Ciné Gael Montréal Irish Film Series 2022 ...our 30th

100 min - Dir: Matt Bissonnette; Screenplay By: Matt Bissonnette, inspired by the songs of Leonard Cohen with: Gabriel Byrne, Jessica Paré, Brian Gleeson, and Carolina Bartczak

:: Guest Speaker: Matt Bissonnette, Montréaler, film director and screenwriter

ORIGINAL-CIN: Matt, you are no stranger to Leonard Cohen’s work. What was the inspiration for, Death of A Ladies Man?
MATT BISSONETTE: It really sprang out of the narrative and the things we wanted to talk about, which is essentially bridging the gap between fantasy and reality or between desire and reality. I think that's something that Cohen, in a very meaningful but also humorous way, struggled with or labored with for his entire career. So it just seemed natural for me to take this route. Also, being from Montreal I have that hometown affiliation to Cohen that's been with me ever since I was a kid. [read balance of interview] - OriginalCIN  [Bonnie Laufer]

"Cohen's songs do what they're meant to, adding insight, beauty and melancholy to this quietly potent blend of comedy and drama." - Concrete Playground [Sarah Ward]

"Byrne's most remarkable achievement lies in the fact he never allows Samuel's incurable self-absorption to become boring." - Sydney Morning Herald [Sandra Hall]

Samuel O'Shea, a university professor of poetry, exuberant womanizer and enthusiastic drinker has seen better days. His second marriage is ending, and his wife and children are at their wits' end with him. More disturbingly, he has begun seeing things: Frankenstein sidles up to the bar and strangers sing and dance to Leonard Cohen tunes.
His much missed father, who died when Samuel was just a boy, pops up for chats. At first Samuel thinks it could be the drink, or perhaps he's just crazy or over-imaginative, but then learns he has a brain tumor.
Reflecting on the life he has lived, Samuel retreats to his family shack in remote Ireland, where he begins work on that great novel he always meant to write, and generally take stock.
Surprisingly, or not, he meets and falls in love with a local woman, who is full of unexpected ideas. All this leads Samuel to an utterly unforeseeable happy ending. [RottenTomatoes]

:: Guest Speakers: G. Scott MacLeod, filmmaker and artist
   Dr. Matthew Barlow, historian

Griffintown: A People's History - Episode 1
(23:42 mins animation with film)   Written and Directed by Dr. Matthew Barlow and G. Scott MacLeod

"The Death and Life of Griffintown:21 Stories is MacLeod's visualization of the stories written and told by Irish historian Matthew Barlow. They were inspired by historic sites, some of which are no longer, in the southwestern area of the city still known as Griffintown, though now more famous for upscale restaurants and condos than the working class."
 (click for entire article)  Montreal Gazette [Kevin Tierney]

These original 21 short films created by Barlow and MacLeod have been remolded into a four episode series of films. Tonight we'll see the premiere of the first episode, Indigenous Lands, First Settlers and Irish Immigration.

In his four-part series, Griffintown – A People's History, director G. Scott MacLeod films noted author and historian Dr. Matthew Barlow on location as he recounts the fascinating social history of Griffintown, a once-thriving industrial neighbourhood of predominantly working class Irish and French Canadians just south of downtown Montreal.

Episode 1 of the series, Indigenous Lands, First Settlers and Irish Immigration, explores the birth of the community from its habitation by indigenous peoples through French and Irish settlement, the building of the Lachine Canal and the accompanying industrial boom, and the summer of sorrow in 1847 when 6,000 Irish immigrants died of typhus at Windmill Point.

The Irishman - Child of the Gael
(20 mins, animation)  Dir: G. Scott MacLeod, narrated by Mike Burns

Our narrator Sean recounts his maternal and paternal ancestors' dramatic immigrant experiences in Canada from the 1800s to the early 20th century. Fleeing desperate conditions in Ireland, survival in the new world is a struggle of a different sort, involving quarantine, isolation and backbreaking employment, building the Victoria Bridge, constructing the railways and canals that will open Canada's frontiers to trade and settlement.

Montreal filmmaker G. Scott MacLeod fuses rich pencil animation with new digital media to provide a deeply moving depiction of an iconic early Canadian immigrant experience.

Written and narrated by Mike Burns, a celebrated Montreal storyteller, here is the story of thousands of Irish immigrants to this country who arrived to unthinkable conditions and who went on to build the very roads and railways that made prosperity possible.

Q&A after films
Moderated by a team from CTV, Randy Renaud and Christine Long