Marley O’Brien & Em Grisdale



The Year Long Boulder

Canada | 2022
9 mins
16mm / 8mm
Synopsis:
A portrait of queer love through the changing seasons as a young writer shares their work with their best friend and discovers the answer to their grief in its release—that there’s strength in vulnerability, laughter in pain, and self-discovery at the heart of self-expression.



Starring: Em Grisdale and Marley O'Brien
Writer/Director: Brielle LeBlanc
Producer: Sean Maheux Galway
Cinematography: Jeff Wheaton
Editor: Molly Gillis
Original Score: Brielle LeBlanc & Andrew LeBlanc

Screenings
World Premiere: The Atlantic International Film Festival (NS)
International Premiere: NewFest: The New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival (NY, US)
Online World Premiere: Vimeo Staff Picks

Telefilm Not Short on Talent: Clermont-Ferrand (France)
Melbourne Queer Film Festival (Australia)
Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival
TIFF Next Wave Film Festival
Halifax Independent Filmmaker’s Festival
Image+Nation Queer Film Festival
Festival Courts d’un Soir
Gimli International Film Festival
Silverwave Film Festival
Charlottetown Film Festival
Exposures Montreal Trans Film Screening Series

REEL East Coast Shorts Season 9 (CBC Gem)
GagaOOLala Queer Film Streaming Service (Taiwan)


Awards & Nominations
Winner: NewFest + Vimeo Award for First-Time Filmmaker
Winner: Best Cinematography at the Atlantic International Film Festival (J. Wheaton)
Winner: Best Atlantic Short at Silverwave Film Festival
Nominated: Best Short at Screen Nova Scotia Awards 2023

Press
Emotional Rocks: The Year Long Boulder at Clermont-Ferrand 2023
(RDV Canada, Jake Howell: Jan. 2023)

NewFest Announces 35th Anniversary Festival Award Winners
(Deadline, Valerie Complex: Nov. 2023)












Burnt Toast (in post-production)

Canada
8 mins
16mm
Narrative/Doc/Experimental

Synopsis:
Two neighbours sit on their shared front step, contemplating what could go into the newly demolished lot across the street. Shot on 16mm over the course of two years, the film captures change in real time, while reflecting on the preservation of community and culture amidst the challenges of unprecedented development.

Made with the support of ArtsNS, Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative, and the National Film Board.



Starring: Anna Sparrow & Natasha Kruse
Writer/Director: Brielle LeBlanc
Producers: Brielle LeBlanc & Sean Maheux Galway
Cinematography: Nicole C. Holland
Editor: A. Laurel Lawrence
Original Score: Andrew LeBlanc









Portrait Series #1: Provincetown
(in post-production)


Canada
8 mins
16mm
Narrative/Doc/Experimental

LeBlanc and Alek Green, sound artist, embark on a new extended collaborative series of short films titled "Portrait Series,” where they engage with different spaces to create a site-specific and site-responsive piece. With these projects, LeBlanc handles the visual element and Green handles the sound element, merging their practices. They recently completed the first Portrait during a two-week stay at the acclaimed Peaked Hill Trust Residency in the nationally protected sand dunes of Provincetown, Massachusetts.










Visual: Brielle LeBlanc
Sound: Alek Green







Tetherball (in-development)
Canada
20 mins
16mm
Narrative

Synopsis: A thirty-year-old grieves their mother and rents their childhood home that has been turned into a short-term rental vacation property. 



Writer/director/producer: Brielle LeBlanc