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Quebec Literature (14)
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AlouetteNorman McLaren & René Jodoin 1944 2 minThis animated short co-animated by René Jodoin and Norman McLaren was produced for inclusion in the Let's All Sing Together sing-along series. It illustrates the popular song Alouette, gentille alouette. The technique used is single-frame animation of paper cutouts. -
Antonine Maillet - The Possibilities Are EndlessGinette Pellerin 2009 52 minMade famous in 1971 by the success of La Sagouine and achieving international celebrity after winning the Prix Goncourt for Pélagie-la-Charrette in 1979, Antonine Maillet has been the mouthpiece of the Acadian people throughout the world for fifty years. This documentary takes us from Bouctouche to Montreal by way of Moncton to discover a great writer who has rarely spoken of herself with such candour and generosity. An unforgettable autobiographical document.
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Clémence Desrochers - Clémence Among the GodsPhilippe Baylaucq 2009 6 minDirector Philippe Baylaucq captures Clémence Desrochers in total candidness, as she recounts her childhood and career as a writer, broadcaster, singer and actress. Inspired by life's most ludicrous aspects, her work has trampled barriers of decorum and tackled everything from menopause to suicide, all in the service of laughter and connection. This film was produced for the 2009 Governor General's Performing Arts Award.
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The Day Is ListeningFélix Dufour-Laperrière 2013 8 minThis short animation is set to the words of poet Hélène Dorion. In the film, a man and a woman's love for each other rivals only their affection for the written word. Literature accompanies the murmur of their lives and the harmony of their feelings. Filmmaker Félix Dufour-Laperrière’s imagery parallels Dorion’s words to articulate the familiar cycles of longing, loss, and desire.
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The Girl With the Red BeretJanet Perlman 2023 5 minA girl takes a wild ride on the metro in Montreal. Travelling from station to station, she encounters an array of colourful characters in a bizarre musical journey that’s peppered with hilarious and unexpected incidents. This joyful, heartwarming animated film portrays Montreal in all its vitality, creativity and diversity, with plenty of humour and good cheer, to the tune of Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s timeless hit “Complainte pour Ste-Catherine.”
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Golden GlovesGilles Groulx 1964 27 minA classic NFB documentary about the Golden Gloves boxing tournament, the Canadian amateur's hope for success in the boxing world. This Gilles Groulx film shows three Montreal boxers in training. In behind-the-scenes interviews they talk about their ambitions and what prompted them to take up the sport.
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J.A. Martin PhotographerJean Beaudin 1977 1 h 41 minIn this feature drama, a wife takes the courageous decision to leave her 5 children at home and accompany her husband on his yearly summer tour as an itinerant photographer. This despite housework, routine and 14 years of marriage having created a mutual indifference. They travel through a turn-of-the-century countryside of narrow lanes and old-time weddings, but most importantly, to an eventual rediscovery of each other.
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The Legend of the Flying Canoe (La Chasse-galerie)Robert Doucet 1996 10 minNew Year's Eve, late 1800s. A group of loggers in an isolated lumber camp yearn to celebrate with their loved ones, but the river is frozen. If the men want to see their families, their only choice is to make a pact with the Devil to ride in a flying canoe. Original music and animation preserve the spirit of this Quebec legend.
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The Land of Jacques CartierRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1960 29 minDid Cartier dream of making a country from this land of a million birds? In his records of his exploration he certainly marvelled at seeing the great auks that have since disappeared from Isle aux Ouaiseaulx, the razor-bills and gannets that are gone from Blanc-Sablon, and the kittiwakes from Anticosti, all the winged creatures of all the islands which he described as being "as full of birds as a meadow is of grass". And that's not even counting the countless snow geese.
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MacPhersonMartine Chartrand 2012 10 minThis animated film by Martine Chartrand (Black Soul) recounts the friendship between a young Félix Leclerc and Frank Randolph Macpherson, a Jamaican chemical engineer and university graduate who worked for a pulp and paper company. An inveterate jazz fan, Macpherson inspired Leclerc, who wrote a song about the log drives and entitled it “MacPherson” in honour of his friend. Paint-on-glass animation shot with a 35mm camera.
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Pauline Julien, Intimate and PoliticalPascale Ferland 2018 1 h 17 minWith a meticulous selection of interviews, performances and photos drawn from a vast and rich archival collection, Pauline Julien, Intimate and Political follows the iconic Quebec singer and eternally free spirit on a journey through key moments in the province’s history.
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The StreetCaroline Leaf 1976 10 minThis award-winning animation is a poignant interpretation of a short story by Montreal author Mordecai Richler. It makes a strong statement about how many families respond to their old and infirm members. In washes of watercolour and ink, filmmaker Caroline Leaf illustrates reactions to a dying grandmother, capturing family feelings and distilling them into harsh reality.
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The SweaterSheldon Cohen 1980 10 minIn this animated short, Roch Carrier recounts the most mortifying moment of his childhood. At a time when all his friends worshipped Maurice "Rocket" Richard and wore his number 9 Canadiens hockey jersey, the boy was mistakenly sent a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey from Eaton's. Unable to convince his mother to send it back, he must face his friends wearing the colours of the opposing team. This short film, based on the book The Hockey Sweater, is an NFB classic that appeals to hockey lovers of all ages.
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Two Episodes from the Life of Hubert AquinJacques Godbout 1979 56 minThis feature documentary by Jacques Godbout retraces the life of Hubert Aquin, one of Quebec's most brilliant writers. The film revolves around 2 episodes in Aquin's life: the dramatic events leading up to the publication of his first novel, and the anguish of the months preceding his suicide. (Aquin ended his life in 1977.) An unusual montage technique intercuts excerpts from a feature film in which he was the lead actor with the recollections of people who knew him well.
