Rhayne Vermette

There are few alternatives for exiles. The homecoming may be postponed to an indeterminate future; one could settle for a replacement; and lastly, there is always madness.

This story surrounds a pivotal event: the sun does not rise for one day. While the world watches a new sun rise, mysterious events weave together the lives of a Sculptor, a Civil Servant and a Security Guard. Through varied landscapes and timelines, journeys through moments of grief are ignited. This film, shot over the course of a year on some broken Bolex cameras and features in-camera fx such as multiple exposures.

In this experimental short film specially commissioned from celebrated Métis filmmaker Rhayne Vernette for Severin's All the Haunts Be Ours vol. 2, images from The White Reindeer are reanimated through contact printing and optical printing.

A sequel to her earlier Black Rectangle, and reminiscent of Evelyn Lambart and Norman McLaren’s groundbreaking animations, Rhayne Vermette’s buzzing miniature A Black Screen Too is a burst of colour and movement undercut by darkness.

Between Winnipeg and Beirut, Rhayne Vermette and Nour Ouayda take it in turns to create the images of a silent ritual. Are they trying to summon this mysterious lynx, which they both evoke? One through the medium of silver film, the other through video, the filmmakers play a hypnotic game of formal rhymes and reverberating motifs.

Renée arrives to her hometown of Ste. Anne after a long absence. Her brother and his wife are raising her daughter Athene as their own, and the return of the prodigal mother is a surprise to all involved. The tension between them grows as the questions that have been accumulating over the years await their answers.

Smoke offers an experience of a space of metamorphoses that is animated and then dissolves, paradoxically, in light. A sequence of highly contrasting, increasingly abstract images enters into dialogue with a soundtrack rich in sonic materials and textures. The experience is optical, aural and physical.

Woman 2 Woman. An 8-fest commission heavily edited for TV purposes.

This is the story of the architect, Carlo Mollino, animated within the desk space of failed architect, Rhayne Vermette.

“…while many architects through their time have sought a ‘true house’ or a ‘true architecture’, their truth was something of the past and not so true in the present […] here architecture is a child of the sea, arose from its substance…” — Gio Ponti At the age of 32, I finally ran away from home. Dramatically, I left with only my cat and copies of all the still and motion images taken by my father (these dating until the mid 1990s when he then passed his camera down to me). And while I unpacked the baggage of this surreal house coincidentally, back home, renovations were in order… Here, an architectural threnody is composed through a various "true stories" and the inherent struggle between the metaphysical and material. What time is it? No time to look back...

In this very short animation, an apparition reveals itself through celluloid and transmits vestiges of a forgotten provenance. Have the onlookers interpreted its signs correctly or was the message misunderstood? Inspired by found sound of two people’s discovery of a mysterious event in the sky. Produced as part of the 11th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

Fetishized alpine landscapes of 16mm film collage and rayograms generate an obscured portrait of the godlike, Carlo Mollino. Completed in anticipation of a personal pilgrimage to Turin - this film delineates what is at stake for the genius bachelor architect as well as the deplorable, unremittingly heartbroken filmmaker (who adores him so).

This film is my failed attempt at creating a thematic palindrome of audio/visual samples. When working between two poles of remembering - one easily gets confused. Please enjoy this film before my mother asks me to delete it.

Rob Vilar, the most criminally unknown actor who has walked the planet Earth. Salvaged from a dumpster near the National Screen Institute’s offices in Winnipeg, this video is the seminal preface to this man and his evolving craft. A pandemonium of film clips and reenactments celebrate the origins of Vilar’s artistic ingenuity, while a portrait of Winnipeg and its underground enterprises are epitomized. At last, we have a star!

“Is this your first visit here?” “Yes.” “Well this whole thing must seem kinda strange to you, huh? You realize that I can’t see you even though you see me. Well that takes a little getting used to.. Oh. Am I looking at your face now? (laughs) It

This film documents a tedious process of dismantling and reassembling 16 mm found footage. The film collage imitates functions of a curtain, while the recorded optical track describes the flm's subsequent destruction during its first projection.

There are few alternatives for exiles. The homecoming may be postponed to an indeterminate future; one could settle for a replacement; and lastly, there is always madness.

A section cut through a transitional editing tool, the dissolve. For Craig Baldwin.

An architectural portrait emerges as a transmogrification through various broken projectors. These particular projectors are currently being sold at J. Werier, a Winnipeg warehouse emporium and artifact.

In pursuit of an eclipse, the citizens of Winnipeg flee the city. Meanwhile, stranded in Tudor Village, the caretaker does his best to interrupt their trajectory & entice everyone to return.

In 2010, Winnipeg director, Guy Maddin exclaims "it's impossible to collage a film!"

Precluding his destination, that morning, the sky receded into a peculiar darkness. Boarding the northern train, Mr. Seymore drifts through the murky turbulences of the night.