Le temps des Madelinots

Documentarian Richard Lavoie follows the artists of the Mer Océane symposium which took place on La Grave, in the Magdalen Islands, in 1998.

The portrait and experiences of six families from rang 5, each of which corresponds to a particular approach to agriculture, from the traditional farm to industrial production.

Richard Lavoie documents and narrates, in the manner of a thriller, a page of hidden and tumultuous history of the Magdalen Islands: the sinking of The Nadine during the icy night of December 16, 1990, off Grande-Entrée.

A handful of islanders have to take the ice canoe to cross the 4 to 5 miles of half-frozen river that separate them from Montmagny. On Christmas Eve, they go shopping ashore and return to their boat too late. After many difficulties, they spend the night among the ice, while on the Island, their worried families celebrate New Year's Eve without them. At daybreak, the men find their families. We're celebrating, it's Christmas.