Remembering Maria Chapdelaine

201552 min 30 secFilm: Documentary

G

Direction: Jean-Claude Labrecque

Production: Colette Loumède

In 1934, French filmmaker Julien Duvivier arrived in the village of Péribonka, in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, to shoot a film adaptation of Louis Hémon’s classic novel Maria Chapdelaine.

Some 80 years later, Jean-Claude Labrecque sets out to retrace this bold, astounding enterprise. What was the impact of the original film’s production on the life of the community? What memories remain? What town secrets lie hidden in those memories? Which stories have persisted through generations? What can this adventure teach us about ourselves, our identity and our relationship with the past?

Drawing on clips from Duvivier’s film, material from archives in France and Quebec, and original footage shot by Labrecque and his team in Péribonka in 2013, the documentary Remembering Maria Chapdelaine is an inquiry into the boundaries between the fantasy world of film and reality.

 

Subject categories


  • Film and Video Arts > Film and Video Making
  • English Language Arts > CanLit
  • Media Education > Film and Video Production
  • History and Citizenship Education > Modernization of Quebec Society (1929-1980)

Credits


original idea
Jean-Claude Labrecque
director
Jean-Claude Labrecque
producer
Colette Loumède
director of photography
Steve Asselin
second camera
Nicolas Lévesque
sound editing
Catherine Van Der Donckt
editing
Michel Giroux
research
Nancy Marcotte
rights clearances
Nancy Marcotte
interviews
Luc Bourdon
Nicolas Lévesque
production manager
Catherine Chagnon
1st assistant camera
Ken Allaire
location sound
Ken Allaire
Carol Bouchard
Daniel Charlebois
Catherine Van Der Donckt
grip
Pierre-Yves Larouche
technical coordinator - shooting equipment
Steve Hallé
technical support - editing
Pierre Dupont
Isabelle Painchaud
Patrick Trahan
assistant editor
Myriam Léger-Bélanger
restoration of archival film
François Auger
HD film transfer
Aldo La Ricca
Richard Lanoue
image restoration
Sylvie Marie Fortier
Denis Bergeron
translation
Vision Globale
titles
Gaspard Gaudreau
Cynthia Ouellet
online editing
Denis Gathelier
foley
Lise Wedlock
re-recording
Jean Paul Vialard
media relations
Nadine Viau
marketing manager
François Jacques
marketing manager - assistance
Catherine Benoît
Theodora Kolovos
administrator
Sia Koukoulas
production coordinator
Hélène Regimbal
administrative assistant
Perrine Bral
Larissa Christoforo
technical coordinator
Richard Cliche
Mira Mailhot
Daniel Lord
associate producer
Mélanie Lasnier
executive producer
Colette Loumède