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Filmmakers from ethnocultural communities were finally able in the 1970s and 1980s to carve out a place for themselves within the National Film Board of Canada. They used their new forum to make films about their own communities or other communities grappling with similar issues. Since the 1990s, some of these filmmakers have opted for a different approach.

Their works are more personal, more intimate. Instead of training their lenses on their respective communities and portraying members of their ethnocultural groups, no matter how accurately, they have begun to focus on themselves, to make their inner voices heard and tell their personal tales.

By telling their own stories and those of people close to them, these filmmakers have become the main protagonists of their own works. In order to get their thoughts and feelings across, they have gone back to narration, a long-standing documentary tradition, somewhat neglected in recent years in favour of dialogue taped during film shoots. Written and sometimes read by the filmmaker, narration is a way of creating a confidential tone, as if the narrator were speaking directly to an audience member or a friend.

When they become the central characters of their works, filmmakers generally make a physical appearance on-screen. Some of them do it discreetly, by having themselves filmed from a distance or from behind, making their presence felt instead of showing themselves. Others prefer indirect methods like photographs or animated sequences, while some filmmakers are completely open about their on-screen presence and allow the lens to track their every movement; in some cases they even speak directly to the camera.

This approach means that, more than ever, the vantage point is inside the filmmaker’s community. While it is true that some filmmakers make no claim to speak for other members of their ethnocultural groups, their films nonetheless tell the story of people in their communities. It is important to point out, however, that their messages are not limited to the members of their respective communities: their films can reach all filmgoers, regardless of their origin. Given the personal nature of this type of documentary, the confidential narrative tone and the filmmaker’s on-screen presence, audiences can identify with the protagonist and enjoy direct access to the issues. In short, these filmmakers strive to achieve the universal by focusing on the personal and individual, to tell their own story in order to convey that of other people.

In the 1980s, the Lebanese civil war forced filmmaker Pierre Sidaoui to leave Abey, the small town where he grew up. In 2001, he made A Scent of Mint, a highly personal film in which he remembers his beloved home town. He talked to us about his approach.

Q) In your initial proposal you explained that you wanted to discuss your personal experience and then expand to something more universal in your film. How did you achieve this?

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