''Where I'm From'' (Original French title: ''D'où je viens'') is a 2014
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...
documentary by , exploring his childhood in the working class city of
Verdun, Quebec
Verdun (; , ) is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, located in the southwestern part of the island.
Long known as a working class neighbourhood, it has experienced significant gentrification and social change in the 21 ...
and contrasting his experiences with life today in Verdun, now a multi-cultural borough of
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
.
''Where I'm From'' focuses on two neighbourhood boys who serve as stand-ins for Demers as a child, as well as a variety of local characters. The film explores the changing face of Verdun as well as the filmmaker's anger and unhappiness as a child, due in part to his being adopted. The film also explores the powerful role that the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
, which borders Verdun, has played in his own imaginative life growing up, as well as the lives of the children in his film.
Demers has stated that it also represented a creative risk to make a documentary film not based on interviews, as he had previously done, but rather a personal film that attempts to see life through the eyes of child.
Demers, who now lives in Mile End, Montreal, rented an apartment in his old neighbourhood for three months to regain a feel for the neighbourhood as he planned his shoot. During that process, five key themes emerged that became central to the film, according to the director: "Childhood. The relationship with nature. Faith. The words. And struggle. That was my guideline."
Trilogy
The film completed a trilogy of documentary works by Demers—previously a fiction filmmaker— that he was inspired to make after finally meeting his biological mother. She has told him that his biological father was Italian, which inspired a film about traditional Montreal barbers, many of whom were from Italy, entitled ''Barbiers – Une histoire d'hommes''. Demers' follow up film, ''Les dames en bleu'', was about Quebec singer
Michel Louvain
Michel Louvain, (July 12, 1937April 14, 2021) was a Canadian singer most popular in the 1960s and 1970s.
and his legion of mostly female fans from his mother's generation.
Release
The film had its world premiere at
International Film Festival Rotterdam
The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental fi ...
, followed by the Canadian documentary film festivals
RIDM
The Montreal International Documentary Festival (french: Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montreal) is a Canadian documentary film festival, staged annually in Montreal, Quebec.
In English, the festival now goes by the name Montreal I ...
and
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 ...
. It had its theatrical premiere at
Excentris
Excentris was a performing arts center and cinema located on Saint-Laurent Boulevard in Montreal, Quebec. The complex was conceived by Daniel Langlois
Daniel Langlois (born 1957 in Jonquière) is the president and founder of the Daniel Langlois ...
in Montreal and Cinema Le Clap in Quebec City on December 26, 2014.
The film received a
Canadian Screen Award
The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...