Hot Docs

For over five decades, Michel Brault has captures the intricacies of Canadian life on film for the NFB. Focusing on the peculiarities of human interactions and traditions, these shorts highlight some of his most notable work.

Learn more about Michel Brault.

La lutte D: Michel Brault, Claude Jutra, Marcel Carrière, Claude Fournier | Canada | 1961 | 28 min

Initially setting out to showcase how wrestlers staged their fights, Brault evolved this short exposition of Montreal’s wrestling community to highlight the spectacle of the sport instead. Drifting from the prefight rituals, through the eager crowds, Brault pays homage to the cultural phenomenon of centre ring in the Montreal Forum. Gabor Pertic

Quebec-USA ou l’invasion pacifique

D: Michel Brault, Claude Jutra | Canada | 1962 | 27 min

In an inverted version of a travelogue, Brault turns the camera on American tourists crossing the border to take in the sights of French Canada. By engaging in the observer-observed relationship, the cinematic principles of an “objectified” gaze were put at the forefront. Working alongside fellow direct cinema pioneer Claude Jutra, Brault focused in on those who were looking right back at them. Gabor Pertic

Les raquetteurs
D: Michel Brault, Gilles Groulx | Canada | 1958 | 15 min

A community comes together to celebrate a festive snowshoe competition in 1950s rural Quebec. Excitement and ritual are captured with a spontaneity characteristic of Michel Brault’s extraordinary cinematography. With subtlety and authenticity, Brault crafts a visual poem, revealing a culture and tradition distinctly unique. Michelle Latimer

Media Coverage

• Toronto Star feature