, and reconnecting with elders.

Find out more about FIFEQ online. Shugendô Now is available on DVD and will be screened at the Coopérative du Grand Orme, 99 Ste-Anne St., Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. The event is free.