A typical morning for Marlene Millar, a Montreal film director, producer, and curator, could include a shoot with renowned dancer-choreographer Louise Lecavlier, and a Zoom pre-production planning meeting with a French producer for a community dance film project in Italy. Quick break for a quick lunch with a friend at a neighbourhood café-resto. Her workday continues with event and screening planning for her production collective Mouvement Perpetuel, which produces screen dance, documentaries and experimental media. Then, to escape the screen and to round off the day, Marlene will go for a sunset stroll up Montreal’s iconic Mont-Royal.
This year, Mouvement Perpétuel—with co-founder Philip Szporer, filmmaker, dance journalist, writer, and professor—the duo is celebrating their 25th anniversary of collaborative existence. The pair, who met at a dance audition in the 80s, have created a critically acclaimed collection of dance media work over the years that includes Zab Mabougou: Being in the World, a documentary about Franco-Congolese African dance pioneer and philosopher Zab Maboungou, and a multi-media installation 1001 Lights that highlights the Sabbath candle-lighting ceremony, and Witness, a work that orbits around the theme of dementia.
For Marlene and Mouvement Perpétuel, an important aspect of their work includes mentoring emerging filmmakers.
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Which ’hood are you in?
I live in the heart of Montreal’s Mile End.
What do you do?
I write, direct and produce dance films with various collaborators, curate a dance film program for the Montreal Festival Quartiers Danses, teach dance film and documentary workshops, and support the independent film community through mentorships and sharing with the next generation of film artists.
What are you currently working on?
At the moment, with my co-founder Philip Szporer of our dance media collective Mouvement Perpetuel, we are working on our 25th anniversary tour, kicking off in Hong Kong at the Jumping Frames International Movement Image Festival, followed by a retrospective event in Barcelona at the dance film festival Choreoscope. We’ll be screening many of our works and leading masterclasses at local dance and arts academies and institutes.
Where can we find your work?
Marlenemillar.com, Mouvementperpetuel.net, and in person in Montreal at Dazibao on January 8, 2026, where we’ll screen some of our seminal works alongside projects by three next-generation dance-film collaborators, followed by a public dialogue reflecting on 25 years of creation at the intersection of dance, film, and community.
