Painter Vincent falls in love with his muse Brigitte from whom he hides the progressive loss of his sight.

He eventually goes blind, shuns Brigitte and destroys his paintings in a downward spiral of anger.

Desperate to reunite with his vision, he falls in love with the imaginary reflection of his face instead of dealing with the inevitability of his new life.

Creative team

Writer: Jennifer Mulligan
Director: Jith Paul

Filmmaker’s statement

Algebra is my directorial debut. It’s a about a painter grappling with the frustration of losing his sight.

When screenwriter Jennifer Mulligan pitched her idea for this story at a festival in Ottawa in late 2012 I felt I had to direct this film.

I had emergency eye surgery earlier that summer and experienced temporary blindness right after the procedure so I could relate, in a small way, to how frustrating that can be.

The film was shot in Ottawa and Wakefield over a few days and I was thrilled at the opportunity to work with some of my favourite collaborators including cinematographer Karim Ayari.

Sasha Chichagov, Martine Roquebrune and the rest of the cast and crew did an amazing job and the film wouldn’t be nearly as impactful without the original score by Justin R. Durbin.

We workshopped the first cut of the film at the Digi60 Filmmaker’s Festival in Ottawa where we won the award for best technical quality. We took the feedback to heart, went back and did some additional shooting and produced the version of the film you see here.

It’s amazing that this little film has resonated with audiences in Ottawa and Toronto, screened in Scotland, France, Italy and is now part of the NSI Online Short Film Festival.

About Jith Paul

Jith Paul is a graduate of the television broadcasting program at Algonquin College and holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo.

He is the producer, director, cinematographer and editor of several award-winning short films and documentaries.

His directorial debut, Algebra, won the best technical quality award at the Digi60 Filmmaker’s Festival in 2012 and has screened at festivals in Ottawa, Toronto, Scotland, France and Italy.

Jith is an accomplished documentary editor with several international festival screenings to his credit.

He is the founder of Treepot Media and a member of the board of directors of SAW Video, an artist-run media arts centre in Ottawa.

Jith freelances as a videographer and is an associate member of the Canadian Cinema Editors (CCE) professional association.

He was a nominee for the 2013 Premier’s Award for outstanding Ontario college graduates.