Exposition agricole comprises moments captured during a fair and is mainly made up of a series of sequence shots filmed in such a way that they resemble a series of tableaux vivants. Each shot becomes a kind of window onto the world, through which life unfolds. The camera discretely witnesses the action, lending a ‘fly on the wall’ effect, while maintaining a certain distance from the film’s subjects. As one scene flows freely to another, the fragmented assemblage gives the viewer a sense of wandering. The ensemble is offset with a contemporary musical score by composer Julien Bilodeau, so that two worlds collide in a strange and beautiful harmony.
Exposition agricole is shown as a single large-scale HD screening. The running time is 17 minutes 09 seconds. The sound is in stereo.
Originally from Carleton-sur-Mer in Gaspésie, Jean-François Caissy is an independent filmmaker and visual artist. His documentary films La belle visite (2009), La marche à suivre (2014) and Premières armes (First Stripes) (2018) have all been selected for the Forum section of the Berlinale and have received several awards, including the World Pulse Award at the IndieLisboa festival A trained photographer, Caissy also practices as a visual artist. His video installation Derby (2011) has been presented at Centre Clark (Montréal) and as at the Anthology Film Archives (New York). More recently, Exposition Agricole (2017) was presented at the Cinémathèque québécoise (Montreal).