MÖ FILMS is an independent film production company based in Quebec city who wishes to contribute to the debates and issues of our times through its various projects. Issues related to identity, social fabric, territory, environment and social justice are all subjects that inspire our projects.
THE DIRECTORS – PRODUCERS
Olivier Higgins and Mélanie Carrier were both born in Québec, Canada. Their passion for sport climbing carried them on the most beautiful cliffs of the world and led them to discover the video and cinematographic world. By then, video simply allowed them to share with their relatives the various projects they were doing abroad: their university studies in biology at the Reunion Island, their environmental projects in Madagascar, their climbing trips around the world, etc.
In 2007, they produced their first film, Asiemut, documenting their 8000 km adventure by bike in Asia. It won 35 awards around the world, in addition to being distributed in 40 countries and be broadcast on several TV channels including ARTE, RTBF, TSR, RAI, Al Jazeera and Télé-Québec. Then Olivier and Mélanie presented Asiemut in “cinema-conferences” in the province of Québec with Les Grands Explorateurs and in several events in Canada, the United States, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Poland, Germany and Switzerland. Asiemut was also screened with the Banff Film Festival World Tour. In 2007, Mélanie also published her first book, Cadence, which tells their long cycling journey in Asia.
In 2010, the duo of filmmakers founded MÖ FILMS, a film production company dedicated to documentaries. Their second film, Encounters (2011), tells the story of a group of young Innu, Hurons-Wendat and Saguenéens who travel along an ancient trail that connects the Lac Saint-Jean to Québec City. Encounters was singled out by the National Geographic Society and won several international awards. At the same time, their satirical environmental short film, Ice Philosophy, was screened at a number of festivals around the world.
Their third feature documentary, Québékoisie, questions the complex relationship between non-Aboriginal Quebecers and First Nations in Quebec. Launched at the Montreal International Documentary Festival in November 2013, Québékoisie won there the Magnus Isacsson Prize awarded to a film showing an exceptional social consciousness. Québékoisie was then largely broadcast in the province of Québec, including the Cinéma Cartier in Québec City where it stayed 15 weeks, and the Cinéma Beaubien in Montreal where it was screened for 5 weeks. In 2014, Québékoisie was in the TOP 5 most viewed Canadian films in theaters from January 24 th to February 20 th, and was nominated for a Jutra Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. This film won several awards, including the Grand Prize – Best Feature Documentary at the Rhode Island International Film Festival and the Work of the Year Award presented by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. In the fall of 2016, Québékoisie was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories, in about 20 languages, on TV5 Monde.
Since Québékoisie, the couple of filmmakers have founded a family and are now parents of two young children. Among other projects, Mélanie and Olivier are currently working on two feature length documentaries: Deep inside humanity, which questions our relation to school and education, and Wandering, a Rohingya Story, which deals with the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh. In collaboration with several artists, the couple also designed a multidisciplinary exhibition depicting the life in the Rohingya refugee camp of Kutupalong. It will be presented at the Musée national des beaux-arts de Québec (National Museum of Fine Arts) from January 31, 2020, for a whole year and for free.
In the longer term, Mélanie and Olivier aim to develop new projects that touch on different fields, be it documentary theater, an audio documentary (podcast) and an essay inspired by reflections from the shooting of their different movies and their many travels around the world.
They are both very involved in Québec city’s film scene and provide support to emerging young filmmakers and cultural organizations. Mélanie has been vice-president of the Québec City Film Festival since 2016.