A documentary portrayal of a generation of Canadian secondary school students, shot in the spirit of Frederick Wiseman’s studies of social institutions.
A time between childhood and adulthood where boundaries are tested and overstepped. One day they’re still drawing tattoos on their arms with felt tips, the next smoking marihuana between lessons. This particular aspect of their daily reality – breaking rules, discipline problems at school and conflicts with other students – shines through in the long conversations conducted between the adolescents and their social workers. The school is less interesting in this context as an educational institution than as society’s last chance of having an impact on its young. This is where the moral guidelines for living together in society are laid out for them.
»The film is not a portrait of a group of individuals. It is rather the portrait of a generation, through the alternation of very intimate moments, where one comes into contact with other individuals, and others, larger and speechless, which act as intakes of air. I was looking for a way to capture adolescence, the moments of truth, very quickly, without having to create a special relationship with the youth. The encounters offered me this opportunity. Because faced with life’s difficulties, they readily forget the camera.« (Jean-François Caissy)
Jean-François Caissy
Born in 1977, in the village of Saint-Omer in Québec, Caissy studied photography in Matane. His photos have been featured in various galleries and museums around the world. In 2003, he founded his own production company and in 2005 produced and directed his first documentary feature, Mating Season. His subsequent films, Journey's End and Guidelines, have both screened in the Berlin Film Festival’s Forum section.
filmography
2005 La saison des amours (Mating Season) (documentary)
2010 La belle visite (Journey's End) (documentary)
2014 La marche à suivre (Guidelines)