“Three years ago, you left with your mother to join her family in Berlin for a few months. You never came back. Since then, 6000 km separate us. And nothing succeeds in filling the void I feel away from you. »
In this dense, vibrant and deeply intimate documentary, director Paul-Claude Demers speaks with infinite tenderness to his 6-year-old daughter, residing in Berlin with her mother, while facing the shadows of the past, notably that of her deceased adoptive father, whom he forgives with poignant compassion. Like a human investigation into the paternal role, Diary of a Father seeks to shed light on the gray areas of the family history of its creator.
The fragmented structure of the story, told like a personal diary in voiceover, provides a space for expression of a complex subjectivity. Paul-Claude Demers draws with acute sensitivity from his own mental universe and the collective imagination to conjure absence through evocative visual metaphors.
What gives this film a singular aura is the way Demers integrates innovative cinematic elements to translate his thoughts and emotions. From poetic sequences to evocative black and white images, every detail is meticulously orchestrated to awaken an emotional resonance in the viewer, plunging them into the very heart of the director’s experience.
Note that this documentary is part of an introspective sequel by the director, who had already explored his origins and the quest for his biological mother through previous films such as A Woman, My Mother in 2019 and Where I Come from in 2014.
In Diary of a Father, the reflection on fatherhood evolves towards a broader reflection on cinema itself. Through subtle references and homages to cinema masters such as Ingmar Bergman and Wim Wenders, Demers enriches his story by exploring the links between his personal life and his love for the seventh art. This approach lends additional depth to his work, inviting the viewer to meditate on the very nature of cinematic art and its capacity to shape and reflect our individual experiences.
In short, Diary of a Father goes far beyond the scope of a simple documentary on fatherhood. It is a generous and authentic testimony to a quest for universal meaning, a profound meditation which transcends the boundaries of the family to reach a resonance of universal significance.
