Ciné-jardins in collaboration with the Carrefour de la littérature, des arts et de la cultureFilm : Le magicien de Kaboul / A dream for KabulThe filmmaker Philippe Baylaucq will be on hand to comment on his film. 8 pm at the Visitor Centre, indoors in bad weather, outdoors in good weather Free admission. The filmIn 2001, Haruhiro Shiratori lost his only child and son in the World Trade Center attacks. Instead of isolating himself in grief, he decided to visit Afghanistan, speak to the people and try to end the cycle of violence. Over four years and on three continents, Philippe Baylaucq filmed the quest of this Japanese Don Quixote in his dream of building a cultural centre for the children of Kabul. Everywhere he goes, Shiratori speaks about the disasters the Afghan children have undergone. He preaches, persuades and relentlessly fund-raises with admirable determination. The film is the twin story of a humanist project ambushed by problems and a father seeking reconciliation with his dead son. Philippe Baylaucq is an award-winning film-maker who has made a variety of documentaries, dramas and experimental works for film, TV and video. He studied fine arts and cinema at the prestigious Hornsey College and Saint Martin’s School of Arts in London, England. His works have won numerous awards in Canada and abroad: Lodela (1996) garnered 11 international distinctions and Mystère B. (1998) won a prize at FIFA. His documentaries Les couleurs du sang (2000) and Sables émouvants (Moving Sands, 2003) were selected at several festivals, while the musical tale Hugo et le dragon (Hugo and the Dragon, 2001) toured the world. In 2007, he was director and coordinator of the feature film Un cri au bonheur (Happiness Bound), created by a filmmaker collective. The year 2008 saw him directing a scientific documentary, La dynamique du cerveau, and launching at the Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal Le magicien de Kaboul (A Dream for Kabul), a documentary feature shot in New York, Tokyo and Kabul. Deeply involved in the filmmaking industry, he received the 2001 Lumières prize for his work advancing the status of his profession during his chairmanship of ARRQ (Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec) from 1996 to 2000. Since 2005 he has chaired the Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal. He is one of two filmaker recently chosen to be National Film Board cinéastes en résidence (filmmakers-in-residence).