THE SPIRIT OF PLACES
84 min, Documentary, Quebec, Canada, 2006Directed byCatherine Martin
Produced byClaude Cartier
LanguageFrench
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Press reviews
The Spirit of Places is a portrait of the waning notion of connection, and it evinces a quiet faith in the ability of photographs - and cinema - to find what remains of that sort of connection, while making it visible and meaningful once again. Cinema Scope The film comes through as a heart-felt love letter to the regions, poignant and full of bittersweet emotion. Montreal MirrorFilm details
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
Direction
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.
Filmography
Feature films
• Une jeune fille (A Journey), 85 min, 2013
• Trois temps après la mort d’Anna (Mourning for Anna), 87 min, 2010
• Dans les villes (In the Cities), 87 min, 2006
• Mariages (Marriages), 95 min, 2001
Documentaries and documentary essays
• Éloge de l’ombre (In Praise of Shadows), 86 minutes, 2023
• Certains de mes amis (Some of my Friends), 115 min, 2017
• L’esprit des lieux (The Spirit of Places), 84 min, 2006
• Océan (Ocean), 50 min, 2002
• Les dames du 9e (The Ladies of the 9th Floor), 50 min, 1998
Short and medium length fictions or film essays
• Les fins de semaine (Weekends), 30 min, 1995
• L’ombre (The Shadow), 15 min, 1992
• Nuits d’Afrique, 48 min,1990
• Odile ou réminiscences d’un voyage, 23 min, 1985
• De temps et d’eau, 2 min., 2011
• Quand j’aurai vu les îles, 14 min, 2010
• Alice, 30 sec, 2007