Night Watches Us
Sound design for Stefan Verna's NFB documentary examining the police killing of Nicholas Gibbs in Montreal and the systemic failures that followed — a powerful call for change that premiered at Hot Docs.
Role
Sound Design
Director
Stefan Verna
Producer
National Film Board
Year
2024
The Story
Night Watches Us is a film about what happens after. After the shooting, after the headlines move on, after a family is left to piece together what was taken from them. Stefan Verna's documentary tells the story of Nicholas Gibbs — a Black Montreal man killed by police in 2018 — through the eyes of his father, his community, and the systemic cracks that made his death both preventable and predictable.
The sound design had to hold two registers simultaneously: the warmth and life of Nicholas as remembered by the people who loved him, and the cold institutional machinery that failed him. Montreal at night — the neighbourhood where it happened, the streets, the silence after sirens — becomes a sonic character in the film. The city itself watches.
This was produced through the NFB's "Reimagining My Quebec" initiative and premiered at Hot Docs. It screened at the NFB's Alanis Obomsawin Theatre in Montreal. Working on it was a reminder that sound design isn't always about spectacle — sometimes it's about making sure people can hear what was previously being drowned out.