Encirclement - Neo-Liberalism Ensnares Democracy

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Director's Biography

Richard Brouillette

Richard Brouillette is a film producer, director, editor and programmer. Starting as a film critic for the Montréal weekly, Voir (1989), he then worked for Québec's top independent distribution company, Cinéma Libre (1989-1999), which has since folded. In 1993, he founded the artist-run center Casa Obscura, a multi-disciplinary exhibition space, where he still runs a weekly cine-club called Les projections libérantes, for which he is also the projectionist.

He has produced and directed Too Much is Enough (doc., 111 min., 1995), for which he won the prestigious M. Joan Chalmers Award in 1996; Carpe Diem (experimental, 5 mins., 1995) and Encirclement – Neo-Liberalism Ensnares Democracy (doc., 160 mins., 2008), for which he won six awards including the prestigious Robert and Frances Flaherty Grand Prize of the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival and Grand Prize La Poste Suisse of the 2009 Visions du réel festival.

He has also produced six feature-length films: Tree with Severed Branches by Pascale Ferland (doc., 81 mins. 2005), Barbers – A Men’s Story by Claude Demers (doc., 82 mins., 2006), Les désœuvrés by René Bail (fiction, 72 mins. 1959-2007), Adagio for a Biker by Pascale Ferland (doc., 90 mins., 2008), Les dames en bleu et Michel Louvain by Claude Demers (doc., 90 mins., 2009) and Chantier by René Bail (doc., 75 mins., 1957-2009). Brouillette has also acted as consulting producer on a number of other documentary projects.

Richard Brouillette has always been very active in Québec’s independent film community, participating in militant actions and devoting himself to the cause of artist-run centers. Since 1993, he has also sat on the Boards of various organizations. He is currently treasurer of the independent filmmakers’ cooperative, Main Film, and administrator of l’Amicale de la culture indépendante, the coop that manages Casa Obscura.

Filmography

L’encerclement – La démocratie dans les rets du néolibéralisme
(Encirclement – Neo-Liberalism Ensnares Democracy)
documentary, 2008, 160 mins., HDCam, B&W

Robert and Frances Flaherty Grand Prize, Yamagata IDFF 2009
Grand Prize La Poste Suisse of the international jury, Visions du réel 2009
Johnnie Walker Audience Award for Best Feature Film, IndieLisboa 2009
Pierre & Yolande Perrault Award for Best 1st or 2nd documentary, RVCQ 2009
La Vague Award for Best documentary (ex aequo), FICFA 2009
Special Jury Mention for the Amnesty International Award, IndieLisboa 2009

Official selection, Berlinale - Forum section (Berlin, Germany), 2009
Official selection, Visions du réel (Nyon, Switzerland), 2009
Official selection, Yamagata IDFF (Yamagata, Japan), 2009
Official selection, Viennale (Vienna, Austria), 2009
Official selection, Hot Docs (Toronto, Canada), 2009
Official selection, BAFICI (Buenos Aires, Argentina), 2009
Official selection, IndieLisboa (Lisbon, Portugal), 2009
Official selection, IFF Bratislava (Bratislava, Slovakia), 2009
Official selection, Mostra Internacional de Cinema (São Paulo, Brazil), 2009
Official selection, Ghent Film Festival (Ghent, Belgium), 2009
Official selection, CPH:DOX (Copenhagen, Denmark), 2009
Official selection, Documenta Madrid (Madrid, Spain), 2009
Official selection, Oslo Internasjonale Film Festival (Oslo, Norway), 2009
Official selection, Jihlava IDFF (Jihlava, Czech Republic), 2009
Official selection, Vancouver International Film Festival (Vancouver, Canada), 2009
Official selection, Festival do Rio (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 2009
Official selection, Leeds International Film Festival (Leeds, UK), 2009
Official selection, Cork Film Festival (Cork, Ireland), 2009
Official selection, Spokane International Film Festival (Spokane, USA), 2010
Official selection, Französischen Filmtagen (Tübingen-Stuttgart, Germany), 2009
Official selection, This Human World (Vienna, Austria), 2009
Official selection, À nous de voir (Oullins, France), 2009
Official selection, FCIU (Montevideo, Uruguay), 2009
Official selection, FICFA (Moncton, Canada), 2009
Official selection, Festival O.F.N.I. (Poithiers, France), 2009
Official selection, Festival de cinéma des trois Amériques (Québec, Canada), 2009
Official selection, Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois, 2009
Official selection, Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal, 2008

Drawing upon the thinking and analysis of many renowned intellectuals, this documentary sketches a portrait of neoliberal ideology and examines the various mechanisms used to impose its dictates throughout the world.

Trop c’est assez
(Too Much Is Enough)
documentary, 1995, 111 mins., 16mm, colour and B&W

M. Joan Chalmers Award for Best Canadian Documentary, 1996

Official selection, Arsenals Film Festival, Riga, Latvia, 1996
Official selection, Figuera da Foz Film Festival, Portugal, 1996
Official selection, Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois, 1995

Trop c'est assez pays homage to Gilles Groulx (1931-1994), considered by many to be one of Quebec's most important and original filmmakers. Tragically, Groulx's career was cut short in 1981 after he was seriously injured in a car accident. From 1989 to 1994, Richard Brouillette met regularly with Groulx, recording the latter's thoughts on his work and life. Trop c'est assez combines footage from these sessions, excerpts from Groulx's films and interviews Groulx gave while at the peak of his career.

Carpe Diem
(Segment of the feature-length group film, Un film de cinéastes) experimental, 1995, 5 mins., 16mm, B&W

Opening night film, Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois, 1995 Official selection, Visions du réel, Nyon, Switzerland, 1995

“A film cannot be written, it must be picked, like fruit.” A short manifesto, inspired by Dziga Vertov and Gilles Groulx.