Private Project

Hron, A Country of Ghosts

« Hron : a country of ghosts » is a queer heterotopian science-fiction movie about war, but more so a story about love. It starts when Dimos Horacki, a non-binary trans reporter from the Borolian empire, arrives in the mountain regions of Cerracs to write news of the forfronts of the war. Though the Empire presumes they will be able to expand their borders, they will be confronted by resistance on land that was assumed to be uninhabited. It is the story of love that unites people who believe that living together and organizing differently is possible, but that they must fight together to preserve their way of life.  

  • Dani Tardif
    Director
    bonds (2018), On a gagné (2013)
  • Dani Tardif
    Writer
  • Lari Jalbert
    Writer
  • Groupe Intervention Vidéo
    Producer
  • Ola Pilatowski
    Producer
  • Noé Larose
    Key Cast
  • Johanne Ductan-Petit
    Key Cast
  • Pallina Michelot
    Key Cast
  • Sigrid Patterson
    Key Cast
  • Woodie CG
    Key Cast
  • Nahéma Ricci
    Key Cast
  • Léa Marinova
    Director of Photography
  • Jude Descadres
    Director of Photography
  • Eli Girard
    Artistic Direction
  • Lari Jalbert
    Artistic Direction
    Swarm of Selenium (2017)
  • Andy Perreault-Paiement
    Assistant Director
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Sci-Fi, Alternative Reality, Heterotopia, Utopia, Drama, Adventure, Queer, LGBTQ
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 3 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 19, 2019
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English, French
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 1920x1080
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Dani Tardif

dani Tardif is a multidisciplinary queer artist (but mostly filmmaker) based in Tio'tia:ke, « Montreal ». Their artistic approach is an ethnography of the vulnerable inspired by themes of intimacy, transcendence and power, as well as the tension between fiction and non-fiction, magic and politics (Hron, A Country of Ghosts 2019, bonds 2018, fruits 2018, post_cunt (dir. Lari Jalbert)).

**

(fr) dani Tardif est un.e artiste queer basé à Tio'tia:ke, Montréal. Leur pratique artistique est une ethnographie du vulnérable qui s'intéresse à rendre poreuse la ligne entre la fiction et le documentaire, la magie et le politique. Leur recherche concerne les nouvelles formes de relationnalités, entre les craques de la rencontre entre l'individu et le collectif. En 2013, iel ont co-réalisé le documentaire « On a gagné; regards sur une victoire amère » qui a été présenté dans plusieurs festivals à Montréal comme le FIFEQ, Hors-Cadre et Cinéma Politica UQAM. Suite à une maîtrise en Anthropologie culturelle et sociale à l'Université Concordia en 2016, recherchant l'impact du néolibéralisme sur l'internalisation d'un culte à l'amélioration continue du soi au travail, iel se sont tourné vers la fiction. Hron, a Country of Ghosts est leur premier long-métrage. Dani a travaillé par la suite à des courts-métrages expérimentaux abordant les thèmes de l'intime, des sens et des relations queer (bonds 2018, post-cunt 2018 (dir. Lari Jalbert), fruits 2019).

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Director Statement

“Hron, a country of ghosts” (2019, 62 min.) is science-fiction film in a queer heteropia which covers subjects of intimacy, autonomy, and auto-determination. The film is inspired by the novel of the same name by Margaret Killjoy. It is a feature lenght that we started as a Jeunes Volontaire project. The principal audience for this film is LGBTQ+ communities and alternative reality fans. Actually, this film goes within the emerging cultural current, which is LGBTQ science-fiction. By happening in an alternate universe, hron gives place to fantastical  representation of contemporary issues of LGBTQ+ people. It represents characters that give themselves the power to present themselves that works best for them. We want our public to feel seen and represented and that films like these gives them hope and courage to auto-determination. In fact, queer and trans people are often misunderstood, invisible and especially absent from social and cultural circles.

Very few queer films are produced in Quebec, and most of the LGBTQ films’ main theme is about coming out and the oppression of gender and sexuality. Hron a country of ghost is a film where being queer, with gender or sexuality, is a recognized reality and not singled out. This gives us the chance to explore characters who have diverse genders and sexualities, but have transformational axes and complex emotional paths, which offer a larger diversity of representation. In the casting call, the characters did not have assigned genders; we asked folks to audition for the role with who they shared a similar energy. It was through acting workshops that the actors fine-tuned and chose their character’s gender identity. The project created so much interest that around 90 people to date have participated in the creation of the project, with different levels of implication.  

The hron Militias are not fighting for a heroic glory, but by necessity, to be able to survive, and it a distinction that feeds our artistic treatment. In fact, it is a critic of society, but that is not a dark and dystopian universe. Killjoy’s novel is however clearly utopique, we find ourselves in a more nuanced genre, between utopia and dystopia, inspired by Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopia (1967). We create a space in which what is dreamed about and desired is materialized, but it is not a perfect world. It is not a Manichean universe, there is some good and bad on both sides. People do mistakes, but they can fix them afterwards. A beautiful alternate reality, but still dirty. It is a work of fiction mainly filmed in nature which transmits a glimmer of hope as well as a lot of love and solidarity.