Documentary maker Serge Giguère, recent winner of the Prix du Québec Albert-Tessier, is currently trying to put the finishing touches to a documentary project on Maurice Richard started in 1980 by his colleague and friend filmmaker Robert Tremblay, now deceased.
My Maurice to me, title of the project, is the amalgamation of two visions around Maurice Richard and his representation in the collective imagination of Quebec.
“The goal is to revisit the myth of Maurice Richard today,” says Simon Rodrigue, distribution coordinator at Productions Rapide-Blanc, a house co-founded by Mr. Giguère and Sylvie Van Brabant. The project was recently submitted to SODEC for production financing. ”
Beyond the film, the very story of this project is quite fascinating. MM. Tremblay and Giguère worked together in the 1970s. They founded a production company, Les films d’aventure sociale du Québec. One of their works, Beautiful family, was talked about at the time.
However, in 1980, they began to take images of Maurice Richard met by Tremblay in a common activity with underprivileged young people. More images have been added over the years and even after the Rocket’s death in May 2000.
PHOTO PRODUCTIONS RAPIDE-BLANC
Documentary maker Serge Giguère.
The project runs from 1980 to 2016. Robert Tremblay is the director and Giguère is the director of photography. We see among others Maurice Richard meet the folk singer Oscar Thiffault who dedicated a song to him and also with Paul Stuart, a trainer from the very beginning in the life of the famous number 9. Paul Stuart believed in the talent of Maurice Richard and this the latter has always been grateful to him.
Several former CH stars including Émile Butch Bouchard, Henri Richard and Bernard Geoffrion, also appear in certain segments.
In all, the two sidekicks have 20 hours of spools turned in 16 mm. But in 2018, Tremblay was struck by illness and asked his friend to finish the project.
“We were able to have the reels digitized at the ONF and the material was reduced to three hours with which Serge Giguère will work on its editing,” says Mr. Rodrigue.
Retrospective at CQ
In addition, a retrospective project of works by Serge Giguère is in preparation and will be presented at the Cinémathèque québécoise during the winter of 2022.
“We will see restored versions of the films The king of the drum (on jazz drummer and percussionist Guy Nadon) and Oscar Thiffault which have been restored and other older films, ”says Rodrigue.
Verification made with the Cinémathèque, we are also confirmed that two other restored films, Beautiful family and Since the world is world, a co-production with Sylvie Van Brabant, will also be part of this retrospective.
Remember that the Albert-Tessier Prize is one of the nine Prix du Québec awarded annually to people working in the cultural field and is awarded to a person for their contribution in the audiovisual or performing arts field.