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Zero Tolerance

2004 1 h 15 min
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Being young is tough, especially if you're Black, Latino, Arab or Asian. In a city like Montreal, you can get targeted and treated as a criminal for no good reason. Zero Tolerance reveals how deep seated prejudice can be. On one side are the city's young people, and on the other, its police force. Two worlds, two visions. Yet one of these groups is a minority, while the other wields real power. One has no voice, while the other makes life-and-death decisions. When a policy of zero tolerance to crime masks an intolerance to young people of colour, the delicate …

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This work contains scenes of violence. Viewer discretion is advised.
Zero Tolerance

Details

Being young is tough, especially if you're Black, Latino, Arab or Asian. In a city like Montreal, you can get targeted and treated as a criminal for no good reason. Zero Tolerance reveals how deep seated prejudice can be. On one side are the city's young people, and on the other, its police force. Two worlds, two visions. Yet one of these groups is a minority, while the other wields real power. One has no voice, while the other makes life-and-death decisions.

When a policy of zero tolerance to crime masks an intolerance to young people of colour, the delicate balance between order and personal freedom is upset. A blend of cinéma vérité and personal testimonies, this hard-hitting film will broaden your mind and change your way of thinking. In French with English subtitles.
This work contains scenes of violence. Viewer discretion is advised.
  • participation
    Maurice Chalom
    Badr Zouine
    Junior Damas
    Rafaël Perez
    Liuma Michelet
    Tricia Henry
    Yacine Belhadj
    José Sermeno
    Camilo Roumer
    Marie-Célie Agnant
    John Dalzell
    Perry Calpeto
    Joan Quicano
    Ronald Lemus
    Paulo Andrade
    Stanley Thomas
    Carlos Villanueva
    Bruno Andrade
    Manuel Morga
    Alexandre Popovic
    Roderick Carreon
    Gladys Charmant
    Fady Dagher
    Florence Darius
    Edouard Anglade
    Robert Milord
    Éric La Penna
    Nourredine Elmzem
    Laurent Lisio
    P.L. Bouchard
    Joseph Rosemond
    Jean-Ernest Célestin
    Jean-Pierre Auger
    Estelle Landry
    Luc Demers
    Jean Pendelton
    Amir El Alfy
    Georges Lamirande
  • research
    Michka Saäl
  • script
    Michka Saäl
  • direction
    Michka Saäl
  • producer
    Yves Bisaillon
  • director of photography
    Sylvestre Guidi
  • sound
    Pierre Bertrand
  • editing
    Michel Giroux
  • sound editing
    Francine Poirier
  • sound editing - assistance
    Olivier Calvert
    Anton Fischlin
  • assistant director
    Jelena Popovic
  • production manager
    Jelena Popovic
  • gaffer
    Robert Courtemanche
  • script consultant
    Bruno Baillargeon
  • additional camera
    Alfonso Maiorana
    Vincent Chimisso
    Ali Reggab
    Bruno Baillargeon
    Jelena Popovic
  • camera assistant
    François Tessier
  • additional editing
    Jelena Popovic
  • additional sound
    François Guérin
    Dimitri Médard
    Marco Fania
    Juan Gutiérrez
    Jean-Denis Daoust
  • additional gaffer
    Bob McKenna
  • researcher
    Nathalie St-Pierre
  • stills photography
    Patrice Cohen
    Alain Tremblay
  • foley artist
    Lise Wedlock
  • foley assistant
    Geneviève Lapointe
  • original music
    La Main Froide
  • translation
    Christine York
  • subtitles
    Christine York
  • technical support - editing
    Danielle Raymond
    Ochelle Greenidge
    Martine Forget
  • online editing
    Sylvain Desbiens
    Denis Gathelier
  • re-recording
    Serge Boivin
  • computer graphics
    Louise Overy
  • titles
    Louise Overy
  • title graphics
    Stack
  • archival research
    Ginette Lavigne
  • marketing officer
    David Boisclair
  • administrator
    Denise DesLauriers
  • administrative staff
    Hélène Regimbal
    Lise Lévesque
    Marie-Josée Lavoie
  • technical coordinator
    Jean-François Laprise
    Brigitte Sénéchal
  • line production
    Johanne Bergeron
  • executive producer
    Yves Bisaillon

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Education

Ages 13 to 18
School subjects
This film provides a superb opportunity to look at difficult themes such as racism within police forces. What role do factors such as “ethnic” appearance and socio-economic status play in how people are treated by authority figures? What is racial profiling, and can its use be justified? What are the influences of well-meaning anti-racism and anti-discrimination laws in the daily lives of authority figures? Is our society as democratic, just, and egalitarian as we would like to think? Are there Canadian parallels to the problems of integrating youth that France has experienced? What are the similarities and differences between the two?
Zero Tolerance
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