Sad Mag is pleased to partner with the DOXA festival, Vancouver’s documentary film festival, this year. We are a screening partner for Art in Action, a film directed by Magnus Isacsson. Isacsson, a former producer for the CBC, has been creating films about significant social and political issues since 1987. Art in Action is his look at the very personal and all-encompassing life of the full time artist-activist.

The film follows Annie Roy and Pierre Allard, founders of the artists collective ATSA, that stage “urban interventions,” including installations and performances that call attention to urban social issues. Isacsson’s camera followed the artist couple for four years, documenting their triumphs and difficulties along the way.

Isacsson took a moment to answer some of our questions about the film via email this week, and this is what he had to say:

Sad Mag: What was your first introduction to ATSA, and what motivated the creation of this film?

Magnus Isacsson: I had been aware of their work for several years because they get a lot of media coverage in Montreal, but at first I didn’t have time, I was busy with other projects. It was five years ago that I had the time to go and hear Annie speak at an arts conference, and found their approach fascinating.

I contacted them and lent them a couple of my previous films. They liked them. Even though I told them that I was not interested in putting them on a pedestal or doing PR for ATSA, but that I wanted to be in on the difficult moments, they generously accepted to be the subjects of a film.

I asked my friend Simon the be the Director of Photography, and we started shooting. Because of Simon’s very considerable investment in the project and his key role, I later asked him to also be an associate director.

SM: You followed Annie Roy and Pierre Allard and their family for four years to make this film. What sort of relationship formed between you and your crew, and the subjects of your film? With a lengthy time in the field, did you struggle to represent them fairly?

MI: For me, shooting for several years is the key both to forming real relationships of complicity and trust, for having enough dramatically interesting material to make a good film. The crew was just Simon on camera and myself doing sound, plus sometimes an intern or student helper.

We became very close to Annie and Pierre, which wasn’t hard because we share a lot of interests, we live in the same neighborhood, and although I’m quite a bit older we have children the same age.

One difficulty was how to capture their creative process, because they don’t have scheduled meetings to make creative decisions, their key discussions can take place while they do the laundry, or walk to the corner store, whatever. Another one of the big challenges was that their often conflictual working relationship was of interest to us, and we did film many heated arguments.

After a while this became a source of many worries for them, especially Annie, and they sometimes didn’t want us to film when things were too tense. We were very much aware of these concerns and we had to respect them – with all their generosity, giving us access to both their creative process and their personal life, we couldn’t let them down by making a film they wouldn’t like.

But I insisted on including some scenes where they argue, and several interview clips where they talk about their fights. They didn’t like it at the first screening or two, but they got used to it, and saw that it didn’t take away from other people’s appreciation of their work.

SM: The film’s synopsis reads that you focus the film on the domestic life and demands of the artists. How does this contribute to the film’s message? To the audience’s understanding of the artists?

MI: The main emphasis [of the film] is on ATSA’s public installations and the way they are received by the public, and on their intense investment of energy and creativity in what they do.

But they are a couple, and their work is tightly interwoven with their role as residents of a neighborhood, as lovers and as parents. I feel any time you can get behind the façade of things and see the real people, you are winning. I also found it important to show that the intense artistic activism they practise, like any intense involvement, doesn’t come without a price.

It does have an impact on their relationship and their parenting, and I find it very touching when they talk about these difficulties.

SM: Funding for the arts operates quite differently in Quebec as compared to British Columbia. I see that the artists are supported by Counseil des arts de Montreal, Counseil des arts et des lettres de Quebec, and the Canada Council for the Arts. How do you think this contributes to their success? Is funding essential for groups with a political mission, such as ATSA, to operate?

MI: I am no expert on arts funding, but I would say that Quebec does take arts very seriously, and Montreal is an incredibly creative place. (I see it of course in the domain of cinema – just look at how many Quebec-made films get the top nominations in Canadian film awards.)

I think for Pierre and Annie the arts council funding is essential, and it comes from all three levels of government. But because their work is so inspiring, and because it’s both creatively excellent and socially relevant, they get an awful lot of donations and as you see in the film the recruit huge numbers of volunteers.

Don’t miss DOXA’s screening of Art in Action on Wednesday, March 12 at 3:00 p.m.