''Antoine'' is a 2008

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by Laura Bari. The film features a 5-year old blind boy named Antoine Houang, living in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

. It tells the real and imaginary life of Antoine, a boy detective who runs, drives, makes decisions, hosts radio shows and adores simultaneous telephone conversations. Over the course of two years, he uses a mini-boom microphone to discover and capture the sounds surrounding him. In this manner he also co-created the soundtrack of the film.

Synopsis

The film opens with a shot of a five-year-old using a braille typewriter to describe in great detail how he became blind at birth. The next scene is Antoine receiving a phone call from Madame Rouski, who dissolved into the water while taking a shower. Antoine's mission is to find Madame Rouski. Equipped with his two best friends and a mini boom microphone to help him find clues, Antoine spends two years of his life locating her. Is she in the yellow daffodils, in the air, in Vietnam, or has she turned into a monster?

Festivals

Thessaloniki Documentary Festival The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (TDF) is an international documentary festival held every March in Thessaloniki, Greece. TDF, founded in 1999, features competition sections and ranks among the world's leading documentary festivals. Since 20 ...

, Greece (March 2009) *

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

, New York, USA (April 2009) * EBS International Documentary Festival, Seoul, South Korea (Septembre 2009) *

Reykjavík International Film Festival Reykjavík International Film Festival (RIFF; is, Alþjóðleg kvikmyndahátíð í Reykjavík ) is an international film festival held annually in Reykjavík, Iceland. The festival lasts 11 days each year and emphasizes young talents. One way o ...

, Iceland (September 2009) *

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Fest ...

, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (October 2009) *

San Diego Asian Film Festival The San Diego Asian Film Festival ( SDAFF) is an annual event organized by Pacific Arts Movement (formerly the San Diego Asian Film Foundation) that takes place every November in San Diego, California. Background SDAFF is the flagship event for ...

, San Diego, USA (October 2009) *

DOK Leipzig DOK Leipzig is a documentary film festival that takes place every year in Leipzig, Germany. It is an international film festival for documentary and animated film founded in 1955 under the name "1st All-German Leipzig Festival of Cultural and Doc ...

, Germany (November 2009) *

Sheffield Doc/Fest Sheffield DocFest (formerly styled Sheffield Doc/Fest), short for Sheffield International Documentary Festival (SIDF), is an international documentary festival and Marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England. The Festival includes film sc ...

, Sheffield, United Kingdom (November 2009) *

Mar del Plata Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata) is an international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature fest ...

, Argentina (November 2009) *

Gothenburg Film Festival Göteborg Film Festival (GFF), formerly Göteborg International Film Festival (GIFF), known in English as the Gothenburg Film Festival, formerly Gothenburg International Film Festival, is an annual film festival in Gothenburg, Sweden and the larg ...

, Sweden (February 2010)

Awards

*Special jury mention in the "doctape award" category Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montreal (RIDM), Montreal, (November 2008) * Lindalee Tracey Award,

Hot Docs The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

, Toronto (May 2009) *First Special Jury Prize, for Emotions Pictures, Athens, Greece (June 2009) *Honor Prize for Best Experimental Documentary, Docupolis, Barcelona (September 2009)

References

External links

''Antoine'' Official websiteHotDocs page on ''Antoine''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Antoine 2008 directorial debut films 2008 documentary films 2008 films Canadian documentary films Documentary films about blind people Documentary films about children with disability EyeSteelFilm films Films set in Montreal Films shot in Montreal Quebec films French-language Canadian films 2000s Canadian films