12 Jan Creating a sound documentary
12
Jan
30
Mar
Creating a sound documentary
- Long-term workshop
Monday January 12, 2026 - Monday March 30, 2026
All day
Main Film
2025 Rue Parthenais #301, Montréal, Quebec, H2K 3T2, Québec
With Jenny Cartwright (Nous sortirons de nos cuisines, Quels morceaux de nous la tempête a-t-elle emportés avec elle?) and guests
Application deadline : Monday, December 15th, 2025 at 11:59pm.
Cost : $350
Total duration: 25h (23h of workshop + 2h of mentoring)
In person at Main Film’s office
With the financial support of the Quebec government, Main Film, dedicated to independent filmmaking, pursues its mission of supporting emerging filmmakers.
GENERAL INFORMATION
A sound documentary uses sound to explore a subject in depth, combining narration, testimonials, and sound elements to create an immersive experience. It relies entirely on recorded sounds to inform, move, and tell a story based on reality. The narrative value of sound and the syntax of editing and mixing are central elements of the work.
This practical professional training course focuses on the creation of a sound documentary, from conception to production.
Although not widely broadcast, sound documentaries are gaining ground in radio programming schedules, festivals, and online platforms. They allow documentary filmmakers to explore new creative avenues, expand their storytelling skills, and open up new professional opportunities.
This course will allow you to develop your sound documentary idea with the instructor’s expertise. By the end of the course, you will have created an audio documentary of up to 10 minutes in length, which will be shared with the group during a listening session.
When submitting your application, we ask that you briefly outline the idea you would like to develop during the training.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
Ideally, you will have a laptop and headphones that you can bring with you to the training.
Basic editing skills are desirable. Otherwise, you can download Reaper or Audacity for free, which are easy-to-use and intuitive software programs. Selected participants will be provided with learning materials on these software programs upon request.
Please note that both of these software do not allow exporting to AAF, which means you cannot work on ProTools for the final sound mix.
CONDITIONS OF ELIGIBILITY
The course is open to 8 people only.
It is addressed to self-employed media arts workers living in Quebec.
DETAILED SCHEDULE
Module 1 | Introduction and general presentation
- Monday, January 12th, from 6pm to 9pm (3h)
Module 2 | Sound recoding and interview techniques
- Monday, January 19th, from 6pm to 9pm (3h)
Guest: David Cherniak
Module 3 | Editing (part 1)
- Monday, February 2nd, from 6pm to 9pm (3h)
Module 4 | Editing (part 2)
- Monday, February 23rd, from 6pm to 9pm (3h)
Module 5 | Sound design and rights clearance
- Monday, March 2nd, from 6pm to 9pm (3h)
Module 6 | Basic mixing concepts for directors
- Monday, March 16th, from 6pm to 8pm (2h)
Guest: Bruno Bélanger
Module 7 | Financing and distribution
- Monday, March 23rd, from 6pm to 9pm (3h)
Module 8 | Listening session
- Monday, March 30th, from 6pm to 9pm (3h)
APPLICATION
Your application must be sent via this form before December 15th, 2025 à 11:59pm :
ABOUT
Jenny Cartwright
Jenny Cartwright explores the excesses of capitalism and the injustices that result from it by addressing topics such as feminist struggles, gentrification, work, and poverty. It is through her bias toward marginalized people that she attempts to rekindle anger and hope.
Her works are characterized by rigorous research, often spanning several years. While she constantly questions how to tell her stories, moving from classic forms to experimental film and from installation to sound creation, her practice remains resolutely documentary.
In 2019, she produced her first audio documentary, Debouttes!, which won the NUMIX award for best podcast in the history category. With this project, she discovered a medium reminiscent of literature in its powerful evocative force: it was love at first sight, and sound creation became her medium of choice. Several workshops at Phonurgia Nova (France) allowed her to study sound creation under the guidance of Kaye Mortley, Sophie Berger, Alexandre Plank, Antoine Richard, Gilles Aubry, and Félix Blume.
In 2022, Quels morceaux de nous la tempête a-t-elle emportés avec elle? won the NUMIX International Award in the immersive sound experience category.
His work has been presented in 17 countries in theaters, galleries, and on the radio.
