Uncle Bernard: A Counter-Lesson in Economics

by Richard Brouillette
Product Availability
Institutional, Home-Use, Community Screenings, Broadcast, Theatrical, Educational, Festivals, VOD
About the Film

Economist Bernard Maris, a.k.a. “Uncle Bernard”, was killed during the Charlie Hebdo shooting, on January 7, 2015. This fascinating interview with him was filmed in March 2000 as part of the documentary ENCIRCLEMENT – NEO-LIBERALISM ENSNARES DEMOCRACY.

Frank and unvarnished, this is a true “counter lesson in economics” in which the director gives centre stage to Maris’ vibrant, incisive, and mischievous words of dissent. Maris strikes at leisure, unleashing hard-hitting truths that challenge the dogmas that are incessantly rehashed by the vibrant choir enslaved to the “science” of Economics. With his wit, eloquence, and erudition, and his prodigious capacity to distill complex issues and make the most arduous subject matters exciting, “Uncle Bernard” unveils his courageously original ideas over the course of the interview – ideas that are all the more precious in this era of intellectual resignation and economic austerity.

Distribution Availability: Canada, excluding Quebec
2015  ·  1h19m  ·  Canada, Spain
French
English subs
Festivals and Awards
2015
La 29e édition du FICFA, Prix La Vague - Meilleur moyen ou long métrage documentaire
Screenings
January 27 - February 7, 2016
International Film Festival Rotterdam (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
March 10 - 20, 2016
Sofia International Film Festival (Sofia, Bulgaria)
November 12 - 22, 2015
Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal - RIDM (Montréal, Québec)
November 12 - 20, 2015
Festival international de cinéma francophone en Acadie - FICFA (Moncton, New Brunswick)
November 5 - 10, 2015
Filmer à tout prix (Brussels, Belgium)
November 5 - 15, 2015
CPH:DOX (Copenhagen, Denmark)
November 4 - 11, 2015
Französische Filmtage (Tübingen-Stuttgart, Germany)
November 27 - December 4, 2015
Festival Dei popoli (Florence, Italy)
October 22 - November 5, 2015
Viennale (Vienna, Austria)
June 30 - July 6, 2015
FID Marseille (World Premiere) (Marseille, France)
Credits
Producer
Richard Brouillette
Cinematographer
Michel Lamothe
Soundtrack Composer
Éric Morin
Writer
Richard Brouillette
With
Bernard Maris, Cabu

“A fascinating one-on-one conversation with the late Bernard Maris, economist and columnist at Charlie Hebdo. More than a tribute, an expression of his intelligence and humor."

“A long static shot has never been so exhilerating."

“A passionate deciphering of economics. […] A skillful crafted tribute."

About the Director

Richard Brouillette

Richard Brouillette

Richard Brouillette is a film producer, director, editor and programmer. Starting as a film critic for the Montréal weekly, Voir (1989), he then worked for Québec’s top independent distribution company, Cinéma Libre (1989-1999), which has since folded. In 1993, he founded the artist-run center Casa Obscura, a multi-disciplinary exhibition space, where he still runs a weekly cine-club called Les projections libérantes, for which he is also the projectionist.

He has produced and directed Too Much is Enough (doc., 111 min., 1995), for which he won the prestigious M. Joan Chalmers Award in 1996; Carpe Diem (experimental, 5 mins., 1995) and Encirclement – Neo-Liberalism Ensnares Democracy (doc., 160 mins., 2008), for which he won six awards including the prestigious Robert and Frances Flaherty Grand Prize of the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival and Grand Prize La Poste Suisse of the 2009 Visions du réel festival.

He has also produced six feature-length films: Tree with Severed Branches by Pascale Ferland (doc., 81 mins. 2005), Barbers – A Men’s Story by Claude Demers (doc., 82 mins., 2006), Les désœuvrés by René Bail (fiction, 72 mins. 1959-2007), Adagio for a Biker by Pascale Ferland (doc., 90 mins., 2008), Les dames en bleu et Michel Louvain by Claude Demers (doc., 90 mins., 2009) and Chantier by René Bail (doc., 75 mins., 1957-2009). Brouillette has also acted as consulting producer on a number of other documentary projects.

Richard Brouillette has always been very active in Québec’s independent film community, participating in militant actions and devoting himself to the cause of artist-run centers. Since 1993, he has also sat on the Boards of various organizations. He is currently treasurer of the independent filmmakers’ cooperative, Main Film, and administrator of l’Amicale de la culture indépendante, the coop that manages Casa Obscura.

 

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