In 2005, director and producer Catherine Hébert founded Mango Films, an independent production company based in Montreal. The company’s title was inspired by Hébert’s 2004 short-film Mangos for Charlotte, which eloquently depicts a mother’s search for her abducted daughter and justice in war-ravaged Uganda.
Mango Films is dedicated to engaged documentary film-making and provides the necessary space for the creation of original, cinematographic work that brings attention to extremely critical but neglected subjects. Such creative space is essential in a time where mainstream media narrowly focuses on one or two stories or geographic locations at the expense of hundreds of other salient stories and realities. Mango Films is founded on the premise that engaged documentary film-making is an essential media through which important, extraordinary stories are brought to light and unfold. By facilitating the telling of real-life experiences, Mango Films moves such narratives and realities from the margin to the center.
For the production of The Other Side of the Country, Catherine Hébert teamed-up with Brigitte Dion, an executive producer who has coordinated the production of more than 50 documentary films over the last 15 years and who has developed an expertise in all production phases, from budgeting to post-production.
Mango Films is also member of PRIM, a media center that helps independent professional producers. Its mandate is to support the production of cinematographic work by offering co-production programs.