Excerpt

Balade à travers le cinéma touristique québécois

A program curated and presented by Louis Pelletier (University of Montreal & Cinémathèque québécoise) and Jean-Pierre Sirois-Trahan (Laval University).

Screening accompanied on the piano by Alexandre Racine.

“Tourist films” occupy a central place in Quebec’s cinematic history. Ever since the silent era, the Quebec and Canada governments, as well as the national railways, have understood that the moving image was one of the best ways to make Quebec's landmarks—and their charms—known to local and foreign audiences. Several renowned filmmakers, including Maurice Proulx and Gordon Sparling, were hired to produce these tourist films at a time where sound and colour were first introduced to mass audiences. These productions not only highlighted our national landscapes, but also allowed audiences to discover the duality of this province split between the picturesque charms of its traditions and the modernity of its transatlantic steamers and big cities.

Films presented:

· Gibraltar of Canada (Canadian National Railway, 1927, 8 minutes, digital). First digital restoration produced from a 35mm copy.
· Quebec and the Maritimes (Associated Screen News for Canadian Pacific Railway, 1935, silent, 12 minutes, digital). First digital restoration produced from a 35mm copy.
· Life Aboard an Empress (Gordon Sparling, Associated Screen News for Canadian Pacific Railway, 1933, silent, 13 minutes, 16 mm).
· Le triomphe de l’Eucharistie à Québec (Associated Screen News, 1938, sound, 10 minutes, 16 mm).
· Les ailes sur la péninsule (Maurice Gagnon and Maurice Proulx for the Cine-Photograph Service of the Province of Quebec, 1950, sound, color, 30 minutes, 16 mm).