Cohen Films

The Cohenites have pestered, pandered, and bartered their way into attaining a number of Cohen films. Come check them out at the Stanley A Milner Public Library (across the street from the hospitality suite!)

Attendance is free and open to the public.

This Beggar's Description

Philip Tétrault has been locked up in jails and psych wards, kicked out of the house by desperate friends and family and spent long periods living on the streets of Montreal. However, he is also a talented writer and loving father whose deep family bonds and friendships have helped him come through periods of incredible darkness brought on by his schizophrenia.

Directed by Pierre Tétrault, This Beggar's Description tells his brother Phil's story - one of art, love, and madness - capturing the far-reaching effects of schizophrenia on one man, his friends and his family.

Phil's writing is central both to his life and to this documentary - offering extraordinary insights into street life in Montreal, the beauty of nature and what he calls "the gymnastics of my mind". His unpublished novel, Travels in Schizophrenia, is so intense that to this day Phil can't read it, for fear that it will bring on his schizophrenia.

Today he spends his days with friends on the street, collects cans for beer money, plays his beloved pan pipes and writes as much as he can. Phil is celebrated at the launch of his poetry book in Montreal, which is attended by his old friend and great supporter Leonard Cohen, whose songs are woven throughout the film.

In this powerful and moving portrait, we are reminded that rather than continuing to isolate those with schizophrenia, it is a far richer experience to make a place for them.

The Ernie Game

This romantic feature filmed in wintry Montreal could take place in any city with young people who have left their parents but still haven't made homes of their own.

The protagonist of this drama, Ernie, is extremely alienated. For him, life is a game because he's unable to make anything more of it. But for those who befriend him and eventually turn him loose again, his game is not enough.

The cast includes Jackie Burroughs, who went on to fame in the well-loved TV series Anne of Green Gables. The video also features a memorable performance by Leonard Cohen.


Ladies and Gentleman...Mr. Leonard Cohen

This Jazzy 1965 black and white film portrait catches the imaginative energies, lyrical and comic, of a young Leonard Cohen, the quicksilver Canadian poet, novelist, and songwriter as he was on the verge of pop stardom. This Jazzy 1965 black and white film portrait catches the imaginative energies, lyrical and comic, of a young Leonard Cohen, the quicksilver Canadian poet, novelist, and songwriter as he was on the verge of pop stardom.