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Last Dance on the Main

Aristofanis Soulikias

It's citizens themselves who save the essence of a place.


In his short animated documentary, Canadian film director and architect Aristofanis Soulikias celebrates the invincible spirit of celebration and resistance of a local Montreal community, as well as the city's endangered architectural and cultural heritage. In "Last Dance on the Main" Soulikias focuses on the demolition of a row of historic buildings on St. Laurent boulevard, also known as "The Main", but mostly his colored animation talks about the lively resistance put up by the burlesque artists and the community of the street.

The narration briefly retraces the history of the street, since the beginning of the colony, as it went through the Saint Laurent gate of the city's walls, and highlights its importance as a social landmark for the city: a reference point for interactions of all kinds, given the presence of museums next to burlesque theatres and strip clubs. By merging animated drawings with voices of the citizens who oppose the demolitions, the documentary aims at reminding the audience the importance of these cultural, emotional and social elements, that constitute the very essence of a place and make it a lively community, beyond the indifference of politicians and building developers. True to the film's local nature, all the sound artists involved are Montreal-based, including music composer and sound designer, Tristan Capacchione and the early jazz band, "Masson Stomp".

The short film was screened at more than 40 International festivals including the Ottawa International Animation Festival (2014), the DOK Leipzig (2014), the American Documentary Film Festival in Palm Springs CA (2015), the Architektur.Film.Sommer series by Vienna's Architekturzentrum (2015), the Lund International Architecture Film Festival (2015), the Architecture Film Festival in Rotterdam (2015), the Arquitectura Film Festival in Lisbon (2015) and most major Montreal film festivals. The documentary was awarded on many occasions, such as the Concordia Film Festival (Best Animated Film, 2014), the "Canada's Top Ten" selection at TIFF's (Toronto International Film Festival) as one of the ten best student films in Canada for the year 2014, the Cannes Short Film Festival (Best Animation, 2015) and the Greenwich Village Film Festival (Best Documentary, 2015).

Credits

Sound Designer and Music Composer: Tristan Capacchione
Music Band: Masson Stomp
Sound Mixer: Stéphane Calce
Music Recorder/Mixer: Julia Graff
Assistant Sound Editor: Melissa David
Academic Supervisor: Luigi Allemano
Production: Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema

Canada 2014
Duration: 3'10''