Every village has its rumours. In Stanstead, there is talk of a meeting of the Beatles which would have taken place at the municipal library. In Saint-André-de-Kamouraska, there is talk of an atomic bomb that allegedly exploded above the river in 1950. In the series Village SecretsLuis Oliva travels across Quebec to find the truth behind a host of sometimes unbelievable stories.
Posted yesterday at 1:00 p.m.
Series that promise to unveil the truth, the whole truth, behind unsolved crimes or unexplained phenomena, there are tons of them. Luis Oliva himself watches a lot. “I am often disappointed, admits the actor and host of Village Secrets. You never learn a lot, in the end in these series, you don’t have an answer. »
Village Secrets, presented at Historia, is not a series of investigations. Luis Ovila does not give himself the mandate to find, at all costs, the truth that lies behind the rumors that are buzzing in the villages of Quebec.
We still try to get to the bottom of things, we wonder where these stories come from.
Luis Oliva
The nuance is crucial: not being sure of discovering the truth never prevents him from approaching the source of a rumour. And to shed some interesting light on it. Thus, in Stanstead, he goes to the municipal library to find out whether or not it is true that the Beatles have planned to meet there in order to plan their return together.
The librarian at the time affirms that a discussion in this direction did indeed take place. The library’s location, built squarely on the Canada-US border, lends some weight to the rumor: John Lennon, who couldn’t get out of the United States, and Paul McCartney, who couldn’t get in, would have able to end up in the same place at the same time without having to go through a customs post.
Further on, in Highwater, Luis Oliva is interested in the work of Gerald Bull, a ballistics expert who created a huge cannon and who was assassinated in Brussels in 1990. Possibly by the Israeli secret services… Always near the border American, in Frelighsburg, he painted the portrait of Conrad Labelle, an alcohol smuggler considered the right arm of none other than Al Capone in this corner of the country in the early 1920s.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE PRODUCTION
Luis Oliva, both feet on the Canada-US border crossing the Stanstead Municipal Library
Three “secrets” are explored in each of the ten episodes of the series, which was filmed in eight regions of Quebec, including Abitibi, Montérégie, Bas-Saint-Laurent and the Eastern Townships. “What I like the most in this project is to see the light in people’s eyes, their pride that we shed light on these stories, says the facilitator. It’s always super touching. »
Luis Oliva also often finds himself in front of people who have been very close to the famous secrets he seeks to clarify. Former deputy Paul Crête is on screen to confirm the rumor that an atomic bomb exploded in front of Saint-André-de-Kamouraska. The confirmed and presumed murders of the man nicknamed the doctor The Indian are told by the man who lives in the murderer’s former house… where he discovered traces of blood.
“The people we met, whether storytellers or historians, are well aware of the stories and history of their region, rejoices the host. And the passion of the interviewees for the stories they tell is as interesting as the stories themselves. »
Village Secrets offers a wide range of stories: some bordering on legend, others are rooted in oaths of friendship or historical events. This is the case, among others, of Putainville, a place that existed near Malartic at the time of the gold rush. These village secrets, even the most inflated by rumour, all have a kernel of truth.
And that’s what makes the interest of this well-run series, where the secrets are well told and which plants in our heads images that we will inevitably rethink if we pass near Highwater, Kamouraska or Pointe-des- Waterfalls. “There are good stories everywhere in Quebec, believes Luis Oliva, you just have to find the right people to tell them. »
From Wednesday, 9:30 p.m., on Historia