La Cartomancie du Territoire (Foretelling the Land) Dir: Philippe Ducros

La Cartomancie de Territoire (Foretelling the Land) is a documentary that is one part video essay in contrast to images of the natural landscape of First Nation reservations, as the documentary interviews members of the First Nations as they try to reconcile with the past and look towards their future. This is what makes this documentary powerful and poetic at the same time, with an emotional grip that will hold the audience. Arising from several stays in First Nations and Inuit communities, the film examines our connection to both Indigenous and natural reserves, exploring themes of colonization, land and thought. Through testimonies gathered during a long, snow-covered road trip, La cartomancie du territoire (Foretelling the Land) raises a fundamental question: how can the history of First Nations help us reinvent our paradigms, as individuals and as a society, in light of the responsibilities we bear toward our land and shared destiny?

Remi from At The Movies had a chance to chat with film director Philippe Ducros about his documentary.

Remi: Thank you for your time today, and congratulations on the movie. I guess we can start at the beginning. What pushed you or inspired you in your life to get started on this documentary project, and how did you envision it at the beginning? Was it the same vision you wanted to get at the very end, or did you discover something more?

Philippe Ducros: We live in Quebec on plundered land. The First Nations and Inuit live in third-world conditions in this Canada that is cited as an example of human rights. And the ethnocide is almost complete. We French Quebeckers, descendants of settlers who were in turn conquered, take refuge in a narrative of victim identity. We tell ourselves that others perpetrated the massacres, in another era. But what is the situation today, with this cultural and economic pillaging of the First Peoples? With this violence? 

Systemic racism is rife in Quebec and unfortunately, its repercussions often prove fatal. For reconciliation to be possible, these truths must be unearthed and exposed. I felt the need for some introspection about the heritage we carry.

I am a playwriter. I had done a whole cycle around the occupation of Palestine for which I travelled to the region on six different occasions, including three trips to Israel and occupied Palestine. I did another one on the implications of the mining industry in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the conflict with the highest death rate since WW2. Again to write, I climbed aboard a UN flight to the war zone in eastern Congo.

I had written about colonialism. For my work to be honest, I had to look at the colonialism made on the land where I live, Québec.

So I did the same. I went to visit certain First Nations communities in Quebec, just as I had done in occupied Palestine, Israel, the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere for my other projects. Foretelling the Land (La cartomancie du territoire) is the result of this research. Composed of testimonies by Indigenous people and texts ranging from intimate thoughts to geopolitical reflections, it takes the form of a road trip on routes 132 and 138, which border the St. Lawrence River.

I had no perceived ideas on how things would turn out… When in Palestine or Israel, or in Congo, as a Canadian, I have an image of neutrality. Obviously, it is a lie, there is a bird sanctuary called The Stephen J. Harper Hula Valley Bird Sanctuary Visitor & Education Centre. We are not neutral. But we still carry the peaceful good country image of Canada. That is not possible in the First Nation communities. I am not the pedophile priest of the residential school. But the system of oppression built by them still favours me. So some doors remained closed, but others opened.

The issues addressed in the movie are delicate and fragile. Numerous ethical challenges marked the creation of this project and dictated its form. Putting myself at the heart of this journey allows me to situate my position: I am a white man seeking another way to see the world, a way that flows out of the land we live on. I am not a member of a First Nation, but colonization is a trademark of my culture. This is not a film about the First Nations, rather, it is about the colonialism specific to Western culture. It is a work of introspection that I believe is necessary.

The script was written following continuous work in various communities, based on respect and with the desire to listen. The text, taken from testimonies, was read and approved by the people interviewed. The result is a film with a mixed aesthetic, influenced by these cultural exchanges. It conveys a desire for contemplation and places emphasis on oral traditions, including an Indigenous language, presents the land as a character in its own right, shows the journey of the author as he seeks to understand and listen, and above all, ensures the presence of First Nations artists within the production team.

Remi: This documentary highlights some of the beauties of the natural landscape but also how barren some of the land has become, juxtaposed to interviews that can be seen as a video essay component that becomes very powerful and the emotional centre point of the film. Explain to us how both through the filming of the natural landscapes and the emotional testimonies as the video essay component create the voice or the dialogue of the film. Do you want audiences to have this same dialogue and in the hopes get emotionally invested in the film?

Philippe Ducros: In various encounters in the communities, while writing the scenario, many residential school survivors told me that healing would require a return to the land and a reappropriation of their language. Through their words, through the vision of the world and the imagination that they carry, and through the traditions linked to the land, dignity takes on new life and meaning. It gives shape to the very identity of these nations. The land and the language therefore serve as an axis for the aesthetics of the film.

Always in the foreground, the images of the land immerse the spectators in the northern landscape, allowing us to see the land as a character in its own right. The words are largely delivered in voice-over, in introspective mode. It thus serves as a powerful counterweight to the contemplative aspect of the images: we follow the interior journey of the character, who is tiny in the immensity of the land.

I wanted the land to become a character in itself; I wanted to see what it had to say on its own. There are not a lot of Indigenous people in the images of this land; it is to the image of the reality. Genocide has occurred. But they remain… They survived. So they are there in flesh and dignity at the very end.

Remi: As this documentary was started in 2015 do you feel that there is still a long way to go for the reconciliation towards the First Nations and their communities? If so must steps must we take and what do you feel that we should do on an environmental level to protect the land of the reservations?

Philippe Ducros: We talked a lot about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission… But before there is reconciliation, truth has to be common knowledge shared between all Canadians. Yet we are not there. The Canadian Liberal government admitted systemic racism. But didn’t do much… There are more than 600 First Nations communities in Canada, and around 200 of them still have problems accessing drinkable water.

As for the land, the same government purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline for $4.7 billion, even though it runs through unceded Indigenous land, even though we need a radical shift in our relationship with fossil energy. The whole country’s economy is built of laws still rooted in the dominion, all favouring extraction. We have this illusion that the country is an ocean of trees that goes endlessly. But it's really an industrial worksite, right up to the 52nd parallel. And again, Canada is a legal haven for the mining industry in the same way some countries are tax havens. Alain Deneault wrote tons about this.

Remi: Our show highlights the scores and the soundtracks to cinema. What was the process like of collaborating with Florent Vollant and Larsen Lupin when it came to the score and or soundtrack to the film?

Philippe Ducros: Florent composed the music for the documentary Le temps d’une chasse directed by Eli Laliberté, our DOP, except for the last music, « Nenantuapmanan », written by Florent Vollant and André Lachance (featuring Shauit). Larsen Lupin had access to all the tracks, of all the different instruments, and moved them around to fit the images.

Remi: Thank you so much for your time today. Our final question is since we are nearing the end of the year which film have you seen this year that has left an emotional impact on your life, new or old, that you must tell everyone to seek out?

Philippe Ducros: The first film that comes to my mind is The salt of the Earth by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado around the works of Salgado's father, the Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado. Salgado is an incredible artist. And as I did, he struck a wall in the Great Lake’s region of Africa. Him it was Rwanda, me Congo. But He managed to change his life to overcome this breakdown, transforming land into hope. I don't want to spoil the end but it is just fabulous.

Upcoming special English-language screening:

·         Cinéma du Musée – Montreal: December 6 (7:00 PM)
This screening includes subtitles for an English-speaking audience, offering a wider public the chance to experience this deeply resonant and essential film. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the director, Philippe Ducros.

Upcoming screenings in the original French version:

·         Cinéma Public – Montreal: November 24 (1:00 PM), November 29 (4:00 PM)

·         Cinéma du Musée – Montreal: Starting December 7

·         Cinéma Moderne – Montreal: December 7 (4:30 PM)

·         La maison du cinéma – Sherbrooke: December 15 (12:30 PM)

Further screenings to be announced soon.