Pieces of reflection
A film by David Sanchez
2026
A film by Gabrielle Côté
| Year(s) | 2025 |
| Type(s) | Short film |
| Genre(s) | Experimental Animation |
| Duration | 12:12 |
| Origin | Canada (Québec) |
| Subject(s) | Urban Planning Society Social Itinérance Itinérance |
Synopsis
Montrealers enjoy parks, balconies, cafés, and biking, sharing in a rich cultural diversity. But a truck full of orange cones arrives, disrupting neighborhoods and leaving behind construction sites that reshape the city. Built heritage disappears, replaced by towers so tall they cast Montreal into shadow. In this cyberpunk era, streets are ruled by AI-driven towers, erasing the last traces of the past. A revolt emerges, demanding radical change. When the system collapses, nature reclaims its rights. Among the ruins, a solarpunk community rises — one where life adapts with its environment
| 2026 | Best Experimental Film | Student Film Festival of Quebec (FFEQ) |
| 2026 | Favorite Jury Award | Courts d’un soir |
| 2026 | Best Experimental Film | Made Here Film Festival |
| 2026 | Meilleur Court Métrage Étudiant | Rendez-Vous Québec Cinéma |
| 2026 | Special Mention Youth Jury |
Oberhausen Short Film Festival 2026 |
| 2026 | Special Mention Student Competition | Sommet du cinéma d’animation 2026 |
| 1 | October 2025 | Festival du Nouveau Cinéma FNC (RPCÉ), Montréal, Canada |
| 2 | September 2025 | Tehran International Short Film Festival, Tehran, Iran |
| 3 | January 2026 | Plein(s) Écran(s), Montréal, Canada |
| 4 | March 2026 | Festival du film étudiant de Québec, Québec, Canada |
| 5 | April 2026 | Courts d’un soir, Montréal, Québec, Canada |
| 6 | April 2026 | Made Here Film Festival, Burlington, Vermont, USA |
| 7 | April 2026 | Int. Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Germany |
| 8 | April 2026 | RVQC-Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma, Montréal, Québec, Canada |
| 9 | April 2026 | Festival Fécule, Lausanne, Swiss |
| 10 | May 2026 | Les sommets du cinéma d'animation, Montréal, Québec, Canada |
| 11 | June 2026 | FEST - New Directors / New Film Festivals, Espinho, Portugal |
| 12 | June 2026 | Seoul International Eco Film Festival, Seoul, South-Korea |
| 13 | June 2026 | ShorTS - International Film Festival / Maremetraggio, Trieste, Italy |
| 14 | June 2026 | Dead Center Film Festival, Oklahoma, USA |
| 15 | July 2026 | Psarokokalo International Short Film Festival, Greece |
| 16 | July 2026 | Maine International Film Festival (MIFF), Portland, Maine, USA |
| 17 | July 2026 | Rural Film Festival, Foia d'Elx, Spain |
| 18 | August 2026 | The Quarantine Film Festival, Varna, Bulgaria, |
| 19 | August 2026 | Imaginaria - International Festival of Authorial Animated Film, Conversano, Italy |
| 20 | August 2026 | Festival Émergence de Montréal, Québec, Canada |
| 21 | August 2026 | Anim sur le Lac, St-Félicien, Québec, Canada |
| 22 | Sept. 2026 | FCVQ - Festival de cinéma de la ville de Québec, Québec, Canada |
| 23 | Sept. 2026 | Minikino Film Week : Bali International Short Film Festival, Indonesia |
Team
| Production | UQAM (Léa April) |
| Director | Gabrielle Côté |
| Screenplay | Gabrielle Côté |
| Director of photography | Victor Buchou |
| Sound recording | Charles Warren |
| Editing | Julie Bor |
| Sound editing | Julie Bor |
| Sound design | Jorge A. Montoya |
| Animation | Gabrielle Côté and Julie Bor |
| Special effects | Samuele Cacchione |
| Original music | Mathieu Drolet & Evan Burman |
Filmmaker
Gabrielle Côté
Gabrielle is an emerging filmmaker and editor based in Montreal. Her compositions take an immersive approach, driven by imagery, music, and rhythmic composition. She uses contemplative storytelling to create narratives that are both socially engaged and poetic. Her films explore themes related to architecture, urban transformations, and social issues. She combines her unique creative vision with solid technical mastery in post-production. Passionate about editing as a space for invention, she develops hybrid universes where documentary and experimentation intersect. Curious and audacious, she brings her projects to fruition with a rigorous method, while also leaving room for improvisation and discovery. She readily experiments with a variety of tools, integrating visual effects, animation, and video collages to serve her artistic vision.
| 2025 | People Live Here | Animation-Experimental | 12min12 |
| 2024 | Fenêtres sur Montréal | Experimental | 5min |
Distribution contact
Laurent Bilodeau, Head of Distribution
438 399-8398
distribution@bandesonimage.org
