The Great Resistance | |
---|---|
Directed by | Denys Desjardins |
Written by | Denys Desjardins |
Produced by | National Film Board of Canada |
Cinematography | Denys Desjardins |
Edited by | Elric Robichon |
Music by | Simon Bellefleur |
Distributed by | National Film Board of Canada |
Release date |
|
Running time | 75 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | French |
The Great Resistance (French: Au pays des colons) is a 2007 documentary film by Quebec film director Denys Desjardins. [1] This length feature is produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).
In the 1930s, in the throes of the Great Depression, the government of Quebec relocated more than 80,000 citizens to found a new settlement in the virgin forests of Quebec's Abitibi region. After enduring backbreaking work to clear the land, however, many left, seeking a better life in the city or as labourers for the large corporations that had come to exploit the North's valuable resources. The Lalancette family, however, have persisted in forging their future on the land from one generation to the next, earning their keep from farming, and defying the constraints of globalization and the mining and forestry companies that control the area. Revisiting the heritage of Quebec filmmakers who documented Abitibi, following in the footsteps of Pierre Perrault, among others, this documentary traces a defining chapter of Quebec history and raises fundamental questions about regional development.
The National Film Board of Canada is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and alternative dramas. In total, the NFB has produced over 13,000 productions since its inception, which have won over 5,000 awards. The NFB reports to the Parliament of Canada through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. It has bilingual production programs and branches in English and French, including multicultural-related documentaries.
Sydney Cecil Newman was a Canadian film and television producer, who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. After his return to Canada in 1970, Newman was appointed acting director of the Broadcast Programs Branch for the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) and then head of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). He also occupied senior positions at the Canadian Film Development Corporation and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and acted as an advisor to the Secretary of State.
The history of cinema in Quebec started on June 27, 1896 when the Frenchman Louis Minier inaugurated the first movie projection in North America in a Montreal theatre room. However, it would have to wait until the 1960s before a genuine Quebec cinema industry would emerge. Approximately 620 feature-length films have been produced, or partially produced by the Quebec film industry since 1943.
Alanis Obomsawin, is an Abenaki American-Canadian filmmaker, singer, artist, and activist primarily known for her documentary films. Born in New Hampshire, United States and raised primarily in Quebec, Canada, she has written and directed many National Film Board of Canada documentaries on First Nations issues. Obomsawin is a member of Film Fatales independent women filmmakers.
Comfort and Indifference is a 1982 documentary film by Denys Arcand, offering an analysis of the 1980 Quebec referendum, in which "sovereignty-association" was defeated as a first step to eventual secession from Canada. The film takes the position that the referendum result was a failure of courage and that the Québécois were numbed by prosperity and the explicitly Machiavellian manipulations of federalist leaders.
Fort McMoney is a 2013 web documentary and strategy video game about Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada and Athabasca oil sands development, directed by David Dufresne. The documentary uses interactive game elements to allow users to decide the city's future and attempt to responsibly develop the world's largest oil sands reserves.
What Remains of Us is a 2004 Canadian documentary film exploring the survival of the nonviolent resistance movement in Tibet. The documentary was shot over eight years without the knowledge of the Chinese authorities.
Denys Desjardins, is a film director, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor and film historian for more than twenty years. After completing studies in literature, film and communications, he directed several acclaimed films.
Rebels with a Camera is a 2006 documentary film by Quebec director Denys Desjardins produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). The title is a reference to the film Rebel Without a Cause
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance is a 1993 feature-length documentary film by Alanis Obomsawin, highlighting the events of the 1990 Oka Crisis. Obomsawin documents the events of The Siege of Kanehsatake over 78 days, capturing a rare perspective of an important turning point in Canadian history. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, the film won 18 Canadian and international awards, including the Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award from the International Documentary Association and the CITY TV Award for Best Canadian Feature Film from the Toronto Festival of Festivals.
Joseph Bernard Devlin was a French-Canadian film director, producer, and writer who played an important role in the development of French-language film production at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).
Pierre Perrault was a Canadian documentary film director with the National Film Board of Canada. Over his 40-year career, he directed 32 films and was one of Canada's most important filmmakers, although he is largely unknown outside of Québec.
Men for Sale is a 2008 documentary film by Canadian director Rodrigue Jean, about male prostitutes working in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The film was shot over a one-year period in Montreal's Gay Village.
Les raquetteurs is a 1958 Direct Cinema documentary film co-directed by Michel Brault and Gilles Groulx. The film explores life in rural Quebec, at a convention of snowshoers in Sherbrooke, Quebec in February 1958. The film is notable for helping to establish the then-nascent French language production unit at the National Film Board of Canada, and more importantly, the development of a uniquely Quebec style of direct cinema.
My Tribe Is My Life is an interactive web documentary produced in Montreal by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), which explores how young people use the internet to forge identities and relationships within various music subcultures. Directed by Myriam Verreault, the project follows eight people from across the province of Quebec who have found virtual communities through the Web.
Trente tableaux is a 2011 Canadian autobiographical feature documentary by Quebec film director Paule Baillargeon, made during her two-year film residency with the National Film Board of Canada. It is an anthology film composed of 30 short portraits—or tableau vivant—of her 66 years of life to date, reflecting her experiences as a woman in Quebec's changing society.
The Hole Story is a 2011 documentary film and web documentary directed by Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie about mining in Canada and its impact on the environment and workers' health. The film focuses primarily on the mining communities of the Northeastern Ontario and Abitibi-Témiscamingue regions, including Sudbury, Timmins, Cobalt, Rouyn-Noranda, Val-d'Or and Malartic.
The Promised Land is a Canadian historical drama television miniseries by the National Film Board of Canada. It was first broadcast in 1957 on Radio-Canada, then dubbed into English and adapted for broadcast by CBC Television as a four-part series in 1962. The NFB now classifies it as a feature film.
Quebec – Path of Conquest is an 11-minute 1942 Canadian documentary film, made by the National Film Board of Canada as part of the wartime Canada Carries On series. The film was directed by Radford Crawley and produced by Raymond Spottiswoode. Quebec – Path of Conquest describes the importance of the province of Quebec to Canada and the Allied war effort during the Second World War. The film's French version title is Québec, tremplin stratégique.
The 25th Canadian Film Awards were announced on October 12, 1973, to honour achievements in Canadian film.