TERRES FANTÔMES / CANADA / LOUISIANA PREMIERE

In the 1970s, a new planning policy forced residents of several villages in the interior of Gaspésie (Quebec, Canada) to leave their homes and move to the coast. Félix Lamarche explores the consequences of this brutal, disturbing event. While the episode is now largely forgotten, it had a profound impact on those who lived through it. The filmmaker records their stories and recollections, giving them substance through ghostly images of the forests, buildings and landscapes from which they were uprooted. The director’s experimental approach emerges as the only way to do justice to a bygone era and people’s deep attachment to their land.

Director Biography

Félix, a COTB alum, is an experimental filmmaker who explores the possibilities of the documentary practice. He directed and produced, in 2017, his first documentary feature length, Les terres lointaines, that won the Pierre and Yolande Perrault price. His films have been shown in Canada, the United States, including at COTB, Europe and Africa.