This event includes a post-screening Q&A with director Annie St-Pierre. Synopsis: In an era of social media influencers and self-help gurus, understanding self-meaning in our individualist society seems more elusive than ever. In Your Higher Self, Quebecoise filmmaker Annie St-Pierre takes an unconventional and playful look at the booming phenomenon of life coaching. The film offers intimate windows into coaching sessions, observing as coaches guide clients through therapeutic experiences to achieve spiritual awakening. Rather than investigating effectiveness, St-Pierre quietly observes clients’ quests for self-betterment without judgment, exploring questions of belief and meaning in our hyper-individualistic society where many people feel lost in the excesses of capitalism, and where spirituality has become increasingly commodified. Annie St-Pierre is an apostle of Canadian independent cinema, having collaborated with Denis Côté, Matthew Rankin, and Monia Chokri. Her work has earned Canadian Screen Award nominations and an Academy Award shortlist. Your Higher Self screened at SXSW, RIDM, and Visions before coming to PIF. *This film will be preceded by short film Ashen Sun (France, 12 min). Synopsis: Under a scorching sun, Charlie is bored stiff and dreams of going to the seaside. But she’s forced to stay in a dingy motel with her cousin Jess, who slouches in her deckchair. The two teenagers don’t get along and bicker at every opportunity. On the radio, the monotone voice of an eminent researcher in collapsology predicts the imminent end of the world. The pool is empty, the sun is beating down and the tension is mounting: the ecological apocalypse announced on the airwaves suddenly becomes real.