Anna's Garden
Filmmaker Alain Chartrand and his editor Yves Chaput recently passed away. To pay tribute to them, we present two films that reflect their collaboration and camaraderie.
Lou is determined to cope with her twelve-year-old daughter's leukemia. Her husband, Paul, accepts the illness and tries to restore the happiness they had left before the tragedy. Their different ways of seeing things drive them apart and trouble their son, already torn apart by his sister's illness. Meanwhile, Anna fights against the disease that is ravaging her, with a zest for life that will soon contaminate the rest of her family.
Alain Chartrand
Born in 1946 in Longueuil, son of union activist Michel Chartrand and writer Simonne Monet-Chartrand, Alain Chartrand took his first steps in cinema by taking on various small jobs before becoming an assistant director. He simultaneously directed his own short films in 8 mm before making his first feature film, Isis au 8, in 1972. He has been involved in several organizations and has actively advocated for the unionization of his profession over the decades. As a filmmaker, he found success with Ding et Dong, le film in 1990. It was followed by films such as Le jardin d'Anna, Un homme de parole (about his father), Une vie comme rivière (about his mother), and his last film, La maison du pêcheur, in 2013. He also made a mark on television by directing several series, including Chartrand et Simonne and Simonne et Chartrand, dedicated to his parents.
Photo : Simon Bujold, Jacques Gratton | Collections de la Cinémathèque québécoise
