Le silence des fusils
Rock Demers has been a key figure in the history of cinema in Quebec since the 60s, for his involvement in the promotion, creation and production of films. A co-founder of the Cinémathèque québécoise, he is best known to the public as a producer on the series he initiated, the Contes pour tous. However, we wanted to show with this program the extent of his involvement in cinema that goes beyond Canadian borders, marked by his interest in auteur cinema (he bought the Canadian rights to Charles mort ou vif by Alain Tanner, immediately after its screening at Cannes), in animation (he wrote the screenplay for Faroun, the little clown, directed by Bretislav Pojar), with a predilection for directors from Central and Eastern Europe (Why Havel? by Vojtěch Jasný).
Inspired by a true story that occurred in June 1977, the filmmaker brings to life, through fiction, an Innu tragedy: the shooting deaths of two Innu from the Mani-Utenam reserve. Lamothe transposes his story through the investigation of a biologist, on a mission on the North Shore, after discovering a corpse. Against the backdrop of white racism against Native peoples, a recurring theme in the filmmaker's work.
Arthur Lamothe
Born in Saint-Mont, France, Arthur Lamothe immigrated to Canada in 1953. In 1954 he began studying economics at the Université de Montréal. During his time as a student he became interested in cinema and began writing for several film publications. After graduating in 1958, he was immediately hired as a writer for Radio-Canada. In 1961 he was hired by the NFB and wrote Dimanche d'Amérique, his first screenplay, which became the first film by Gilles Carle. In 1962 he directed his first film, a short documentary entitled Bûcherons de la Manouane. Lamothe has only made a handful of fiction films during his career, and he is best known and most respected for his documentaries. In his films, Lamothe most frequently explored social and economic themes, as well as activism for issues he passionately supported, especially with regard to Aboriginal people. In 1980 he was awarded the Prix Albert-Tessier and in 1995 was made a member of the Order of Canada.
Rock Demers
Amazed cinephile, great traveler, Rock Demers left its mark on Quebec’s cinema landscape in addition to children's cinema. Born in Sainte-Cécile-de-Lévrard, he studied pedagogy in Montreal, already showing an interest in knowledge transmission. He then turned to cinema and participated, in 1963, in the founding of the Cinémathèque québécoise along with Guy L. Côté. Shocked by his discovery of Eastern European filmmakers and his meeting with Bretislav Pojar, he worked in the distribution of children’s films by creating the Films Faroun distribution company in the mid-1960s, and a youth section at Montreal’s international film Festival. He then began a career as a producer with Le martien de Noël (Bernard Gosselin, 1971). In 1980, he founded Les Productions La Fête, which saw the birth of his most famous project: the Contes pour tous, a series of films that began with the huge success of La guerre des tuques (André Melançon, 1984). However, Demers does not limit himself to children's cinema, producing works such as Why Havel? (Vojtěch Jasný, 1991) and Le silence des fusils (Arthur Lamothe, 1996).
