SPECIAL Release
After losing both of her legs as a child, Marie-Hélène, a respected figure on the Canadian contemporary art scene, finds an outlet in both painting and dance for her creativity and her resilient spirit. The arrival of her daughters sparks a new sense of freedom, pushing her to let go of self-censorship and to fully embrace the person she is today.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER: ANNIE LECLAIR
Award-winning French Canadian filmmaker Annie Leclair has been touring the world with her directorial debut film, Grounded (Enracinée.) A self-taught documentary film editor for the last 17 years, Annie is a former board member of the Montreal Women in Film and Television Association. Annie is the recipient of the Still I Rise Films Fellowship Program where she is completing her second documentary film, Les eaux calmes.
During the 74th Cannes Film Festival, Grounded received the Audience Choice Award of 2021 Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase; the Impact Docs Award for film for social change and viewer impact and the Best Individual Body Award at the Moving Body Film Festival in Bulgaria. A finalist at the 2021 SIMA Awards, Grounded was honored with the Jury’s Special Mention at the 39th International Festival of Films on Art of Montreal, the 2022 Women’s Voices Now and at the Cinédanse Film Festival in Canada.
Grounded was chosen by UNESCO for the International Day of People with Disability virtual event and was nominated for the Jury’s Prize Award at the 2023 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival. Most recently, Grounded was featured at ReelAbilities Film Festival – the largest festival in the United States dedicated to promoting the stories and artistic expressions of people with disabilities.