Montreal filmmaker debuts ‘Rexistence’ documentary at the National Film Board

The Montreal National Film Board (NFB), in partnership with local filmmaker Will Prosper, debuted his new short documentary on Monday at the NFB Space.

The nine minute film uses Canadian archival footage to address key themes around systemic violence, memory and resilience.

“This movie is going to give you a reaction no matter what, and no matter where you’re from or your place in society, it’s going to give you a reaction,” said Prosper. “There’s over 400 images or archives, all different. And from the 1960s to all the way to 2020 as well. So, it’s really a lot of work, creative process to try to figure out, tell a story, because it’s almost like you’re getting bombarded with different images and it’s fast-paced.

“We were basically building a short film to begin with, and it was to also kind of replicate the type of media we see right now on Instagram and TikTok,” said Pierre-Mathieu Fortin, producer at National Film Board. “It was basically to kind of have this form of storytelling and while using the material that we had handy at the National Film Board.”

Having become extremely familiar with the NFB’s archives after an internship, and in the midst of a full-blown Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, Prosper says he felt compelled to start a condensed retelling of black history in Montreal, Quebec and Canada.

“I’m sending a little bit of a message from time to time on the different parts,” said Prosper. “So, you’ll see like, okay, it’s not just images being placed there back after back-to-back. There’s a reason, there’s something behind it.”

By arranging older black and white archives paired with newer footage from cellphones, Prosper says his goal is to start a conversation about history and to get people thinking about what has changed or what hasn’t changed.

“History is repeating itself,” said Prosper. “And why history is repeating itself is because we’re not taking a look or not having the right conversation to talk about or to tackle. So, if you take a look at that movie, I hope that’s what it’s going to generate. And that’s why we’re trying to have that conversation afterwards. Just for people to understand where it came from, what’s the idea behind it, and what it should be a conversation started.”

To facilitate conversations on these key themes, the event also included a panel discussion and a guided dialogue on the well-being of black communities.

“The message, I guess, is that history is always in the making and I always keep saying that at the film board we also, we do have a lot of archives, but we’re also shooting today to build the archives of tomorrow,” said Fortin.

For prosper, the one message he would like people to take from his short documentary, is to be empathic.

“I think in this society, especially with everything that’s going on right now, I think we have a lack of empathy, and that’s what I want you to come out with when you see this movie,” said Prosper.