Keep The Lights On
(Original English version)
Friday December 7th + Monday December 10th to Thursday December 13th: 9:30
Saturday December 8th and Sunday December 9th: 5:15, 9:30
Le Moine
(Original French version)
Friday December 7th: 9:00
Saturday December 8th: 3:00, 7:00, 9:00
Sunday December 9th: 3:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00
Monday December 10th to Thursday December 13th: 7:00, 9:00
Disunited States Of Canada
(Original French and English version with French subtitles)
Friday December 7th: 7:00
Saturday December 8th: 5:00
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Québec. 2012. Dir. : Guylaine Maroist, Michel Barbeau and Éric Ruel. Digital Projection. 84 min..
Original French and English version with French subtitles
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
You think Quebeckers are the only Canadians who aspire to independence? Wrong. There are separatists all over the country, from sea to sea.
The word “separation” is the same in English and French. And it’s pronounced just as well with the accent of the British Columbia elite, rich Alberta cowboys, humble farmers of Saskatchewan and disillusioned fishermen of Newfoundland and Labrador. Although they are marginal, some western separatists have even founded their own political party.
Disunited States of Canada, a documentary by the producers of Gentilly Or Not To Be, set off to meet these enfants terribles who want to re-draw the borders. These men and women, whom we never hear in the media, express a general malaise from coast to coast and make us examine fundamental questions about our country. What is a country? What is a nation? And what about Quebec?
Another Version of History
Anti-Confederation sentiment didn’t start yesterday! In their film, directors Guylaine Maroist, Michel Barbeau, and Éric Ruel go back over the history of Canada seen from the point of view of the Maritime provinces and the West. It’s astonishing for Quebeckers and most English Canadians to realize that “separatism” has tormented our great country since its foundation in 1867. From the earliest days of Confederation, conservative John A. Macdonald had to cope with the first separatist province: Nova Scotia. Another personage also threatened the union of the colonies of British North America: Louis Riel.
Filmed before Stephen Harper formed his majority government, the documentary shows how fed-up some Canadian citizens are, who are now saying out loud what their compatriots mutter under their breath.
What is Ottawa accused of? Poor resource management, but above all the overwhelming power of the two central provinces: Ontario and Quebec. In the West, where there has been a strong feeling of alienation for 40 years, they can no longer endure the “liberal” ideology that prevails in Ottawa. Dr. Leon Craig, separatist and professor emeritus of the University of Alberta, expresses how frustrating it is for most Westerners to live is a “socialist” country where abortion and gay marriage are legal.
But the harshest comments are directed at Quebeckers. This documentary is not for the sensitive. Will Stephen Harper be able to calm the ardours of the separatists in the R.O.C?
“If you don’t have a common culture, common language, common beliefs, you will not have a free and happy society! (…) Together we can free the West!”
-DOUGLAS CHRISTIE, WESTERN SEPARATIST
“It’s very hypocritical of Quebeckers to complain about things like CO2 emissions when they have absolutely no problems cashing that cheque from Alberta.”
-JEFFERSON GLAPSKI, ALBERTA SEPARATIST
