Caroline Monnet is an

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of C ...

French and Canadian contemporary artist and filmmaker known for her work in sculpture, installation, and film.

Early life and education

Monnet is a multidisciplinary contemporary artist and filmmaker based in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. She grew up in both

Douarnenez Douarnenez (, ; meaning ''douar'' (land) ''an enez'' (the island) or land of the island), is a commune in the French department of Finistère, region of Brittany, northwestern France. It is located at the mouth of the Pouldavid River, an estua ...

, France, and

Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts, the municipality of Cantley, Quebec, Cantley and the Papineau Regional County Municipal ...

, Canada. Her father emigrated to Canada from France, and Monnet has French citizenship through him. Her mother is Canadian and a member of the Kitigan Zibi First Nation. She is the younger sister of artist and playwright Émilie Monnet. Monnet has B.A in communications and sociology from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

and has studied at the

University of Granada The University of Granada (, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Apart from the city of Granad ...

in Spain. She is an alumnus of the

Berlinale Talents Berlinale Talents, formerly Berlinale Talent Campus, is the talent development programme of the Berlin International Film Festival (also called Berlinale). An annual summit and networking platform for 200 outstanding creatives from the fields of ...

and TIFF Talent Lab 2016.

Career

Much of her work explores her Algonquin (Quebec) and French (France) heritage. Monnet began her film career making short films. In 2010, Caroline Monnet released the short film ''Warchild'', which made its debut at the Présence Authochtone Montréal First Peoples' Festival in August 2011. In 2012, Monnet released ''Gephyrophobia'', a short film about two individuals sharing the Outaouais River that was featured at Talent Tout court at

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. In 2014, Monnet's short film, ''The Black Case'', was screened at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival; this piece uses inspiration from real events to demonstrate the unbearable traumas experienced in residential schools. She was nominated for a

Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards () 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) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

for Best Short Drama for ''

Roberta Roberta is a feminine version of the given names Robert and Roberto. It is a Germanic name derived from the stems *hrod meaning "famous", "glorious", "godlike" and *berht meaning "bright", "shining", "light". People with the name *Roberta Achtenbe ...

'' (2014) and Best Short Documentary for '' Tshiuetin'' (2016). In 2015, released a short film, ''Mobilize'', which uses old footage from the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

archives, set to a score by Tanya Tagaq. She won a Golden Sheaf Award at the

Yorkton Film Festival Yorkton Film Festival (YFF) is an annual film festival held in late May in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council (YFC) was founded and in 1950 the first international documentary film festival officially opened in we ...

for Best Experimental Film for ''Mobilize''. Her first feature film entitled ''Bootlegger'' produced by Microclimat Films was selected for both CineMart and Berlinale Co-Production Market 2016. She was the first Canadian filmmaker selected for the 33rd session of the prestigious

's Cinéfondation residency in Paris (from October 2016 to February 2017). Monnet is also a founding member of the Aboriginal digital arts collective ITWÉ. In 2017, Monnet released her documentary entitled ''Emptying the Tank'' through

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

. In 2019, she was one of seven directors, alongside Kaveh Nabatian, Juan Andrés Arango,

Sophie Deraspe Sophie Deraspe (born October 27, 1973) is a Canadian director, scenarist, director of photography and producer. Prominent in new Quebec cinema, she is known for a 2015 documentary ''The Amina Profile'', an exploration of the Amina Abdallah Arraf ...

Karl Lemieux Karl Lemieux is a Canadian film director best known for his collaborations with Montreal-based post rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor and his 2016 film ''Shambles''. Biography Karl Lemieux joined Godspeed You! Black Emperor in 2010 – when ...

, Ariane Lorrain and Sophie Goyette, to direct segments of the anthology film ''The Seven Last Words (Les sept dernières paroles)''. Monnet is one of the co-founders of ''

daphne Daphne (; ; , , ), a figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in which she appears, but t ...

,'' the first Indigenous artist-run centre in Québec, along with

Skawennati Skawennati is a First Nations (Kahnawake, Kahnawakeronon) multimedia artist, best known for her online works as well as Machinima that explore contemporary Indigenous cultures, and what Indigenous life might look like in futures inspired by scie ...

, Hannah Claus and Nadia Myre.

Artistry and style

Monnet is primarily a self-taught artist. This allows her to approach her art with a level of freedom and naivety. Although Monnet wishes she had returned to school to pursue her arts, she strongly believes that the most valuable lessons are not taught in school. She is widely known for her sculpting, work in film and installation. Monnet's work in film, painting, and sculpture deals with complex ideas around Indigenous identity and bicultural living through the examination of cultural histories. She is interested in themes of identity, representation, and modernity. Monnet has made a signature for working with industrial materials, combining the vocabulary of popular and traditional visual culture with the tropes of modernist abstraction to create unique hybrid forms.

Exhibitions

Her works have been exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris) and Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), as part of Rencontres Internationales (Paris/Berlin/Madrid), Axenéo7, Plug in ICA, Arsenal Montréal, Arsenal Contemporary NY, Walter Phillips Gallery, Winnipeg Art Gallery, McCord Museum, and Museum of Contemporary Art (Montréal) among others.

Awards

* Canadian Screen Awards for Best Short Drama for ''

'' (2014) * Best Short Documentary for '' Tshiuetin'' (2016) * Golden Sheaf Award at the Yorkton Film Festival for Best experimental film for ''Mobilize'' (2016)

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Monnet, Caroline 1985 births Living people Artists from Montreal Film directors from Montreal Canadian women film directors First Nations filmmakers Place of birth missing (living people) Canadian multimedia artists Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg people First Nations women writers Canadian women screenwriters 21st-century Canadian women artists 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century First Nations writers