DREAM LIFE
LA VIE RÊVÉE
1972, Mireille Dansereau, Canada, 90 mins
In French with English subtitles | Format: Digital

Mireille Dansereau’s fourth film is the story of a friendship between two women who struggle to liberate themselves from the image of the “ideal man.” Dansereau has scenes of women passing men on the street and tipping their hats, many jokes and parodies, and a ride in the country with two women and a man singing a song from JULES ET JIM. The major premise of this film is role reversal-a step toward liberation. Dansereau stated that women are “being free like men told us to be free…to be able to cope with them, in their way of being free…now let’s try to create what we are.” Dansereau did not consider DREAM LIFE to be a film about women’s liberation, but instead was interested in the individual’s subconscious and how it relates to the conscious mind. That DREAM LIFE was released when the liberation movement was first becoming very strong, Dansereau felt, is the reason for it to be considered a film of liberation, besides the fact that it was created by a woman. “It’s simply that real friendship between women was never shown on the screen. It is always sexual or filled with hatred and jealousy.” Gene Siskel credited DREAM LIFE for inspiring Films By Women/Chicago ’74: “Seeing DREAM LIFE gave me an appetite for more films conceived and shot from the female point of view. Not because they necessarily would be better, but because they would be different.” (Written in 1974 for the film center by Martha I. Goldner. Edited for length and clarity.)

Awards & Nominations

Winner – Wendy Michener Award for outstanding artistic achievement, Best Film Editing, Canadian Film Awards

BlockFilms by Women/Chicago ’74: In September 1974, at the height of the feminist movement, the Film Center hosted Films By Women/Chicago ‘74, a series of screenings, workshops, and discussions, drawing 10,000 patrons to more than 70 short and feature films by women filmmakers. This fall, we’re partnering with Northwestern University’s Block Cinema to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of Films by Women/Chicago ‘74. Screenings held across the two venues will revisit some of the festival’s most original and daring films and filmmakers while reflecting on the event’s enduring legacies. Read more

The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu

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Tags: Block Museum, Chicago, DREAM LIFE LA VIE RÊVÉE (1972), Films by Women/Chicago ‘74, Gene Siskel Film Center, Loop, Mireille Dansereau, Mireille Dansereau: DREAM LIFE LA VIE RÊVÉE (1972), Northwestern