Directed by
Guillaume Lévesque
Country of Origin
Canada
Runtime
52:00
Category
It is widely understood that the seal population in the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence has reached critical levels as natural predators have disappeared and hunting has practically ceased. Meanwhile, seals are an invaluable culinary resource in the eyes of chefs from across the country that are increasingly snapping up this gastronomic treasure. The Magdalen Island butcher Réjean Vigneau has given himself the mandate to introduce this unique local meat to Quebecers.
Our film proposes a reflection on the potential of seal meat as a natural and next-to-untapped gastronomic and nutritional resource, despite its controversial image in the public media.
Director Biography – Guillaume Lévesque
Originally from the Matapedia Valley, Guillaume Lévesque is the son of a simple woodcutter. It is by watching the great men, manipulating the trees to cut them down, saw them, that Guillaume has forged an imagery. Very early in his process, he felt the need to express himself on his territory, the people that live there. Losing land (2005), is a documentary on the harmful impacts of the tourist industry of the Magdalen Islands. Gaspesia (2010), presents essays on the territory the relationship between the Gaspé and its inhabitants. Also inspired by the behavior of the human being at the end of life, Guillaume takes a look at old age by interviewing three elderly people in Before Winter (2008). It was at L’INIS in the winter of 2010, as a student in the documentary program that he created Ritual, a film that questions funeral rituals in transformation. In 2012, it presents A shoveling after the other, a tribute to the winter through the portrait of a village “pelleteux”. In 2017 Guillaume offers Lawrence’s silence, a documentary portrait of singer-songwriter Lawrence Lepage; poet and man of territory who chose the silence of the forest rather than the spotlight of the scene.
