Although Aeyliya was born in London, England, she spent a year of her childhood in Baghdad, Iraq, a place in which she does not have too many strong memories of, yet finds fascination with when she watches her footage. “My grandmother, mom, brother, and I are in the footage. It’s very interesting to see this place that kind of has a memory for me, and then seeing family members like my grandfather who’s no longer alive, and then seeing my mother as a ‘young mother.’” Aeyliya describes having memories of eating certain candy in Iraq, and specifically in the footage she speculates that her mother was going to the mosque perhaps to pray, while she and her brother were running around in the courtyard. “[It’s] very surreal to see your past, to see yourself and your history. When I first watched the footage I thought ‘oh, this is kind of a weird feeling, strange, but still good.’” There are a number of ways ones life could’ve been dramatically different. “Where is home?” She ponders. Aeyliya’s family came to Montreal “literally” by boat. “We left London to Montreal and took the QE2, and then settled in St. Catherines, Ontario. “One decision that you have no control over could dramatically change your life,” Aeyliya adds, describing her thoughts behind her parents decision to live in Iraq for a year, nearly settling there, before plans changed and then moved from London to St. Catherines instead, “I look at the footage and think of that sometimes.”
Super 8
“Project and donor(s) contributed description follows: “These clips show episodes from Jean-Pierre Marchant’s childhood in the mid-1970s Montreal. His parents were immigrants, recently arrived from Argentina and Chile. Throughout Jean-Pierre’s childhood, they documented the family’s life with a Super 8 camera (and would later switch to video). These clips depict him as a playful child, trips, and well-attended birthday parties. Looking back, Jean-Pierre recognizes that these parties were a big opportunity for the adults to get together and celebrate. The Marchants mostly socialized with people from similar backgrounds, and Jean-Pierre says that “it was important for my parents, who were trying to make a life in a new place, to associate with others who spoke their language.””
A video clip recording from 1976 to 1978 featuring adults and children having a barbecue in a park, hanging out in a car, and meeting Santa Claus. Project and donor(s) contributed description follows: “These clips show episodes from Jean-Pierre Marchant’s childhood in the mid-1970s Montreal. His parents were immigrants, recently arrived from Argentina and Chile. Throughout Jean-Pierre’s childhood, they documented the family’s life with a Super 8 camera (and would later switch to video). These clips depict him as a playful child, trips, and well-attended birthday parties. Looking back, Jean-Pierre recognizes that these parties were a big opportunity for the adults to get together and celebrate. The Marchants mostly socialized with people from similar backgrounds, and Jean-Pierre says that “it was important for my parents, who were trying to make a life in a new place, to associate with others who spoke their language.”
Project and donor(s) contributed description follows: “It’s November 1969 in New York City and the Valcin Family is celebrating Nadine’s dad birthday. Four year old Nadine waves at the camera and helps blow out her father’s candles. We see Nadine’s mother cutting the cake. Later in the day, Nadine, drinking her juice from a cocktail glass, is engrossed in a serious conversation with her father. Her mom, a filmmaker in her own right, is behind the camera shooting on Super 8mm film. Months later the camera is pulled out again to document Christmas, a very exciting time for Nadine was an only child. Her brother and sister, not yet born, were fascinated to see these images of their eldest sister as a child. This private but celebratory occasion is one the whole family dresses up for. Nadine dons an all white pantsuit she later swaps for something more comfortable, while her parents sport equally stylish crisp suits. The clothes become secondary to the gift unraveling- the toy car, doll, keyboard, all slowly collecting around her. Nadine was born in Montreal, Quebec, and these reels capture a short span of her life between the ages of 3 to 5 when the Valcin family relocated to the US. Her father passed in 1999, so the Valcin family was happy to revisit these memories of him.”
Video recording from 1971 consisting of a Haitian family and their neighbours shovelling snow and digging out the street. Recording also features children playing in the snow and a tracker snowplowing the street. Project and donor(s) contributed description follows: “On March 4th, 1971, Montreal saw the “Storm of the Century”, a massive snowstorm brought 43cm of snow and 100/km winds to the city. It would take 41 years for this snowfall record to be broken. People lost electricity for as long as ten days. Nadine recalls living on St. Leonard and not being able to see through her patio doors and that the only people who could get around were emergency vehicles and snowmobiles. Of course this major setback meant snow days for everyone, and Nadine’s parents and neighbours got to shovelling. In a predominantly Italian neighbourhood, Nadine suspects her family may have been the only Black family on this street. With no school, five-year old Nadine took pleasure in the Montreal pastime of building snow forts.”
Project and donor(s) contributed description follows: “In 2008, Shenaz sets up her Super 8 camera to test it out on the trip from Scarborough to North York and back again. The footage moves at double time, in a time lapse, due to the short filming capacity of Super 8 cameras. Her aunt accompanies her on the first leg of the trip, her expression almost static in the bright winter sunshine. As her aunt exits the car at her destination, Shenaz sets up the camera on the dashboard to face her for a moment, slipping on her sunglasses. The camera is later refocused on her father in the passenger seat, as she drives him to his chemotherapy session. For the last portion of the road trip, Shenaz turns the camera onto the road itself, finally parking in front of her home where she began.”
