A City is an Island

In a Montreal where linguistic identity is a permanent, fundamental issue, a community of talented English-speaking musicians has put down roots, attracted by the city’s cheap rents.

This scene has grown into a cultural world unto itself.

Warehouses abandoned in the 1990s now buzz with these autonomous but busy new arrivals, who contribute to Quebec’s cultural life even though they remain perpetually on its fringes. Timothy George Kelly’s film is an uncompromising exploration of an independent music scene unintegrated with the culture surrounding it.

Made with the same DIY ethos that its subjects apply to their music, A City is an Island traces the struggle for expression and the place of the artist amid the contradictions of contemporary society. Featuring music from Mac DeMarco, Spencer Krug, Colin Stetson, Sean Nicholas Savage, AIDS Wolf, Patrick Watson, Tim Hecker, Ramzi, Gambletron, Pat Jordache, Braids, Mozart's Sister, Country, Tonstartssbandht, Cadence Weapon and many more...