Marie Cadieux

In his native village of Fauquier, in northern Ontario, the poet Pierre Albert is organizing an ultimate gala to celebrate the impending death of the last of the Franco-Ontarians. What final testimony will the prominent artist he has invited pronounce? Will his father, Antoine, and the rest of the community rally behind this strange undertaking? As so many Franco-Ontarians, Antoine Albert has had to struggle hard just to raise his family and Pierre's concerns are quite alien to him. In fact, like so many others, he has never chosen to define himself as a Franco-Ontarian. Be that as it may, the Spectre, a playful character, true incarnation of the franco-ontarian collective consciousness, has decided to help the poet in his own inimitable fashion. The Last of the Franco-Ontarian is a passionate and unprecedented homage to a people and its culture. In French with English subtitles. (NFB)

Forty years after the documentary Éloge du chiac by the great Michel Brault, this feature film by Marie Cadieux takes up the linguistic and socio-cultural discussion where it left off in 1968. Ordinary citizens, artists and even French specialists declare their love for chiac, this language intimately linked to the Acadian identity that is spoken in southeastern New Brunswick. A fascinating reflection on the future of the Francophonie in Canada and around the world.