1999

In the late 1990s Monctons Acadian community was forever marked when death struck an high school In a sweet impressionist film Samara returns to the city she fled as a teenager to immerse herself in memories that are still buried there in various places and in dusty boxes containing diaries photos and VHS tapes 1999 is not a ghost story although it is populated by ghosts The snowcovered streets corridors and locker rooms of the school are intact as in a dream but the absence left by the wave of teenage suicides still resonates with unanswered questions trauma and regret Samara meets inspiring people who carry with them great pain and who 16 years later can finally comfort each other by breaking a long silence In the end the film interweaves different voices and gives rise to a collective reflection on the internalization of mourning and the need to learn to affirm ones desire to survive