Inhale Exhale

At Saint Boniface General Hospital in Manitoba two women pass each other in the corridors. Gisèle Fontaine hurries to help women in childbirth, while Louise Saurette attends the dying. Birth and death, moments of transition that involve a transformative journey, have much in common. The midwife and the chaplain offer themselves as guides on the painful and essential path of abandonment.

With delicacy and restraint this film reveals the essence of these private, universal moments and pays tribute to the work of the women who, in their deep communion with the people they attend, allow life to take its natural course.
This short documentary was produced for the Tremplin competition, which enables young French-speaking Canadians living outside Quebec to make a first film under professional conditions.