“I don’t really expect anything, I just want you to be happy.”
So says Drew to Djamina, one romantically linked pair of several we meet in Canadian series Dog Days.
It’s , and in the first of the series’ eight episodes of 10 minutes each, we meander through Montreal’s St Henri neighbourhood with Djamina (Audrey Roger), and spot people we’ll return to.
There’s Florence (Mylène Mackay), the diner waitress taking a smoko in the full sun; there are the local kids being cooled down by their mum splashing water on their necks; on the balcony there’s Louise (Mireille Métellus), the saxophone-playing goddess woman we want to have a drink with; and then there’s Drew, Djamina’s former lover who seems to have wronged her in some way, and who she’s not ready to forgive.
Episode 1 is all about Djamina, though, and she’s caught in tangles of the heart. After bumping into Drew (Nate Husser), she comes home to her mum and brother (who we also pick up later) and her current lover, Abel (Sacha Charles). But while playfully chatting with him, she spots Drew in the hallway, setting us up to expect more blending of characters’ reality and imaginings, for he is not actually standing there.
Djamina (Audrey Roger). Source: St Laurent TV
Abel (Sacha Charles) and Djamina (Audrey Roger). Source: St Laurent TV
The dizzying heatwave has a soporific effect, making it the perfect environment to blend coherence and dreamlike elements. Djamina is just the first of St-Henri’s inhabitants to fall prey to reality-bending oddness. But love itself, as well as the neighbourhood, are what we’re celebrating here.
It’s not just romantic love, either. The love between parents and children, and between siblings also feature in several storylines we follow over three hot days of summer. Most of the characters’ lives are intertwined in some way in this close-knit community. The magic realism element is a lot of kooky fun, and puts one in mind of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It’s when they’re dwelling in another realm for a little while that clarity can dawn on our ensemble cast of St-Henrians, and the transitions back and forth from ‘real’ life are handled cleverly.
While we leave Djamina after the first episode, we return to her and Drew and Abel in coming episodes. Similarly, we meet and return to over-worked single mother Hind (Karina Aktouf) and her neighbour Philippe (Jean-Sebastien Courchesne) who, much to her surprise, asks her out. Florence from the diner is dealing with overhanging childhood trauma involving separation from her sister, and is not sure how best to handle things.
Florence (Mylène Mackay) is a little stressed, and the heat is not helping. Source: Fred Gervais
St Henri neighbourhood kids get a little weirded out in ‘Dog Days’. Source: Fred Gervais
We get to know Louise with her saxophone a little better; she features in an offshoot storyline. There is young couple Yohan and Ophélia, the latter of whom wakes up one day to find herself very pregnant, and we meet sisters Mei and Katie whose lives have taken different paths causing one to become a little demanding of the other. The way the characters’ appearances alternate means that by the time we pick them up again, we’re keen to hear the latest developments.
St Henri as the backdrop to their lives is an enjoyable place to stroll around too; there is no doubt we are looking at the neighbourhood through a loving lens.
Creator Eva Kabuya is a young filmmaker, only graduating in 2016. Dog Days was selected in the Short Series category at ; it was originally released as a web series. CANNESERIES selects series based on their “creativity and audacity”, with the Festival showcasing "tomorrow’s talents”.
Canadian television has been over the years for being too “white”, not reflecting the reality of its rich multicultural population. A published last year analyses Canadian sitcom Kim’s Convenience. Premiering in 2016, it was “the first Asian-led sitcom on Canadian television”. While that show was also for its “overwhelmingly white production team”, it was nevertheless a breakthrough show.
Philippe (Jean-Sebastien Courchesne) and Hind (Karina Aktouf). Source: St Laurent TV
Kabuya and Dog Days are for employing a diverse cast of actors. Yes, Kabuya has truthfully reflected the cultural diversity that exists in many an inner-city neighbourhood. But what’s finally happening, and not well before time, is that TV executives aren’t stopping her.
Kabuya is working on her first feature film, and we can’t wait to see it. For now, we have Djamina, Abel, Drew, Louise, Florence and our other St Henrians to follow around as they stick out the sticky heat and tease out the gold from the magic weaving through three 'dog days'.
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