A word from our artistic director

Floating on cloud nine

In a world in search of meaning, where uncertainty is gaining ground every day, gentleness is what keeps us holding on.

And sometimes, all we have to do is look up. The way birds soar among the clouds reminds us that we can still be light, even in the midst of headwinds. Their freedom is not naive. It’s a show of trust. A way of saying, “Let’s do it anyway.”

This is the movement that I wanted to keep at the heart of this 18th edition of FIAMS. Floating on cloud nine isn’t about escaping reality. It’s about giving yourself another point of view: of art, free thought, a perspective that elevates us to between lucidity and poetry.

Artists all over the world often create in tenuous conditions, and yet their commitment succeeds in bringing audiences together.

Their eyes are sharp, their inventiveness necessary. They contribute to their fullest to today’s performing arts. Puppetry arts, in all their variety, are a hotbed of invention: between miniature and oversized forms, intimate and political narratives, object, material, and shadow theatre, they open doors between the real and the imaginary.

At a time of rising tensions, when social, climate and political crises are challenging our ways of life, these shows take us back to what unites us. They take a sensitive approach to our weaknesses, while rekindling our ability to think and act differently. They resonate with today’s realities and open up perspectives on what might lie ahead.

FIAMS celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. Thirty-five years anchored in Saguenay, and just as many openings to the world. For the six days of this 18th biennial, Saguenay once again becomes a living stage for puppetry arts from here and around the world: giant, miniature, exploded, digital and daring. Over 200 performances, some 30 shows, exhibitions, a festive cabaret to bring us together every evening, a professional program full of encounters, and an open-air site with an array of free activities, all in a venue designed to encourage unexpected meetings and the delight of being together.

The 2025 program ranges from cabinets of curiosities and street theatre to contemporary forms and documentary and experimental approaches. It gives voice to the disturbing, the surprising and the amazing.

On behalf of the entire team, I’d like to welcome artists, companies, programmers and journalists from all over the world. Welcome, too, to festival-goers from near and far, who have come to experience this 18th biennial with us. The Saguenay community, which has embraced puppetry arts for over three decades, plays a leading role. And to the elected officials of the Ville de Saguenay, thank you for continuing to make puppetry arts a part of our regional identity.

In this anniversary year, I would like to gratefully acknowledge the work of the artistic directors who preceded me and who shaped FIAMS with passion and vision: Dominique Violette, Marthe Adam, Louise Lapointe, Pier Dufour, Éric Chalifour and Benoît Lagrandeur.

So this year, let’s find one another. In theatres, streets, shops… Let’s celebrate the vitality of puppetry arts. And if sometimes, like birds, we feel the urge to dream higher, it’s time to look up, together.

Dany Lefrançois