Watching the crazy Quebec Carnival canoe race yesterday, where men and women get out of their canoes, and run along the ice, then jump in again and paddle across stretches of open water between Quebec City and Lévis, I could only think of the Gilles Vigneault song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH_R6D7mU7M
Mon pays, ce n’est pas un pays, c’est l’hiver Mon jardin, ce n’est pas un jardin, c’est la plaine Mon chemin, ce n’est pas un chemin, c’est la neige Mon pays, ce n’est pas un pays, c’est l’hiver….
It is one of the most beautiful songs I know, and it speaks directly to my heart, as a Quebecker.
Then again, the song and canoe race make me think of my feature film, The Blinding Sea (Éblouis par la mer). I was born in this wonderworld of ice and snow, and my film makes the most of it!
Here is a photo of me inside an igloo, in Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, during the production of The Blinding Sea:
