Etienne Desrosiers

Etienne Desrosiers

STORY

Filmmaker
Curator

Etienne Desrosiers studied Film in Montreal. Since 1995, he has directed numerous short films broadcasted on television and screened worldwide, notably at the Centre Georges-Pompidou (Paris) Huesca and Seattle. They include “Portrait of the Artist as his Muse” (2005); “Mirrors” with Xavier Dolan (2007) and “Erotography” (2002). As media arts curator, he programmed events in a variety of international venues, notably at the Australian Film and Television Institute, London’s Lux Centre and Berlin’s Urban Drift. Once upon a time, he organized the first situationist films retrospective in North America. Photographer for the Eastern Townships Film and Television Commission, he has written for the National Film Board of Canada, artists’ exhibition catalogs and literary magazines, as well as scouting locations for Todd Haynes and John Maybury.

TIMELINE FILM
  • Benninger
    2023
    Benninger
    Canada-India, Documentary, HD, 70′
    From his studio in Poona, Maharashtra, Indo-American builder Christopher Benninger creates geometric architecture that blends Western modernism with the tropical Deccan climate. The film explores eight of his projects through the daily use of their inhabitants. An immersive dive into the world of a giant in the land of all senses.

    View more

  • Luc Durand
    2019
    Leaving Delhi
    India-Switzerland-Canada, Documentary, HD, 80′
    Documentary on famed Canadian architect Luc Durand, author of landmark buildings like the Quebec Pavillion at Expo 67, with Papineau-Gérin-Lajoie-Leblanc, and the Olympic Village for the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, with Roger D’Astous.

    View more

  • Roger D'Astous
    2016
    Roger D’Astous
    Canada, Documentary, HD, 103′
    Roger D’Astous is one of the most important Canadian Architect of the twentieth century. A student of Frank Lloyd Wright, he worked all his life to create a nordic architecture. Once a starchitect of the sixties, this flamboyant artist then fell from grace before rising again at the dawn of the century. Along with his pavilions at Expo 67 and the Athletes Housing Complex for the 1976 Olympic Games, his residences are sensual vessels and his churches sumptuous spaceships. For the first time on-screen…

    View more

  • Nexte Haltestelle
    2012
    Nexte Haltestelle
    Canada-Germany, Experimental Documentary, HD, 29′
    In Dresden, Germany, a young woman receives mysterious letters written by her grandmother’s ghost. She goes to find her with a little help from a witchy artist woman. It triggers a journey throughout the city and Germany’s History, interlacing its resurrected mementos and future souvenirs until the two meet.

    View more

  • Steam is Steam
    2011
    Steam is Steam
    Canada, Fiction, 35mm, 11′
    Montreal 1952, teenager Samuel brings his friend Julien to the neighbourhood steam bath for his weekly routine with Dad. Julien’s first time will be a day to remember.

    Best film: Brescello Film Festival, Italy
    Best actor: Jake McLeod, Novara Film Festival, Italy
    Best film for youth: Reggio Film Festival, Italy
    Best film for youth: Tucson Out in the Desert Film Festival, USA

    View more

  • Mirrors
    2007
    Mirrors
    Canada, Fiction, 35mm, 14′
    Julien’s holiday at the family cottage gets a twist when a mysterious neighbor confuses him.
    A summertime coming-of-age drama.

    Best artistic direction: Brescia Film Brescia, Italy
    Honorable mention: Black Maria Film Festival, Jersey City, USA

    View more

  • Portrait of the artist as his muse
    2005
    Portrait of the Artist
    Canada, Documentary, 35mm, 9′
    Essay on acclaimed Canadian photographer George Steeves and his dramatic model Astrid Brunner. In the sumptuous Nova-Scotia landscapes a witty dialogue on passion and the turmoils of creation takes place. Between Brunner’s tragic past and Steeve’s pudic enthousiasm a long-standing passion subtly emerges.

    Best film: Festival del Palazzo Venezia, Rome, Italy
    Best film: Padova Rassegna Internazionale di Film Documentari sull’Arte, Italy
    Best documentary: Sea to Sky Film Festival, Squamish, Canada
    Jury mention: Mediterranean New Filmmakers Festival, Larissa, Greece

    View more

  • Erotography
    2002
    Erotography
    Canada, Experimental, HD, 5′
    A search for the erotic ghost in the porn universe. Six 8mm found footages from the sixties are striped naked to reveal intimacy. Floating figures escape their sexual content triggering a saturated canvas solved by spontaneous climaxes. Electro noise music is combined here with juxtapositions of erotic hot flashes to create a campy collage of thriller meets blue movie.

    Critic’s prize: Manilla Experimental Film Festival, Philippines

    View more