How do you prepare for a job interview when you have a criminal record?
The stilted routines and formalities of the job interview can provoke a particular kind of anxiety in most people seeking employment. But coming to the table with a criminal record can make those tensions razor-sharp. In this observational short documentary, the Québécois filmmaker Nicolas Lévesque places the viewer inside training sessions for three men preparing for job interviews following their release from prison. Forced to confront their pasts in this stressful setting, fragments of stories, including their hopes for and apprehensions about the future, begin to emerge. Unvarnished yet empathetic, the film offers a sobering account of the overwhelming challenges that ex-convicts face when re-entering society.
Director: Nicolas Lévesque
Producers: Nathalie Cloutier, Colette Loumède, Catherine Benoit
Website: National Film Board of Canada
videoWork
Like a cheery Sisyphus, Fred dismantles an industrial chimney one brick at a time
12 minutes
videoKnowledge
A Kichwa activist on ayahuasca’s rise – and what it really means to her people
15 minutes
videoDemography and migration
The volunteers who offer a last line of care for migrants at a contentious border
30 minutes
videoHistory
In the face of denial, this film uncovers the hidden scars of Indonesia’s 1998 riots
21 minutes
videoDemography and migration
In California’s farmlands, immigrant workers share their stories of toil and hope
17 minutes
videoHome
Life moves slowly in a Romanian mountain village, shaped by care and the seasons
13 minutes
videoSocial psychology
What happened when a crypto scam swept over a sleepy town in the Caucasus
18 minutes
videoGender
A catchy tune explains the world’s ‘isms’ – according to your mum doing the laundry
5 minutes
videoHuman rights and justice
Surreal, dazzling visuals form an Iranian expat’s tribute to defiance back home
10 minutes