Blue Bear Woman

Claude Hamel

Canada | V.O. French | ST English | 2023 | 75 min | DCP | color | Documentary | World Premiere

Claude Hamel was amazed by the talents of Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau, a Quebec artist, painter, sculptor and storyteller who is Métis and Cree on her mother's side, and decided to devote a documentary to her. The Blue Bear symbolizes the two cultures Virginia carries and explores. Surveying the duality that inhabits us all, Virginia takes us back and forth from one shore to the other. We walk alongside her, our heavy hearts lightening with each step towards acceptance of what is, of what has shaped us. Virginia is Quebec, the very essence of this reconciliation with ourselves, with this métissage that is intrinsically synonymous with territory. It's a film about the beauty of a self-assumed artistic life.

Distribution
Director Claude Hamel
Music Claude Hamel, Marc Vallée
Cinematographer Claude Hamel
Screenplay Claude Hamel
Cast Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau, Joséphine Bacon, Andrée Lévesque Sioui, Louis-Karl Picard-Sioui, Christine Sioui Wawanoloath, Marc Vallée
Production Les Productions de l'Amarante
Distribution Les productions de l'Amarante

Biographie

Claude Hamel

Storyteller, author and musician Claude, originally from Abitibi-Témiscamingue, has created and produced eight illustrated tales recounting the history of the Eastern Townships, and has participated in numerous Quebec and international storytelling festivals. Since then, Claude has been writing, exploring and presenting traditional and historical tales, as well as life stories drawn from personal experience that have taken her from film sets to mythical locations around the world. A sound recordist for documentary cinema from 1986 to 2012, Claude has made three short films, followed in 2018 by a feature-length documentary, Territoire Ishkueu Territoire Femme, presented as part of our 37th Festival.