Les raquetteurs

Les raquetteurs
Directed by	Michel Brault Gilles Groulx
Written by	Michel Brault Gilles Groulx
Cinematography	Michel Brault Gilles Groulx
Production company	National Film Board of Canada
Release dates	1958
Running time	14 min 37 s
Country	Canada
Language	French

Les raquetteurs is a 1958 Direct Cinema documentary film co-directed by Michel Brault and Gilles Groulx. The film explores life in rural Quebec, at a convention of snowshoers in Sherbrooke, Quebec in February 1958. The film is notable for helping to establish the then-nascent French language production unit at the National Film Board of Canada, and more importantly, the development of a uniquely Quebec style of direct cinema.

The film incorporates agile camera work and a largely synchronous soundtrack, uninterrupted by any narration, in keeping with the ethos of direct cinema to avoid any imposed "truth" on events onscreen.

Production

Grant McLean, then head of production for the NFB, had been angry that what was to have been a three-minute vignette had quadrupled in length and ordered the film to be used for stock footage. However, NFB producers Tom Daly and Guy Glover interceded on the young filmmakers' behalf.

Release

At the time of its release, Les raquetteurs raised some concerns about its "nonofficial" style, and ruffled some feathers in Quebec for its portrayal of rural Quebecers.

External links

• Watch Les Raquetteurs at NFB.ca