Billy
In this compassionate yet disturbing documentary, director Lawrence Côté-Collins inspects the life of former filmmaking friend Billy Poulin, now in prison for murder, through his own stockpile of video footage and deconstructs the effects of untreated schizophrenia.
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Friday, May 16, 2025
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- Matinee
Saturday, May 17, 2025
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- Matinee
Monday, May 26 - Sunday, June 1, 2025
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Billy Poulin was a compulsive videographer ever since he got a camera as a kid. He was also an undiagnosed schizophrenic. After being imprisoned for murder, he asks director Lawrence Côté-Collins to retrieve a suitcase full of old videotapes from a friend’s attic. That stash of short films and video diaries become the backbone of this film, which charts his creative and mental journey up through his incarceration. As it turns out, Côté-Collins knew Poulin from their time together as part of a group at Kino Montreal who made short films together in 2008. She distanced herself from him after he accosted her one night, but she reached out after he was imprisoned once she learned about his schizophrenia. They struck up a friendship. The treasure trove of videos woven throughout this story gives fascinating glimpses of the symptoms of Poulin’s illness. Côté-Collins even shows him some of his old videos, which helps him come to terms with the voices that were in his head. Billy is a fascinating look at mental illness through the creative work of the man going through it.
- Director: Lawrence Côté-Collins
- Country: Canada (Québec), Finland
- Year: 2024
- Running Time: 107 min.
- Producer: Lawrence Côté-Collins, Vuk Stojanović
- Screenplay: Lawrence Côté-Collins
- Cinematographers: Lawrence Côté-Collins, Sophie Lanctôt, Benoit Rodrigue, Billy Poulin, Benoît Poulin
- Editors: Osiane Lapointe, Alexandre Leblanc, Lawrence Côté-Collins
- Music: Martin Roy, Luc Sicard
- Website: Official Film Website
- Filmography: Bungalow (2022), Écartée (2016)
- Language: French
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- Format: DCP
- International Sales: Raina Film Festival Distribution