Le son du Québec, des Franco-Américains et de la Louisiane des Cadiens
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 presence of André Gladu
This film was made with Mr. William Tremblay, a native of the Gaspé Peninsula, who spent his life traveling the Lower River as well as the Quebec City and Joliette regions. Like most traditional beggars in Quebec, he did not ask for charity. He was given shelter in exchange for his talents as a storyteller and fiddler. But like all marginal people of his kind, he remained an original whom society had difficulty integrating.
Le p'tit Canada was the name given to the French-Canadian neighborhoods in the industrial (textile) towns of New England. This film tells the story of one of these communities, that of Lowell, Massachusetts, on the occasion of a vigil where traditional songs are sung. We learn from historian Richard Santerre and the Paquin family how the musical heritage of Quebec has been preserved to this day.
Fred's Lounge is where, on Saturday mornings, the harvesters, oil workers and ranchers of Mamou Prairie come to play and sing about Cajun life with Revon Reed, the host of KEUN radio. This documentary on the music of the Cajuns of Louisiana was made with the understanding that for many it will be their first contact with Louisiana.
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.
