Born in Montreal in 1961, Sylvain L’Espérance studied film and visual arts. For the past 25 years, he has travelled widely, from Quebec to Mali to Greece. He has directed nearly a dozen films that combine direct cinema with experimental research to explore reality through a poetic lens. His films question our relationships with outsiders and marginalized communities. They give voice to migrants, workers, artisans, sailors, fishermen, shepherds, the unemployed and the homeless. These voices are carried by street theatre, song and poetry and merge into a political cry that speaks the unspoken. 

L’Espérance’s films are selected and presented by prestigious documentary festivals around the world. Many of his films have won major awards. In 2010, Intérieurs du delta (Into the Delta) won the Award for Best Director at the Festival Dei Popoli in Florence. In 2013, the Munich Dok.fest awarded Sur le Rivage du monde (Standing on the Edge of the World) the International Competition Award. Combat au bout de la nuit /Fighting Through the Night has been selected in the panorama section of the 69th Berlinale.

Filmography

The Song of Empedocles (2019)

Fighting through the Night (2016)

Bamako temps suspendu  (2014)

Sur le rivage du monde (Standing on the Edge of the World) (2012)

Intérieurs du delta (Into the Delta) (2009)

Un fleuve humain  (The River where we Live) (2006)

La main invisible  (The Invisible Hand) (2002)

Le temps qu’il fait  (1997)

Pendant que tombent les arbres (1996)

Les printemps incertains  (Shadows of Spring) (1992)

Les écarts perdus  (1988)

Français