Dream Life (1972)

EN | FR

After starting a new job at a local film production company, free spirit Isabelle (Deaf to the City’s Liliane Lemaître-Auger) meets animator Virginie (Jesus of Montreal’s Véronique Le Flaguais) and the two become fast friends. Over the course of a freewheeling, sun-dappled Montreal summer, the pair deepen their bond through a shared exploration of art, ambition, and desire.

The first feature film directed by a woman in Quebec, Mireille Dansereau's fleet-footed and generous debut moves effortlessly between filmmaking styles and tones with the boundless energy of a young director in love with the medium. A pathbreaking portrait of female friendship and interiority, Dream Life is one of the highlights of ’70s Canadian cinema and a vibrant hidden gem primed for rediscovery.

Special Features:

• Scanned and restored in 2K from the original Super 16mm reversal and the 35mm internegative by Éléphant - mémoire du cinéma québécois

• A Feminine Point of View (2023, 22 min.) – New interview with director Mireille Dansereau

• The Early Years (2023, 23 min.) – Dansereau reflects on her early shorts and documentaries

• Three of Dansereau’s early films: One Day (1967, 11 min.), Compromise (1968, 26 min.), and Forum (1969, 58 min.)

• Markets of London (1996, 24 min.) – Dansereau short shot in 1969 and completed 27 years later

• Trailer for Dansereau’s Deaf to the City (1987)

• Theatrical re-release trailer for Dream Life

• Booklet featuring a conversation between Dansereau and film journalist Á. Ibrányi-Kiss

• Reversible cover artwork

• English SDH subtitles for all five films