Slow Observational Film with Ben Donoghue - Making Waves

This month's episode features Ben Donoghue and his 16mm film Pierre Radisson: Fjord and Gulf from 2017, which has recently been adapted for digital presentation available online at https://www.naisa.ca/ until December 20th. The film presents the daily activity and environment of the ship’s work on the Saguenay Fjord and Gulf of St. Lawrence in Quebec, providing a window into a portion of the invisible labour that underpins the Canadian economy. The film also brings the deep winter landscapes of coastal Quebec into dialogue with intensive industrial activity of ore shipments from the mines of the Saguenay - Lac Saint-Jean region. Shot in Super 16 milllimetre with a two-person crew of director/cinematographer Ben Donoghue and location sound recordist Noé Rodriguez the film embraces context, giving duration and breath to the images and sounds of the journey. Through a slow observational form, the film brings the viewer onto the ship and into the journey. The form of the film intentionally avoids narration and can be thought of a landscape painting unfolding in time.