Hubert Aquin
Directing
Biography
Hubert Aquin was a Quebec novelist, political activist, essayist, filmmaker and editor. Aquin was born in Montreal and graduated from the Université de Montréal in 1951. From 1951 to 1954, he studied at the Institut d'études politiques in Paris. On his return to Montreal worked for Radio-Canada from 1955 until 1959.
Known For
This short film is a series of vignettes of life in Saint-Henri, a Montreal working-class district, on the first day of school. From dawn to midnight, we take in the neighbourhood’s pulse: a mother fussing over children, a father's enforced idleness, teenage boys clowning, young lovers dallying - the unposed quality of daily life.
September Five at Saint-Henri
In this short fiction film, Marie has been living in the midst of a nightmare since the accident of Bernard, her brother. Clinging excessively to this handicapped being, she wants to take charge of it. Étienne, her fiancé, has no taste for sacrifice. He reproaches Marie for languishing in her adolescence. Love will prevail. In a definitive gesture, Marie will free herself from the bonds that still held her back to her childhood.
La Fin des étés
Ebrahim Golestan's contribution to an anthology film about the rites of betrothal in four separate countries.
Courtship
A cross-cultural study of child-rearing in India, France, Japan, and Canada, observing how family practices around a one-year-old reflect broader cultural values, with commentary by Margaret Mead.
Four Families
In 1961, philosopher Roland Barthes collaborated with filmmaker Hubert Aquin to produce a film, for Canadian television, intended to reveal the poetics of sport and spectatorship. The question 'what is sport' is answered by Barthes' eloquently scripted commentary. The recurring theme of purging violence from society into the spectacle of sport runs through the film.
Of Sport and Men
This film aims to show us how young people date in four countries: Canada (Montreal), Sicily (Italy), India, and Iran. Host Renée La Rochelle interviews psychoanalyst André Lussier and anthropologist Marcel Rioux about the main characteristics of the rites and customs surrounding premarital dating.
Le Temps des amours
Exploring four of the world's major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.
Four Religions
Documentary on the life of Hubert Aquin. Alive, he was a dazzling and extraordinary character. Dead, he is already legendary. From his legend, everything is both true and false. Neither biography nor critical work, this film is an evocation of his universe.