Ciné-découverte | Sons (in English with French subtitles)

Free admission, duration of 1h08

March 16, 2016. Justin Simms has just become a dad. But his joy is tinged with unease. Little Jude enters the world at a time when traditional notions of masculinity are being contested as never before. How can he teach his boy to be a good man?

With Sons, eight eventful years in the making, the Newfoundland-based filmmaker confronts the challenge with imagination and creative flair, crafting a big-hearted documentary essay on parenting, patriarchy—and the pain and pleasure of guiding boys through the turbulent cultural waters of the early 21st century. Woven throughout is luminous informal footage of Jude’s early years, charting his trajectory from helpless newborn to hurricane of a boy, obsessed with dinosaurs and superheroes. How can fathers steer sons away from negative models of masculinity and help them become caring adults? What does it even mean to be a “good man”? Isn’t it enough to nurture basic human qualities—empathy, confidence, common decency—without dwelling on gender?