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THE
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF CANADA AND THE NATIONAL FILM BOARD
invite
you to the premier of
TRACES
D’UNE HISTOIRE OUBLIÉE
("Traces of a forgotten story")
A
documentary film about the little-known adventure of the famous
Parisian furriers and fur traders, Revillon Frères,in the Great
Canadian North
(mainly in French)
Wednesday,
January 26, 2000 at 8 p.m.
in the Auditorium of The National Archives of Canada
395 Wellington Street, Ottawa
Admission
is free |
![National Film Board of Canada - NFB](0318/images/nfb.gif) |
The past never ceases
to shed light on the present; a case in point is Lara Fitzgerald’s
fascinating documentary film, which tracks Parisian furriers and fur
traders, Revillon Frères, across the Canadian North at the beginning of the
twentieth century. Notes scribbled in the yellowed pages of a journal, a
letter turning up unexpectedly, photographs tucked away in piles of dusty
old papers, such were the fragments from which the saga of Revillon Frères
was recreated.
The venture of
Revillon Frères came to an abrupt end in 1936 when they were bought out by
the Hudson’s Bay Company, the rival which Revillon had wanted to
overthrow. The Hudson’s Bay Company thus remained the only fur trader to
leave its mark in the history books in spite of the fact that Revillon
Frères financed the famous movie Nanook of the North, produced by
Robert Flaherty .
Yet the Canadian epic
of Revillon will not be forgotten. In the anecdotes retrieved from archives,
in the recollections and revelations of the few witnesses to this forgotten
story, in the words of Revillon descendants and in its reconstruction by
specialists who share a passion for the smallest artefact, new light has
been shed on a string of official events, and a world we thought long gone
has come to life.
Come see the film and
meet the producer, Lara Fitzgerald, who will give an overview of it. After
the screening, she will be joined for a question period by Martha Flaherty,
grand-daughter of Robert Flaherty, Gwyneth Hoyle, a historian with a special
interest in the Revillon family, and Victorin Chabot, of the National
Archives, all three of whom are interviewed in the film. Simultaneous
interpretation will be available during the question period.
For further
information:
Guests: (613) 992-9359
Media: (613) 947-1498 (media@lac-bac.gc.ca)
National
Film Board
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