To me, there was something interesting and intriguing about everything that surrounds the transmission of culture, art and its reception. The message, this first intention which every artist has when he begins creating, does not really belong to him anymore once his work is shown to the world. Is it distorted, misunderstood, misinterpreted or on the contrary, do those who discover the works perceive intentions which the artist himself may have delivered unwittingly and unconsciously? This is how I have come to this creation. Here then we have a character, in front of a camera. This camera, I am pointing it for once in my own direction rather than towards another because I am facing myself when I question myself about the reception of my own creations. I answer the question, maybe, without really answering it but there is still an answer and this answer, relayed on a screen to the right, is murky, confused and in the end, we can only catch snippets of the original intention because ideas evolve and change as we create, live, grow. Then after a moment, everything stops drastically and simultaneously because this transmission, as with any other thing in life, has an abrupt, sometimes unexpected ending because after all, what really remains of what we were trying to relay?
Josiane is a French-Canadian filmmaker and scriptwriter who firmly believes in the use of media as conduit for change. As a globetrotter who has worked in Canada, Europe, Africa and Latin America, her versatility has allowed her to carry out projects in cinema as well as in television and media art. The common denominator for all these projects? An inexhaustible passion for social impact and a genuine desire to bring forth authentic stories and give a voice to those whom we see but do not necessarily hear.
In 2020, her short documentary Contes de la grossophobie ordinaire, which deals with the psychological impact of fatphobia on children and teenagers, has been produced by the NFB and premiered on Radio-Canada (CBC). It has been described by critics as a gem of thoughtfulness, an impactful film, hard to watch but necessary. In 2021, Josiane wrote, directed and co-produced Ainsi va Manu which tells the story of Manuela, a young girl of 16 years old who decides to defend herself when her family is threatened to be evicted from their apartment in Toronto. The series has won 15 awards in international festivals, was nominated for 4 Gémeaux awards and was a finalist for the Youth Media Alliance awards for the best inspirational series. In the same year, she has also written, hosted and produced the French episodes of the Strong and Free podcast series which recalls the story of black people in Canada for Historica Canada. Strong and Free has recently won the Gold Digital Publishing Award for best podcast: Arts, Culture, & Society, in addition to having been nominated for best podcast of 2022 by Amazon Music.
Josiane is presently post-producing her first feature documentary Words Left Unspoken in addition to working on the development of several other artistic projects which will launch in the next year.
