In 2009, the start of construction of the open-pit gold mine in Malartic by Osisko, which, with the permission of the Quebec government, would result in the displacement of some 200 houses, attracted the attention of some filmmakers. Two years later released Hole Storyby Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie, Others’ goldby Simon Plouffe, and The golden ruleby Nicolas Paquet.
“On the first day of filming, with the director of photography François Vincelette, we were on the street corner at 4:30 in the morning and, next to it, there was the team of Hole Story. It was my first feature film, so I was both a little intimidated and also stressed because I was wondering how we were going to go about doing something different,” says Nicolas Paquet (Canteen spirit), joined by videoconference.
À l’époque, le documentariste avait souhaité donner la parole aux citoyens fragilisés par la situation, de même qu’aux résistants et à ceux qui émettaient plusieurs critiques à l’endroit du projet qui allait détruire le sud de leur ville. Dans cet esprit, il a voulu que Richard Desjardins signe la musique de Malartic, qui est en quelque sorte la suite de La règle d’or.
« Comme il ne compose pas la musique de ses propres films, je me disais qu’il ne serait peut-être pas intéressé. Je lui ai envoyé le scénario et un lien pour La règle d’or et il m’a répondu : “C’est bon, j’embarque.” Comme c’est son territoire et que pour moi, c’était important que les voix, celles des gens devant la caméra et celles des créateurs, soient ancrées dans le territoire », explique le natif de Québec installé dans le Bas-Saint-Laurent.
Retourner à Malartic
Durant les années suivant le tournage de La règle d’or, Nicolas Paquet a continué de s’intéresser à l’évolution de la mine de Malartic. Cependant, il était loin de se douter qu’un jour, il y redéposerait sa caméra. Or, en 2018, en apprenant que la société minière allait doubler la superficie de la mine, il a eu une pensée pour tous ceux qui, croyant qu’ils allaient enfin retrouver leur quiétude, allaient devoir continuer à vivre avec la poussière, le bruit des détonations et les tremblements pendant encore une dizaine d’années. Et peut-être plus.
« C’était clair que cette fois-ci, ce serait ma quête. J’avais acquis une sorte de “notoriété” parce que j’avais été sur le terrain. Je voulais brosser un portrait plus large, mais toujours en m’attardant spécifiquement sur ce qui se passe à Malartic. Le seul accroc que j’ai fait, c’est l’entrevue avec la sociologue Anne-Marie Voisard [autrice du livre Le droit du plus fort : nos dommages, leurs intérêts], whose point of view I absolutely wanted to have because I found his words just too eloquent. Hearing his testimony, which is extraordinary, people want to sign up for his courses. »
PHOTO FROM THE FILM MALARTIC, PROVIDED BY THE NFB
Sociologist, author and teacher Anne-Marie Voisard
Like The golden rulewhere he gave the floor to several resistance fighters, Nicolas Paquet noticed that once again, several women found themselves at the heart of Malarticincluding Délisca Ritchie Roussy, mayor of Murdochville, where the action moves to the end of the documentary, after a few stops in Montreal and Rimouski.
“In my desire to paint a broader portrait, my research allowed me to unearth these resistance fighters. As Anne-Marie Voisard explains, on the scale of the legal community, there is law at the top and at the bottom, the people who take care of the most deprived. »
In this case, it is women who defend the rights of Malarticois; for me, they are the ones who carry the film. It is thanks to their words that we understand everything, that we can be interested in what is happening there, and perhaps either leave the room in tears or motivated.
Nicolas Paquet
While it had been easy for the filmmaker to collect comments from various people to The golden rule, this time, several doors were closed to him, several calls went unanswered. To his great surprise, no representative from Investissement Québec wanted to report on camera. However, Robert Wares, president of Mine Canadian Malartic, was willing to collaborate.
IMAGE FROM THE FILM MALARTIC, PROVIDED BY THE NFB
Réjean Gariépy and Ginette Trudel, residents of Malartic
Push to act
“My idea was not to demonize people, but I think that for him, the positive far outweighs all the inconveniences experienced by the Malarticois. I hope that the film will make you think on a range of levels, on what we can do as citizens, on what local and national authorities and our governments can do, but also on this need to know what is happening . When we learn things too late in the newspapers, whether about Northvolt or the Horne foundry, it creates a form of disillusionment and a feeling of helplessness. At the end of the film, the first question viewers ask is: “What can we do?” »
If the observation he makes in Malartic is “quite serious” and the comments of the speakers, more than convincing, Nicolas Paquet did not just film talking heads one after the other. Through the power of images of the open-air gold mine and the nature that surrounds it, he illustrates the scale of the situation while instilling a glimmer of hope.
“Cinematographically speaking, with director of photography François Pesant, we had a super eloquent setting. Somewhere, there is something beautiful, but we tried to show to what extent this machine controls everything, never stops, that it is movement and continuous noise. As for nature, my hope is on that side. In Malartic, this nature is always threatened; it always feels a bit like a bulldozer is going to come out and crush everything. If we succeed in loving nature, we will participate in its survival and ours at the same time. »
Indoors