MERCENAIRE: An Ex-convict Desperately Tries to find Another Job while Repressing His Inner Violence

My guest today is award-winning Quebec filmmaker Pier-Philippe Chevigny and his powerful Oscar-qualified short film Mercenaire.  His film Oscar-qualified short MERCENAIRE premiered at Toronto International Film Festival, went on to win the Special Jury Award at the prestigious Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and has already been selected for 74+ festivals and won 13 prestigious awards. MERCENAIRE is about ex-con hired by a pig slaughterhouse through a social re-integration program, and he desperately tries to find another job while repressing his inner violence. Ladies and gentlemen, Mercenaire follows David played by Marc-Andre’-Grondin, a young man newly released from prison for a murder committed in murky circumstances. Desperate for stability, he reluctantly accepts the only job available through a social reinsertion program, working on a pig slaughterhouse line.  As he endures the cruelty inflicted on animals and the escalating aggression of his co-workers, David must resist the violent impulses he fears will define him forever. In a workplace where killing is normalized, human and animal alike, the threat of losing his hard-won freedom grows dangerously close. Pier-Philippe Chevigny Oscar-qualified short MERCENAIRE is full of tension and drama, but this film goes much deeper than that.  MERCENAIRE is about humanity and about second chances. Just because one is released from prison only means they are physically free. One’s mindset and emotions are still caged, because society hasn’t changed their mindset as well.  MERCENAIRE is brilliantly written and directed. Each member of the cast bring top performances and they are so good you may forget they are actors and actually slaughterhouse workers.  MERCENAIRE rightly deserves to be Oscar-qualified and is aiming for the coveted Shortlist. It has all the elements of superb storytelling.  #prisonreform #shortfilm #quebec #canada #canadian #filmfestival #filmmaking #filmmaker #filmdirector #slaughterhouse #cinema #bondoncinema #cinematography #filmproduction #humanity