Born in Paris and immigrating to Montreal as a child, Albéric Aurtenèche later studied in both cities in visual art, media art and film. Starting out with an experimental practice, Aurtenèche’s first works were presented at the Festival des cinémas différents in Paris. From 2004 to 2012, he collaborated with a research group that explored evolution in the cinematographic experience through the emergence of portable and interactive screens. His interest in fiction developed in tandem with this research. L’appel du vide (“Facing Emptiness”), his first short that had an overtly narrative form, was pre-sented at various festivals around the world in 2008. After being recognized at various festivals, his film M’ouvrir won the Jutra Award for best short/medium-length film in 2011. Sigismond sans images also won several awards and was selected for the Clermont-Ferrand international competition in 2017. His short films explore a wide range of genres, but the common thread is a ques-tioning of reality. The Monarch is his first full-length feature film.