MY REAL LIFE

Magnus Isacsson

Subjects: Coming of Age , Education , Society , Youth

Directed by

Magnus Isacsson

Language

French

Produced by

Jeannine Gagné (Amazone Film)

90 min, Documentary, Quebec, Canada, 2012

For Danny, Alex, Mickerson and Michael, music is an outlet, a form of expression, and a necessity of life. My real life is a portrait of four people in transition and a microcosm of a misunderstood Montreal neighbourhood. It is a social documentary that takes an honest look at dropouts, delinquency, rites of passage and what it means to be a parent.

Synopsis
Drugs, delinquency, dysfunctional families, abandonment, poverty: “real life” is tough for young people in Montréal-Nord. Magnus Isacsson followed four teens from the impoverished area for 18 months, capturing not only their problems but their immense energy and will to escape. At the heart of their struggle is rap: raw, sincere, potent music that speaks for the disenfranchised. With his rare ability to get close to his subjects and remarkable sensitivity, without a trace of pathos, Isacsson put his subjects’ self-expression front and centre, resulting in one of his finest films. Four unforgettable portraits of four people who share the filmmaker’s generosity of spirit.

 

Credits
Script qnd Direction : Magnus Isacsson
Direction of Photography : Martin Duckworth

Assistant Director : Franck Le Coroller

Sound : Magnus Isacsson, Oliver Calvert, Bruno Bélanger

Editing : Annie Jean

Production : Jeannine Gagné (Amazone Film)

 

Financial partners

SODEC
Conseil des Arts et des lettres du Québec

PRIM

Téléfilm Canada

FMC

CanalD.com

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Press reviews

With his rare ability to get close to his subjects and remarkable sensitivity, without a trace of pathos, Isacsson put his subjects’ self-expression front and centre, resulting in one of his finest films. Cinema Politica

Direction

Magnus Isacsson

Telling dramatic stories which bring crucial social and political issues to the attention of the public - that was Magnus Isacsson's objective as a documentary filmmaker. In the last fifteen years of his life he had specialized in feature length "process films", following conflictual situations over long periods of time. Power (1996), told the five-year story of how the Cree indians defeated Hydro-Québec's Great Whale megaproject. The film received the award for best documentary at the Paris International Environmental Film Festival in 1997 and the Grand Prize of the Lausanne festival in 1999. The Choir Boys (1999) about Montreal's choir of homeless men, was nominated for several major Canadian awards and received the Golden Conch at the Mumbai International festival in 2000. The feature length View from the Summit, (2002) is a multi-faceted view of the politics of protest, which the Globe and Mail called "remarkable...riveting". Isacsson also codirected Pressure Point (1999), a film on the same theme that received the Quebec Film Critics award for Best Documentary in 2000. Maxime, McDuff and McDo (2002), his second film on attempts to unionize McDonald's restaurants, was nominated for three Gémeaux awards. Isacsson received the 2004 Prix Lumières from the Quebec directors’ association, ( ARRQ) which made him a member Emeritus in 2012.   Non Exhaustive Filmography   Ma vie réelle (2012 / 90 min)

  • l'Art en Action (2009 / 68 min)
  • The Battle of Rabaska (2008 / 78 min)
  • Waiting for Martin (2004 / 70 min)
  • Maxime, McDuff & McDo (2002 / 52 min)
  • View From the Summit (2002 / 75 min)
  • The Choir Boys (1999 / 76 min)
  • Power (1996 / 80 min)
  • The Big Upheaval (1996 / 52 min)
  • The Emperor's New Clothes (1995 / 69 min)
  • Uranium (1991 / 48 min)
 

Awards

RIDM 2012
Best Feature for International Competition Montreal