Experiencing Interruptions?

The World Is Ours

Currently, post pandemic, one in two young people show symptoms of anxiety and depression. The World is ours is a film that gives the opportunity to six Montreal teenage girls to leave their urban environment for the first time to take part in a nature canoe-camping expedition. By presenting their struggles and small victories, the film poetically and luminously embraces their vulnerability, emphasizing in broad strokes the power of female sisterhood and therapeutic intervention by nature.

In an intervention cinema approach and seeking to democratize access to the outdoors for marginalized communities, the production of the film took on the responsibility of defraying the costs of the expedition for these six young women.

  • Nadia Louis-Desmarchais
    Director
    Troubled Waters, Rated X, Tell Me All About My Body, Urban
  • Frédérike Labelle
    Producer
    Squall, Laurent's Hare
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Le Monde Est À Elles
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Society and Community, Personal & POC, youth, Environment & Nature, Travel & Adventure, Social and Human interest
  • Runtime:
    21 minutes 27 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 1, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    10,800 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English, French
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:85
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • BUFF Malmö Film Festival
    Malmo
    Sweden
    March 9, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Kendal Mountain Festival
    Kendal
    United States
    November 16, 2023
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Vues d'Afrique
    Montréal
    Canada
    April 11, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Lookout Wild Film Festival
    Tennessee
    United States
    January 11, 2024
    International Premiere
    Honorable Mention
  • New Brunswick Black History Film Series
    Fredericton
    Canada
    February 6, 2024
    Canadian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • London Mountain Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    February 23, 2024
    Nominee
  • Orion International Film Festival
    Berlin
    Germany
    February 24, 2024
    Finalist Best Documentary
  • Carrousel International du film de Rimouski
    Rimouski
    Canada
    March 7, 2024
    Canadian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Made Here
    Vermont
    United States
    April 12, 2024
    Official selection
  • Festival Filministes
    Montreal
    Canada
    March 6, 2024
    Montreal Premiere
    Special mention
  • Montreal Women Film Festival
    Montreal
    Canada
    March 8, 2024
    Nominee
  • Big Fridge International Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    March 24, 2024
    Finalist - Best Documentary
  • Vues sur mer
    Gaspé
    Canada
    April 7, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Environmental Film Festival at Yale
    New Haven
    United States
    April 4, 2024
    Official Selection
  • International Mountain and City Adventure Film Festival
    Bratislava
    Slovakia
    April 9, 2024
    Official Selection
  • International Mountain, nature and adventure memorial Maria Luisa
    Asturias
    Spain
    May 17, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Regards Noirs
    Montréal
    Canada
    August 15, 2024
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • Unis TV
    Distributor
    Country: Canada
    Rights: Internet, Video on Demand, Pay Per View
Director Biography - Nadia Louis-Desmarchais

Nadia Louis-Desmarchais is an afro feminist director who aspires to give a voice to those we too often refuse to hear. Moving from documentary to fiction, she directed ‘’Rated X’’, a short documentary who won the Grand Jury prize at the Vox Feminae Film Festival and showcased in multiples festivals such as Regard, RVQC, Filministes as well as ‘’Tell me all about my body’’ and ‘’Urban’’. Her first fiction short film "Troubled Water" showcased at the FNC Film Festival, and VGIK International Student Film Festival.

Nadia won the prize for ‘’Best Hope Documentary Director ‘’ from the René Malo Chair in Cinema UQAM and the National Film Board of Canada for her upcoming short film ‘’The World is ours. She is currently writing her first mid-length documentary "Black and White", which is supported in development by SODEC as well as developing her first fiction webserie ‘’The Meteorites’’ with TOU.TV.

Putting forward a unique and deep sensitivity in her artistic approach, Nadia is eager to dive into the professional sphere to write and carry out intimate scenarios which, according to her, give the cinema its universal power.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I am one of those children who were placed very young in foster care and who never had the means to leave Montreal to go on “vacation” with their family. I did my first canoe-camping expedition as a teenager and I realize today how much canoe camping expeditions have allowed me to get out of my daily life, to challenge myself, to be myself and to dream of a life entirely designed by and for me. Inspired by the Tim Hortons Foundation, with which I was a camper for 5 years and for which I was able to work as an expedition guide, this film was born from a deep desire to trace this self-discovery through therapeutic intervention in the outdoors. The World is ours is a film where the experience of these young people who will change profoundly thanks to the expedition is highlighted. As nature brings out the essential, the strengths in each, this documentary project is a tribute to all these teenagers for whom nature will present itself, as it presented itself to me, as a therapeutic place.