MONTREAL.- Mixtape offers a multimedia and sound journey through the memory and work of a filmmaker for whom emotion was a rich territory to experience, feel, and express through music. An exhibition produced by PHI.

By gathering testimonies from his collaborators and loved ones, inspired by his love for music, Mixtape paints a portrait of the man and the filmmaker, exploring the traces he left behind.

It’s an opportunity to delve into Vallée’s creative journey and, above all, to map his monumental body of work.

“When I thought of this project, PHI came to mind instinctively. Mixtape is a great way for us to celebrate our father by showing the public his immense work”. ---Alex Vallée, son of Jean-Marc Vallée

MIXTAPE: A DESCRIPTION

Mixtape consists of five installations and a sound environment that accompanies and envelops the audience throughout the exhibition. These different spaces highlight key moments of Vallée’s career, inviting visitors to dive into the mind and music of the artist to discover what inspired him in his daily life, influenced his creativity, and was ultimately translated onto the big screen.

THE NARRATIVE JOURNEY OF THE EXHIBITION

• Foundation is a large-scale video installation exploring Jean-Marc Vallée’s creative origins around a model of his childhood home, combining music and excerpts from his iconic works such as Wild (2014), Demolition (2015), Big Little Lies (2017), and Sharp Objects (2018). Visitors are immersed in the filmmaker’s deeply personal and emotional world.

• The Trilogy pays tribute to Vallée’s cinematic vision through his short films Les fleurs magiques and Les mots magiques. These two works evoke his unfinished trilogy Les temps magiques, essential and pivotal pieces in the filmmaker’s journey.

• The Mixtapes is an installation celebrating Vallée’s unique use of music, revealing how it shaped his narratives and guided the emotional core of his work. It includes testimonies from close collaborators such as Laura Dern, Pierre Even, Marc- André Grondin, Michael Kiwanuka, Reese Witherspoon, Vanessa Paradis, and many others. The PHI team collected these voices, weaving their memories into a vibrant mosaic of tributes. Through these mixtapes, audiences will hear artists such as Robert Charlebois, Alexandra Stréliski, The Cure, Neil Young, and Sigur Rós.

• The Voices is a sanctuary where sound and memory unite to honor the filmmaker’s legacy, both as an artist and a rebel. With the sea as a keeper of memories, it reveals the profound impact he had on those who knew and admired him.

• Destination is the final stop of this exhibition, exploring Jean-Marc Vallée’s creative journey in a playful and musical way, highlighting the soundtracks that defined his cinematic art.

THE STORY BEHIND THE MIXTAPES

Mixtapes were an integral part of the artist’s life and creative process. He shared them with friends and collaborators, and created them specifically for his future creations.

So it seemed appropriate and meaningful to name this exhibition like this.