Young Montreal filmmakers release short film that addresses violence

A group of young people from Montreal’s Parc-Extension released a short film that tackles issues of violence.

The Centre Jeunesse Unie released “MÉTAMORPHOSE en 3 temps,” a film that addresses sexual, physical and psychological violence.

“Were really proud of ourselves. It was actually like a dream come true for all of us,” said Nazifa Choudhury, one of the actors in the film.

The film, which premiered in December, is supposed to be a reflection of what some young people living in Parc-Extension, one of Canada’s poorest neighborhoods, have experienced.

“I want them to have a good idea of their life in Parc-Extension and I want them to learn that you can change with your friends and people that you talk to,” said Wail Monthy, another young actor in the film.

The City of Montreal funded the project through a program called, “Par et pour les jeunes.” The initiative is to support projects led by young people for young people.

“We all sat down together and wrote the script [as] a team. There was no special person…who wrote it…everybody worked on it,” said Nandika Gupta, an actor in the film.

The project was guided by Jeunesse Unie’s cinema teacher, Etienne Langlois, who was also the director of the film.

“We are aiming to put it in festivals and making a few presentations in schools, in high schools in Montreal and around the province of Quebec as well,” said Langlois.

The movie not only has a strong message, but some of the actors themselves learned something new.

“I learned that we could be easily influenced by friends and because we use social media, we can be influenced by anyone so we have to beware,” said another actor, Salomon Fremont.