Director
Nicolas Lachapelle
Production
Les Films Extérieur Jour
Language
French
Year
2025
20 min, Documentary, Canada, 5.1
Forty years after the mysterious disappearance of an enigmatic figure known as “The Punk of Natashquan”, a remote Quebec community reflects on his fleeting yet unforgettable presence.
In 1981, an unusual person arrives in Natashquan, marking the beginning of an unlikely love story between this small Quebec village and the young man they call “The Punk”. Five years later, he vanishes without a trace, forever impacting the community.
Filmed 40 years after his disappearance, The Punk of Natashquan is a cinematic investigation that ventures into the mythology of “The Punk”. Drawing on the styles of direct cinema and true crime, blended with archive, this short film blurs the boundaries between reality and legend, creating a portrait of the spirit of The Punk— captivating, complex, and as genre-defying as the man himself.
Writing: Nicolas Lachapelle
Cinematography: Étienne Roussy
Sound recording: Tiago McNicoll Castro Lopes
Editing: Emmanuelle Lane
Sound Design: Francis Gauthier
Sound mix: Jean-Paul Vialard
Music: Cédric Dind-Lavoie
Protagonists: Simon Landry, Gaétan Landry, Ghislain Landry, Léo Hounsell, Marie-Claude Vigneault, Serge Landry, Ethan Landry
REGARD sur le court-métrage au Saguenay (Canada)
Festival Vues sur mer (Canada)
Festival Court sur Place (Canada)
Festival Fantasia (Canada)
Les Percéides (Canada)
Festifilm de la Beauce à St. Séverin (Canada)
Festival de cinéma de la ville de Québec (Canada)
Festival du film de Knowlton (Canada)
Festival des macacains (Canada)
Off-Courts Trouville (France)
Clapham International Film Festival (England)
Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur (Belgium)
Festival Spasm (Canada)
Festival de cinéma Int. en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (Canada)
Festival de courts-métrages Images en Vues (Canada)
Festival International du Cinéma Francophone en Acadie (Canada)
Festival Tous Courts, festival international de courts métrages d’Aix-en-Provence (France)
Festival Plein(s) Écran(s) (Canada)
Festival Vues dans la tête de … (Canada)
IFFO – The International Film Festival of Ottawa (Canada)
Vues du Québec – Festival de Florac (France)
Le Bercail – Festival de Cinéma des Territoires (France)
Prix collégial du cinéma québécois – PCCQ (Canada)
Nicolas Lachapelle
Nicolas Lachapelle is a journalist, a filmmaker, and the director of many sound documentaries. His works, which explore the relationship to territory through the themes of exile, rootedness, and memory, have been showcased at numerous festivals both in Canada and internationally. In 2022, Nicolas was awarded the Best First Documentary Work prize at the RVCQ. Recently, he received nominations for Best Short Documentary at the Gala Québec Cinéma and the Canadian Screen Awards.
The Punk of Natasquan, 20 min, Documentary, 2025
Zug Island, 22 min, Documentary, 2022
What Remains After We’re Gone, 72 min, Documentary, 2020
Beyond the 138, 60 min, Sound Documentary, 2019
Gas Runs Through my Veins, 10 min, Sound Documentary, 2017
Lights Above Water, 60 min, Documentary, 2016