Antoine opens with a shot of a five-year-old using a typewriter to describe in great detail how he became blind at birth. The next scene is Antoine receiving a phone call from Madame Rouski, who dissolved into the water while taking a shower. Antoine's mission is to find Madame Rouski. Equipped with his two best friends and a mini boom microphone to help him find clues, Antoine spends two years of his life locating her. Is she in the yellow daffodils, in the air, in Vietnam, or has she turned into a monster?

Antoine is a daring, poetic, and playful docudrama that intimately explores the life of this brilliant and unique boy who is fully integrated into the regular school system in Montreal. Director Laura Bari, with Antoine's help, skillfully presents children's uninhibited and creative thought processes while creating an extensive sensory experience for the viewer. Antoine treats his blindness as a minor interference—he's an embracer of life, not afraid to ingest every possible moment. An inspiration to children and adults alike, Antoine's real and imaginary lives are cleverly intertwined in this debut film, creating an homage to human resilience, optimism, and creativity.

Co-presented by

American Museum of Natural History

Laura Bari is originally from Argentina and has been living in Montréal for the past 20 years. Uniting her loves of art and education and involving herself in diverse areas related to childhood, she conceived the children's television show Toc Toc Toc. Between 1999 and 2002, Bari directed more than 300 documentary vignettes for a television program entitled Cornemuse. This series has been playing twice a day for the past six years. Antoine is her first feature film.