Newsletter no.1 — August 2023

Mission, Objectives and Projects

Co-directed by André Gaudreault, Santiago Hidalgo and Isabelle Raynauld, 
cinEXmedia studies how the cinematic experience functions, and its possible benefits for different groups, in particular children, the elderly, and people with a visual impairment, in various settings such as schools, hospitals, and at home. The partnership is a research infrastructure within the laboratoire CinéMédias at the Université de Montréal. It was founded in 2018, initially under the name CINEX.

The partnership also meets a crucial need, that of establishing a theoretical, historical and empirical approach to the creation of cinema experiences and audiovisual content for schools and health institutions. It also aims to study from an intersectoral perspective the underlying principles, such as rhythm, which structure these experiences.

You’re not yet familiar with the partnership’s mission and objectives? Consult our web page on the site of the laboratoire CinéMédias to learn more.

Inclusive Cinema Creation
Theory, History, Practice

During the summer term that just ended, Caroline Martin, a post-doctoral researcher associated with the partnership, taught the third and final course within the Inclusive Cinema Creation Traning (Formation en médias inclusifs). This course enabled undergraduate students in the Département d'histoire de l'art et d'études cinématographiques of the Université de Montréal to study and try out accessibility tools (audio description, video description, subtitling) for cinema and the visual arts. It introduced participants to inclusive creation (writing, scriptwriting, directing) using an intermedial and interdisciplinary approach.

Associated with the cinEXmedia partnership, this training program supported by the Broadcasting Accessibility Fund (BAF-FAR) sought to develop resources for promoting access to various media by marginalized groups, especially the blind and the visually impaired, as well as the deaf and the hard of hearing.

International Conference
Jean-Marc Vallée: From Quebec to Hollywood

This international conference, which took place at the Cinémathèque québécoise between June 7 and 9, 2023, was co-organized by the Cinémathèque and scholars associated with cinEXmedia, including Thomas Carrier-Lafleur, Baptiste Creps, André Gaudreault, Santiago Hidalgo, Bernard Perron, and Isabelle Raynauld.

The event paid tribute to the career of the filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée (1963-2021) and examined the role of his work in the renewal of modern Quebec cinema. Participants addressed his films and television work through the prism of a variety of topics, including his musical world, his regular collaborations, and his production model in Hollywood, which was based on the systematic use of Quebec crews.

As rhythm is one of the topics studied by the cinEXmedia partnership, this theme in particular was taken up during the conference. In fact, Vallée granted special importance to rhythm (of the sounds and images) in his films and their editing.

For a more detailed description of the conference, a complete list of participants, and the program, consult the web page of the event.

International Conference
Reinventing the Stage: Innovation, Creation, Dissemination

This international and multidisciplinary conference was the result of collaboration between the cinEXmedia partnership and the Canada Research Chair in Opera Creation (Chaire de recherche du Canada en création d’opéra). It was held at the Grande Bibliothèque of BAnQ, from June 1 to 3, 2023.

The event brought together dozens of participants from the performing arts and media arts milieux to discuss what has been for a long time at the heart of the identity of theatre,
opera, music, and dance: the stage. cinEXmedia precisely studies, in addition to many more fields of research, the contribution of screens to the performing arts and performance.

The guests examined recent reconfigurations of the stage by means of a variety of digital techniques, in particular webcast, virtual reality and augmented reality, which bring into dialogue connectivity and location, virtual online spaces and offline physical spaces. This enabled them to gauge the impact of these techniques on the ecology of the stage and to grasp the inherent complexity of its technological and media renewal in its entirety.

For a more detailed description of the conference, a complete list of participants, and the program, consult the web page of the event.

The Third Intersectoral Meetings on Rhythm

The cinEXmedia partnership also co-organized, in collaboration with the Canada Research Chair in Opera Creation, the third Intersectoral Meetings on Rhythm, from May 18 to 20, at Orford Musique.

These meetings arose from an informal conversation at the time of the awarding of the 2018 Killam Prize between the neuroscientist Vladimir Hachinski (Western University) and the film scholar André Gaudreault (Université de Montréal), each of them a recipient of the Prize, who observed that rhythm connected their respective and seemingly quite far removed disciplines.

The first meeting, held at the Université de Montréal in May 2019, welcomed Vladimir Hachinski, before bringing together the five laureates of the 2018 Killam Prize at the second meeting, held in December 2019, again at UdeM. Thus, Vladimir Hachinski, André Gaudreault, Janet Werker, researcher in language development psychology (University of British Columbia), Walter Herzog, researcher in biomechanical engineering (University of Calgary), and James Pinfold, physicist (University of Alberta), as well as numerous other researchers and students taking part in intersectoral projects, gathered around the question of rhythm, within the Killam Initiative on Rhythm.

After a pause of a few years because of the pandemic, the series of events was re-launched last spring. These third meetings took place during the Interdisciplinary research-creation seminar in opera (Séminaire interdisciplinaire de recherche-création en opéra) at Orford Musique, from May 17 to 31. On May 20, the general public was invited to a round table with the five laureates of the 2018 Killam Prize and the composer and professor Ana Sokolović. As with the round tables arising out of the earlier intersectoral meetings, a recording of this event will be available at a later date on the cinEXmedia's web page, and on the website of the Killam Initiative on Rhythm.

Two Lectures by Vittorio Gallese

The Université de Montréal had the honor of welcoming Vittorio Gallese, member of the partnership and professor of psychology and cognitive neuroscience at the University of Parma, Italy, to inaugurate the cinEXmedia Distinguished Speakers series, last March. Professor Gallese gave two lectures.

The first, entitled “Being Moved: The Embodiment of Moving Images,” took place at the laboratoire CinéMédias of the Université de Montréal, on March 29. In this lecture, professor Gallese showed how various approaches in the neurosciences and in physiology could promote exploration of the cognitive and corporeal mechanisms which characterize our interactions with moving images. He also explored the notion of embodied simulation which, he remarks, “casts new light on the perception of the cinematic image and redefines the very foundation of the dialogue between the neurosciences and film theory.”

To find out more, read this article published on website of the laboratoire CinéMédias. You will also find a video recording of the conference.

Vittorio Gallese's second lecture, entitled “Embodied Simulation and Its Role in Social Cognition,” was organized at the Research center of the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM), on March 30. In this conference, the professor explored in greater depth embodied simulation and its neuronal basis in intersubjectivity and social cognition.

The cinEXmedia partnership relies on the support of dozens of institutional partners. We invite these partners to send us any news they wish to see in our newsletters. On this topic, see the final section of the present newsletter.

Canadian Youth Film Festival

Julie Talbot, who teaches at the Collège Sainte-Anne (a partner institution of cinEXmedia), was co-director of the second edition of the Canadian Youth Film Festival, whose awards gala was held on June 17, 2023, at Concordia University’s J.A. de Sève cinema. The festival was a pan-Canadian competition that provided a showcase for youth cinema by featuring films made by elementary and high school students in their schools.

Les rencontres étudiantes du cinéma (REC) in Baie-Comeau

The post-doctoral researcher Caroline Martin was invited to the first Rencontres étudiantes du cinéma (REC) in Baie-Comeau. The event was held from May 18 to 20, 2023. She led a workshop for the invited schoolteachers on teaching film in secondary school. The event, which also brought together students from schools across Quebec, enabled the young participants to create short films and become familiar with various cinema professions.

 Find the Partnership on Facebook 

We have just launched our Facebook page. Follow us! Here you will find useful information about our events and all kinds of content related to our activities and those of our partners.

Participate in a Study

The laboratoire CinéMédias and the NED (Neurosciences of Early Development) laboratory at the Université de Montréal are conducting an ambitious study of children’s viewing habits of audiovisual content. The researchers seek in particular to learn what their favorite programs are, what kind of screen they use and their behavior when watching different cinema and television content. They will also explore the way in which parents see the question of screen time for their children.

Those wishing to take part in this study are invited to complete this online questionnaire (in French only). The average response time is thirty minutes. Responses will remain anonymous and will be used as part of a research project being carried out by professors Santiago Hidalgo (Université de Montréal) and Sarah Lippé (CHU Sainte-Justine).