THE SPIRIT OF PLACES

A film by Catherine Martin

Director

Catherine Martin

Production

Claude Cartier

Language

French

84 min, Documentary, Quebec, Canada, 2006

This documentary follows the photographical journey of Gabor Szilasi in the area of Charlevoix in 1970, 35 years after the facts.

Synopsis

In 1970, Hungarian-Québécois photographer Gabor Szilasi set out for the Charlevoix region of Québec to photograph the last vestiges of a disappearing rural world. Thirty-five years later, filmmaker Catherine Martin (Océan, Dans les villes, Trois temps après la mort d’Anna) went back to revisit the landscape, places and people he photographed. The Spirit of Places retraces Szilasi’s photographic journey, taking stock of what remains and what has disappeared.

 

Credits

Research, Script, Direction : Catherine Martin

Produce r: Claude Cartier

Executive Producer : Monique Simard

Director of Photography : Carlos Ferrand

Sound Recording : Marcel Chouinard

Editing : Louise Côté

Sound Editing : Martin Allard

Original Music : Robert Marcel Lepage

Mix : Bernard Gariépy Strobl

B&W photographs (1970) : Gabor Szilasi

 

Financial partners

SODEC

Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec

ONF

Documentary Channel

Catherine Martin

Catherine Martin was born in Québec. She writes and directs all her films, fictions as well as documentaries. Her films have been shown at numerous international festivals (Berlin, Toronto, Oberhausen, Nyon, Buenos Aires, Karlovy Vary, etc.) and won awards in Canada and abroad. Since 2017, she has done her own camerawork, sound recording and picture editing, acting as a producer and director of her documentary essays.

 

In Praise of Shadows, 86 min, Documentary, 2023
Some of my Friends , 115 min, Documentary, 2017
A Young Girl, 85 min, Fiction, 2013
Of Time and Water, 2 min, Experimental, 2011
Three Times After Anna’s Death, 87 min, Fiction, 2010
Quand j’aurai vu les îles, 14 min, Fiction, 2010
Alice, 1 min, Fiction, 2007
In the Cities, 87 min, Fiction, 2006
The Spirit of Places, 84 min, Documentary, 2006
Ocean, 50 min, Documentary, 2002
Marriages, 95 min, Fiction, 2001
The Ladies of the 9th Floor, 50 min, Documentary, 1998
Weekends, 30 min, Fiction, 1995
The Shadow, 15 min, Fiction, 1992
African Nights, 48 min, Fiction, 1990
Odile or Reminiscences of a Journey, 23 min, Fiction, 1985