Le son du Québec, de la Bretagne et des Franco-Terreneuviens
La série Le Son des Français d’Amérique est un inestimable joyau du patrimoine musical francophone d’Amérique du Nord, en plus de représenter un temps fort dans l’histoire du documentaire au Québec.
Les épisodes proposent un survol de plusieurs manifestations musicales liées à la culture orale et au fait francophone sur le continent nord-américain (Québec, Acadie, Louisiane, Missouri, Nouvelle-Angleterre, Ontario, Prairies), sans oublier les racines et influences européennes déterminantes (France [Poitou, Vendée, Bretagne], Irlande). L’œuvre aux valeurs patrimoniales et anthropologiques indéniables a été inscrite au Registre international Mémoire du monde de l’UNESCO en 2017. La Cinémathèque conservait depuis une quarantaine d’années les éléments originaux de la série, mais la restauration de ce monument de notre culture exigeait des partenaires forts possédant une grande expertise. Ainsi, depuis 2017, le cinéaste André Gladu, la productrice Anouk Brault, la Cinémathèque québécoise, Éléphant : mémoire du cinéma québécois et l’Office national du film du Canada travaillent conjointement à la numérisation et à la restauration des 27 épisodes de la série. Les éléments originaux sur pellicule 16 mm sont conservés dans les réserves des collections de la Cinémathèque, ils ont été numérisés par l’ONF et Éléphant s’est chargé de la restauration complète de la série.
Ce cycle comprendra 18 épisodes restaurés de cette série exceptionnelle réalisée entre 1974 et 1980 par André Gladu et Michel Brault.
In the presence of André Gladu
In Quebec, "ruine-babine" is the popular name given to the harmonica (also called "mouth music"). It is also the name adopted by a group of young musicians from the Montreal area. Tired of listening to the empty refrains of the North American show business, they decided to find their true musical roots by going back to their roots. They explain how their interest in traditional Quebec music developed and how each of them discovered it in their own way.
Emmanuel Kerjean and Lomig Denniou make us grasp the Celtic soul through song and song, in this second film devoted to Breton song. Shot in the heart of Lower Brittany where the native language of the inhabitants is Breton, this document sums up the spirit of this series of films. It makes us understand why oppressed and colonized peoples become minorities and take refuge in their musical traditions to safeguard their identity. Although Breton music is an example of survival in the face of a French-speaking majority, it bears a striking resemblance to the quest of French-speaking people in America, drowned in an Anglo-Saxon universe.
The French-speaking people of the Port-au-Port Peninsula, Newfoundland, are descendants of French and Breton deserters who were joined by Acadian refugees and Irish immigrants. From their ancestors, who all had in common the desire to escape tyranny and exploitation, this original community has retained a rare sense of freedom. This film bears witness to the history and present-day life of this isolated group, victims of the prejudices of those around them. A painful illustration of the contempt in which they are held, the last stretch of the Newfoundland highway that leads to their home has never been paved...
Presented in collaboration with
André Gladu
In the 1970s, André Gladu** directed several documentaries on Quebec and the French-speaking peoples of America, including Le reel du pendu (1971), Le son des Français d'Amérique (1974-1980) co-directed with Michel Brault**, Marc-Aurèle Fortin (1983), Pellan (1985), Liberty Street Blues (1986) on New Orleans jazz, Gaston Miron - les outils du poète (1994). In 1987-88 he conceived the project of the Cinémathèque québécoise's Musée de l'image en mouvement. From 1997 to 2002, he was a producer at the Studio culture et expérimentation, French Program, of the NFB. Then, as resident filmmaker, he created: Tintamarre (2004) and Marron (2006). In 2014, he directed a series of short films on the traditions of Lanaudière: Le chant du monde (2015), Matawinie "La rencontre des eaux " (2016), L'esprit du violon Trad (2018), Excuse her and L'autre bout du monde (2021). In 2015, he received the Prix Hommages from the Académie Charles-Cros. In 2018, he was awarded the Prix du Québec Albert-Tessier pour le cinéma.
Michel Brault
Born in 1928, Michel Brault first devoted himself to photography. He joined the National Film Board as a cameraman in 1956. He collaborated on several films of the famous series Candid Eye, produced by the English team. He gradually turns to directing, a field in which he distinguishes himself, with the help of a portable camera, with which he captures the changing landscape of identity in Quebec during the Revolution tranquille. In 1958 he made the seminal film Les raquetteurs with Gilles Groulx and Marcel Carrière. In 1963, Brault and Pierre Perrault made Pour la suite du monde, which became the first classic of Quebec direct cinema. He also directed the film Les ordres in 1974. In addition to his work as a director, Michel Brault was the director of photography for such landmark films as Entre tu et vous (Gilles Groulx, 1969), Mon oncle Antoine (Claude Jutra, 1971), Kamouraska (Claude Jutra, 1973) and Les bons débarras (Francis Mankiewicz, 1980). His career will total more than 200 films, as director or director of photography.
