I have already introduced you to my wonderful friend and colleague Martin Duckworth, a veteran of the documentary trade. If you understand French, I recommend his film ‘Cher Père Noël’ – now about 10 years old – for the holiday season. In it, we meet children from New Brunswick who write to Santa Claus about their wishes. Santa appears in animated scenes. And through their letters we learn not about toys and gadgets, but about the social crisis touching so many of them. Poverty, divorce, illness, those are the issues they are really dealing with. What they want more than anything else is for their family members to be happy and healthy.
Martin has this to say about the origins and the making of the film.
“I got the idea from my handicapped daughter Jacqueline, who loves
Pere Noel and was still writing to him at the age of 25, when the
film was made. It was co-produced by Virage in Montreal, and Phare
Est in Moncton. Caraquet was suggested by Cecile Chévrier of Phare
Est as the place where I was most likely to find real elves. The
animation scenes were developed by Joyce Borenstein as a way of
bringing Pere Noel to life. What I learned from the children is that
we all have a fundamental need for symbols of hope in this world of
increasing despair. There is no English version, unfortunately. ”
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Mélanie Bhérer
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Films en vue
(514) 276-9556 #242
Info@filmsenvue.ca
