Florent Vollant, Innu reflects on the extraordinary life of a Quebec music icon, October 24
Visions Ouest and Alliance Française present moving documentary on singer-songwriter behind Kashtin
Florent Vollant, Innu.
Visions Ouest and Alliance Française Vancouver present Florent Vollant, Innu at 6161 Cambie Street on October 24 at 8 pm, with director Isabelle Longnus in attendance
KASHTIN MEANS “TORNADO” in the Innu-aimun language—kind of appropriate, considering the way the singer-songwriter folk duo burst onto the music scene in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, they are considered a pioneering Indigenous band—one that became hugely popular in Quebec.
Florent Vollant, Innu, a new documentary by Isabelle Longnus, traces the life of Vollant, who was one half of the duo, alongside Claude McKenzie. The film goes back to Vollant’s upbringing in a nomadic family—first in Labrador and then, after they were uprooted and resettled, farther south on the reserve in Mani-utenam. With its poetic drone shots of the snowy landscapes, the film underscores the immensity of the natural world that drives Vollant’s creative process. As he reflects in the documentary: “The tide, the river, the sea—all of it goes into your body.” A recent stroke has put him in a reflective mood, ruminating on the scars of residential school and the way he escaped through music—reaching global recognition by audiences who didn’t need to understand the words to enjoy the band.
The film looks at the way the singer faces limited mobility but dreams of walking, and even performing again. But even if his body is hemmed in, Vollant’s innate energy—his joie de vivre—is contagious. “I’ve always been a little bit crazy,” as he puts it in one of many candid interview segments.
It’s an inspiring look at a humble icon who’s always found freedom through creation. But it’s also a moving exploration of his capacity for love—for his people and his land, for his parents and children, and as a force to build bridges between cultures and generations. 
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