Special 40th anniversary screening - restored version

The screening will be preceded by a Happy Hour in the atrium of the NFB ilôt Balmoral.

Released in 1983, La turlute des années dures exposes the poverty that struck Quebec during the Great Depression. Astute, politically driven, and occasionally tinged with searing irony, the film includes accounts from those alive at the time and gives pride of place to the popular music of the era. These songs, which bore witness to the reality of the times and served as a welcome release, punctuate and lend rhythm to the film’s carefully selected and arranged archival images. Decades later, with inequalities deepening once again, this major restoration of a surprising documentary reminds us that history has an unfortunate habit of repeating itself—and that the system is as pitiless as ever. (HSB)

The film was restored by the NFB with the initiative of the Cinémathèque québécoise as part of the Plan culturel numérique du Québec.

Presented in collaboration with the National Film Board (NFB) and the Cinémathèque québecoise

La Turlute des années dures