Deep in the French Pyrenees, Bieler School of Environment graduate, Anna Henry is delving into the blurred lines between reality and fiction, with a docufiction film likely on the horizon. The ambitious project aims to study the multicultural dynamics of a French village, thanks to the Moyse-Travelling Scholarship.
The scholarship has taken Henry to the University of Amsterdam, where they are pursuing a Social Science Research Masters. While projects are still evolving, the idea of an ethnographic docufiction film is a strong contender.
The festival’s theatrical performances, located in Coustouges, France gradually becomes part of the daily lives of the village’s 90 residents, Henry explains. “It is interesting to see over the weeks that people gradually embody theatrical performances.”
Studying at the BSE has taught them to pay close attention to the realities of both people and surrounding environments.
“From my environment courses, I learned and now believe that there is a real focus and relationship, both with humans and nonhumans, that really stuck with me for many years,” Henry said.
“I’m still working with this idea of how we can give back to the people we’re working with and to the land and nonhumans we’re cohabitating with.”
Henry’s work amplifies lessons learned at McGill.
“You can draw so many parallels between how we think of fiction and reality and how we think of us and the environment. If we think that the environment is everything but the humans, we can also think fiction is everything but reality.”