In 1969, at Montreal’s Concordia University, a student uprising marks itself in the Black liberation movement and sheds light on the often-overlooked history of anti-Black racism in Canada.

True North tells this story of systemic discrimination through archival footage and intimate interviews from former student protestors as well as the West Indians who migrated north seeking opportunity and refuge. This film is a testament to the courage and need for collectivist power.

The film will be followed by a conversation between Michèle Stephenson and Esery Mondesir where they will speak about Michèle‘s artistic practice as a Black liberation project, of which True North is a crucial contribution, and elaborate on the role of narratives in our collective work towards liberation.

Emmy Award winner Michèle Stephenson draws from her Caribbean roots to disrupt dominant storytelling practices. Grounded in a Black Atlantic Lens, she crafts form-defying narratives of resistance and healing, centering a Black radical tradition. Her acclaimed works include Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking) and Black Girls Play(Tribeca Grand Jury Prize) – both films Oscar-shortlisted, Canadian Screen Awards Nominee Stateless, and The Changing Same VR (Tribeca Narrative Immersive Grand Prize). Stephenson is a Guggenheim Fellow and Creative Capital Artist.

Ésery Mondésir is a Haitian-born artist, filmmaker, and educator. His work draws on everyday life, personal and collective memory, archival traces to look at society from within the undercommons. Mondesir holds an MFA in Film and Video Production from York University, and is Assistant Professor at OCAD University, where his research engages process cinema, artisanal moving images, and questions of migration. Recent work has been presented at the Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery in Montreal, and at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin.

Caribbean Solidarity Network (CSN) is an organization committed to the principles of Caribbean Liberation and Unity across the region as well as throughout the Diaspora. CSN’s platform is one rooted in a feminist, anti-imperialist, anti-colonial struggle. The history of the Caribbean peoples has always been one of freedom and self-determination. CSN offers space for the Caribbean community and invested allies to foment ideas and build collective knowledge and understanding about present and local circumstances.

The University of Toronto New College’s Community Engaged Learning is a placement-based program for students to work in social service or community sector.

Caribbean Studies at the University of Toronto is an interdisciplinary program engaging Caribbean history and society, politics and economic development, literature and thought.