Here is a draft of the program notes I wrote for the screening of films by Dianne Ouellette I curated for the Filmpool that screened at the Artesian in Regina:
Dianne Ouellette Retrospective, October 25, 2012
Dianne Ouellette Retrospective, October 25, 2012
From the first time I saw Dianne
Ouellette's films, I was humbled. Even her earliest films had an incredible elegance
and depth. She has always kept her techniques relatively simple; image with
sound, but her instinct for combining these elements defies imitation.
In searching for Dianne's
secrets, I have looked more than once at what she says about her own work, especially
her earlier artist statements. Two factors emerge within Dianne's self
analysis. The first is an admission of how long the project took to create with
an inevitable apology for the film's late release. This type of rationalization
has previously always seemed like Dianne's method of avoiding talking about the
more personal aspects of the films, her brave, soul-searching content, but
instead to safely redirect discussion towards the filmmaking process. The
second factor I found was for Dianne to discuss her films in terms of their
importance as documents of her family and family history. Again, a deflection
exists as she shifts authorship away from herself and onto the individual
subjects. I now wonder if my own dismissal of Dianne's self critique has been
too quick. History, time, and aging are central to Dianne's discussion of her
work as well as being central to the work itself. Her criticism of the time it takes to create
this work, the delay and distance between the shooting of the subject and the
exhibition to the audience, is a curious obsession. This possible thematic element
has become important to me when considered alongside evidence of my own viewing
experiences as I revisit her films through the filter of time. An acute
awareness of the events on-screen existing in the past within a confined chronological period is reinforced through the
discussion of production schedules and delays. We know that these events
happened and we also know that events must have continued afterwards. In
Brechtian fashion, we are not only aware that we are watching a film, we are
also aware that the filmic events did not conclude with the completion of the
project.
Age and experience cast new
light on all art. In revisiting Dianne's films, I am seeing something new and
surprisingly fresh in these images and voices. I still stand by my 2007 Splice
Magazine analysis of her films as "memory presented as fluid and sometimes
frozen through the use of formal conventions" and that "time stops
just as memory obsesses over single moments, ignoring all others". Five years later, I still see Dianne as a
master at using film as a manipulation of time, but now, more than ever, I see
her as an author of memory. She does not hold back; issues of death, regret, and
sorrow mix with love, joy, and fun. With first impressions, Dianne's films
strike the viewer as being more about melancholy than amusement. On multiple
viewing, especially when viewings are broken up by large periods of time, the oppositional
forces of her life appear to slowly merge into one. Dianne shows us her life,
not as a series of historical moments, tragic hardships, or romantic trysts but
rather as an amalgamation of events, each intertwined and indebted to the last.
This is what cinema is best at, showing
a flow rather than a snapshot. Life does not have a decisive moment, it
has blurred moments that are a bit of this and a bit of that. We sometimes
choose to remember only the good or only the bad, but Dianne will be there
reminding us that we live in a blurry place that cannot be so easily contained.
Dianne shows us her life so that
we can better see our own. She uses the camera as a mirror and then challenges
us to gaze at ourselves. We look at Dianne's life, and ultimately at our own
lives, as an unsolvable conundrum of sadness and elation. Her bravery makes us
all better people. Yes, it may be that the creation of these films is cathartic
for Dianne herself, but in making them so public, presenting them on film to be
communally shared, a new catharsis is formed which allows strangers to begin
down their own paths of self discovery.
- Gerald Saul,
curator, October 2012
december (11 minutes, 16mm, 1997)
This was
Dianne's second film and the first in which she truly embraced her now
trademark style ; using direct address audio commentary alongside casual,
almost home-movie-like film clips. Dianne discusses her own life and her
relationship with her mother as she struggles with entering adulthood.
Ashes (7 minutes, 16mm, 2005)
Full of
music and journeys, this visually powerful film features Dianne's uncle as he
attempts to deal with the memory of his late wife. Amidst the melancholy
background of photographs and the cemetery, brightly lit carrousels still spin
and the cycle of life and renewal is constantly in motion.
sigh (9 minutes, 16mm, 2001)
This deeply
symbolic film uses an image of a horse, it's grace and freedom confined by the
slow motion process of filmmaking, to consider the illusion of emotion.
Included here as a representation of how Dianne uses film to poetically come to
terms with her own life and personal issues.
1971 (3 minutes, super-8, 2008)
Dianne
features her grandfather whose voice-over narration describes meeting his wife and
how she eventually runs off, abandoning him for another more flamboyant man.
The film challenges our trust of memory and the stories we hear when the images
of a prone body suggest a different, far less romantic end to this story.
Aurthur (3 minutes, super-8, 2005)
A day in the
life of new puppy; its energetic and spontaneous life captured with a
controlled and steady camera. The dog finds conflict even though the film is
without a story.
Departure (3 minutes, super-8, 2003)
This film
combines moments of old television shows with film of Dianne's sister in the
process of packing. It epitomizes the
fusion of the everyday with the momentous events which punctuate our lives as
Alison prepares for a life-changing departure. Mass media, indifferent to the
events of its viewers, punctuate the process with irony and wit.
Bootalicious (3 minutes, super-8, 2010)
Bold,
strong, and fun, this film has always seemed like the best portrait Dianne ever
did of herself.
Summer (45 minutes, digital, 2007) PREMIERE
With this
complex weaving of events, voices, and images Dianne attempts to document her
sister's struggle with a bi-polar disorder. The borders of time and history are
drawn increasingly into question as Dianne blurs the events of the past and
present, drawing upon images from her previous films and asking questions that
do not yet have answers.
Gerald Saul,
curator, is a long time member of the Saskatchewan Filmpool and a professor in
the Department of Media Production and Studies at the University of Regina.
Dianne
Ouellette - Artist Statement
Film
for me is about memory. As life unfolds,
so do the stories in my completed
works. My work is a reflection of my experiences and
memories. Themes of love and loss flow
through many of my films. Feelings of nostalgia come forth in the works with
grainy images created with super 8 and 16mm film; as the images dancing on
screen seem to be from some far away time like a distant familiar memory.
I
have found that throughout the years of public screenings that viewers watch my
films and reflect upon their own lives relating with their own life
experiences. There is a lot of sadness in the reflected images of my films, but
there is also humor and happiness. There is a definite mix of emotions, even
for myself when re-watching them years later.
"december"
tells the story of life, death and turning thirty. "sIgh" tells the
story of failed relationships in contrast to the 50 year marriage of my
grandparents. "Ashes" is a reflection of mortality through my
grandfather's grief over the death of his wife and the most recent death of his
son who once told me the secret of life. All these films are a reflection of
life so far and all the expectations that are to come with aging.
All
of my super 8 films were created for the "One-Take Super 8 event"
held annually in Regina.. "Aurthur" is a silent film that introduces
my new puppy from years ago. "1971" is the story my grandfather tells
about my biological grandmother who I never knew. In my Grandfather's mind she
ran off with a movie director from Hollywood; when in fact she was found
murdered on a street in Edmonton in 1971. "Bootalicious" is a
bittersweet goodbye to the trucker I once dated. "Departure" is a
step from the craziness that the cards of life had dealt as my sister and I
depart on a journey to England to work on my film "Summer".
Lastly,
"Summer" is my documentary that was completed in 2006, but sat on a
shelf collecting dust until now. It tells the story of my stepfather and sister
who were both diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the summer of 2002. I wasn't
ready to show the documentary until recently. It's a personal story about my
family and the struggle we went through to get well.
I
look back on my work with great sadness at times because so much has changed
since I started creating my work. I have lost my grandmother, who we see waving
goodbye to me in "sIgh". I have lost my Uncle who we see playing his
guitar in "Ashes" with my grandfather who could once play the violin.
I see my grandfather in so much of my work and now he sits in a nursing home
with no memory of his wife of 50 years, as he has Alzheimer's disease. Lastly,
I see my brother, Guy, in so many of my
films. He was killed in a rig accident almost 3 years ago. The last images of
my brother speaking on camera are in "Summer". For me this will
remain my memory of the way he looks and the way he sounded when he spoke.
Know
that through all the sadness that is expressed in my films there is true
happiness for having such a collection of work. "Life is good.", as
my sister, Allison concludes in "Summer".
Dianne
Ouellette - Biography
Dianne
Ouellette earned her BFA in Film and Video in 1995 and her BA in Theatre in
1993 from the University of Regina. She was born in Prince George, BC and as a
child moved to a small town in Saskatchewan. As well as being known as an
independent filmmaker, she has worked in the corporate training video world for
over 10 years. Within the film industry, she has been a producer, writer,
director, cinematographer, videographer, and editor. Dianne has served the
Saskatchewan Filmpool as its president and as the editor of Splice Magazine.
Her award winning films have been screened internationally in Paris, Croatia,
India, Italy, San Francisco, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Telluride, Vancouver,
Victoria, and Toronto.
