Experiencing Interruptions?

Those Who Come, Will Hear

Those Who Come, Will Hear proposes a unique meeting with the speakers of several indigenous languages of Quebec – all threatened with extinction. The film starts with the discovery of these unsung tongues through listening to the daily life of those who still speak them today. Buttressed by an exploration and creation of archives, the film allows us to better understand the musicality of these languages and reveals the cultural and human importance of these venerable oral traditions by nourishing a collective reflection on the consequences of their disappearance.

  • Simon Plouffe
    Director
    Others' Gold (2011)
  • Simon Plouffe
    Writer
    Others' Gold (2011)
  • Simon Plouffe
    Producer
    Others' Gold (2011)
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Ceux qui viendront, l'entendront
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 17 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    December 11, 2017
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    American Sign Language, Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, English, Other
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital HD + 16mm
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Ann Arbor Film Festival (56th edition)
    Ann Arbor, MI
    United States
    March 23, 2018
    World Premiere
    Jury Award
  • DOXA
    Vancouver
    Canada
    May 12, 2018
    Canadian premiere
    Colin Low Award - Honourable Mention
  • Prix Iris (Gala Québec Cinéma)
    Montréal
    Canada
    June 2, 2019
    Best documentary sound
  • Open City Documentary Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    September 6, 2018
    European premiere
    Emerging filmmaker nominee
  • Ficwallmapu
    Temuco
    Chile
    October 16, 2018
    Latin america premiere
    Mejor Documental (Best documentary)
  • Doc Point
    Helsinki
    Finland
    January 29, 2019
    Scandinavian premiere
  • Muestra de Cine Video indigena
    Santiago
    Chile
    August 28, 2018
    Official Selection
  • This Human World
    Vienna
    Austria
    November 16, 2018
    Austrian premiere
    In competition section Up & Coming
  • Portland Film Festival
    Portland
    United States
    October 25, 2018
    Oregon premiere
  • Icaro
    Quetzaltenango, Coban, Escuintla and Chiquimula
    Guatemala
    November 16, 2018
    Guatemala premiere
    Official Selection
  • Gimli Film Festival
    Gimli
    Canada
    July 26, 2018
    Manitoba premiere
    Eligible for Best of Fest Audience Choice Award
  • RIFFA (Regina international film festival)
    Regina
    Canada
    August 17, 2018
    Saskatchewan premiere
  • Cine Las Americas
    Austin, Texas
    United States
    May 5, 2018
    Texas premiere
  • Asinabka Festival
    Ottawa
    Canada
    August 10, 2018
  • Red Nation
    Los Angeles
    United States
    November 11, 2018
    California Premiere
    Official Selection
  • RVCQ (rendez-vous du cinéma québécois)
    Montréal
    Canada
    February 20, 2019
  • FIFEQ (Festival international du film ethnographique du Québec à Montréal)
    Montréal
    Canada
    March 29, 2019
  • Festival Ciné-7
    Sept-îles
    Canada
    January 25, 2019
  • Festival Cinoche
    Baie Comeau
    Canada
    January 27, 2019
Distribution Information
  • Les Films du 3 Mars (https://f3m.ca/en/)
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Simon Plouffe

Hailing from Rouyn-Noranda, Simon Plouffe lives and works in Montreal. His experience as a sound mixer leads him to explore sonic universes both within creation and design. He made his first documentary "Others’ Gold", giving voice to the citizens of Malartic in Abitibi, who were faced with the installation of an open-pit gold mine in the heart of their city. "Those Who Come, Will Hear", is his second feature-length documentary.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

According to UNESCO, a language ceases to be spoken in the world every fifteen days. This is not only a language but also an identity that is greatly compromised by this disturbing phenomenon.

Canada and Quebec are not immune to the reality of eroding languages as all Indigenous languages still spoken in this country are constantly threatened at various levels. In the past, they suffered great losses caused mainly by colonization and the residential school system that prevented First Nations, Inuit and Métis to speak their native languages and live within their cultures. The decline of these languages continues from generation to generation even today.

Despite these overwhelming facts, some languages are doing well like the Inuktitut and the Cree language, for example, ranks among the Indigenous languages with the most vitality in the country. Decentralization and mobility are key words to understand these societies whose resilience is well established.

Using a personal and artistic approach, "Those Who Come, Will Hear" proposes a portrait of the lived experience of select speakers who continue evolving within an increasingly weakening linguistic situation. With this film I wish to contribute to a swinging back of the linguistic pendulum by calling upon the poetry of these languages and the discovery of this sound garden – an endeavour that I hope will encourage the audience to reflect on the issues related to linguistic diversity.

Simon Plouffe