TREE WITH SEVERED BRANCHES

80 min, documentary, Quebec, Canada, 2005
Directed byPascale Ferland
Produced byQui Vivra Verra Films
LanguageRussian
Short descriptionIn Moscow, two elderly men who lived under the Soviet regime adapt to their new sociopolitical reality by creating an imaginary world through art.​
Regis du cinemas, general

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Film details

Synopsis

Out of their spartan lives, two humble, elderly Moscovites carve an imaginary world – a space of identity created in solitude. Following the social upheaval of Russia art becomes a lifeline for these seasoned cast-offs.

 

Credits

Direction : Pascale Ferland

Image : Andreï Khabad, Jacques Leduc
Sound : Pierre Fleurant, Richard Brouillette
Editing : Louise Dugal
Sound Editing : Hugo Brochu, Martin Allard
Music : André Ristic
Production : Pascale Ferland, Richard Brouillette (Qui Vivre Verra Film)

 

Financial Partners

SODEC
ONF
Aide au cinéma indépendant canadien (ACIC)
Conseil des arts du Canada
Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
Fonds canadien du film et de la vidéo indépendants

Direction

Pascale Ferland

Pascale Ferland has been a screenwriter, director, and producer for over twenty years. After studying visual arts at UQAM, where her video works received awards, she developed a personal body of documentary films, grounded in fieldwork and driven by a desire to create dialogue between form and ideas. In 2003, she directed her first documentary, Something Like Immortality, followed by Tree With Severed Branches (2005) and Adagio for a Biker (2008), which earned her the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award from the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2012, she wrote, directed, and produced her first feature-length fiction film, Riptide. Her 2018 documentary, Pauline Julien, Intimate and Political, achieved wide recognition and won numerous awards. Her most recent film, In the Forest (2025), extends this creative path and resonates at the heart of contemporary debates on our relationship with nature and the land.

 

Filmography

IN THE FOREST, 124 min, Documentary, 2025

PAULINE JULIEN : INTIMATE AND POLITICAL, 77 min, Documentary, 2018

RIPTIDE, 98 min, Fiction, 2013

ADAGIO FOR A BIKER, 90 min, Documentary, 2008

TREE WITH SEVERED BRANCHES, 80 min, Documentary, 2005

SOMETHING LIKE IMMORTALITY, 82 min, Documentary, 2003