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Jean Lemire dreamed of filming an "environmental awareness journey" for twelve years.<ref name="Hill" /> The project was two years in the making, a period of "intense efforts and negotiations".<ref name="Arctic">{{cite web |title=Arctic Voyage The Sedna IV Sails the Northwest Passage |url=http://www.athropolis.com/news/sedna.htm |website=Anthropolis News |accessdate=26 January 2019}}</ref> Originally, Lemire and his team hoped to find a modest 18-metre sailing vessel that would suit their purposes.<ref name="Senneville">{{cite journal |last1=Senneville |first1=Renée |title=Toucher les gens par la beauté du monde… |journal=Magazine Portrait |date=17 June 2015 |url=http://magazineportrait.com/toucher-les-gens-par-la-beaute-du-monde/ |accessdate=26 January 2019 |language=French}}</ref> In 2001, Lemire and five others acquired a 51-metre steel-hauled sailboat which had been refurbished from a [[North Sea]] fishing boat in 1992, and re-fitted it into an expedition vessel with cabins to sleep twenty crew, two editing suites, three [[high definition video|high-density cameras]]<ref name="Hill" /><ref name="Kandelman" /> and a system of [[satellite communication]] which would allow hundreds of thousands to follow the voyage.<ref name="Senneville" /> Rechristened the ''[[Sedna IV]]'' after the [[Sedna (mythology)|Inuit goddess of the sea]], the three-masted [[schooner]] was now an [[oceanographic]] vessel and seagoing [[cinematographic]] studio,<ref name="Senneville" /> specifically designed for filming documentaries, collecting data for scientific studies, and serving as a "floating media lab" for students around the world.<ref name="Arctic" />
Jean Lemire dreamed of filming an "environmental awareness journey" for twelve years.<ref name="Hill" /> The project was two years in the making, a period of "intense efforts and negotiations".<ref name="Arctic">{{cite web |title=Arctic Voyage The Sedna IV Sails the Northwest Passage |url=http://www.athropolis.com/news/sedna.htm |website=Anthropolis News |accessdate=26 January 2019}}</ref> Originally, Lemire and his team hoped to find a modest 18-metre sailing vessel that would suit their purposes.<ref name="Senneville">{{cite journal |last1=Senneville |first1=Renée |title=Toucher les gens par la beauté du monde… |journal=Magazine Portrait |date=17 June 2015 |url=http://magazineportrait.com/toucher-les-gens-par-la-beaute-du-monde/ |accessdate=26 January 2019 |language=French}}</ref> In 2001, Lemire and five others acquired a 51-metre steel-hauled sailboat which had been refurbished from a [[North Sea]] fishing boat in 1992, and re-fitted it into an expedition vessel with cabins to sleep twenty crew, two editing suites, three [[high definition video|high-density cameras]]<ref name="Hill" /><ref name="Kandelman" /> and a system of [[satellite communication]] which would allow hundreds of thousands to follow the voyage.<ref name="Senneville" /> Rechristened the ''[[Sedna IV]]'' after the [[Sedna (mythology)|Inuit goddess of the sea]], the three-masted [[schooner]] was now an [[oceanographic]] vessel and seagoing [[cinematographic]] studio,<ref name="Senneville" /> specifically designed for filming documentaries, collecting data for scientific studies, and serving as a "floating media lab" for students around the world.<ref name="Arctic" />


For a journey projected as lasting up to six months, the ''Sedna IV'' had a permanent crew of nine, along with five filmmakers, picking up other researchers and scientists along the way, with a supply of 7.2 tonnes of food and 78,000 litres of fuel.<ref name="Hill" /> After sailing along the coast of [[Labrador]], the ship would continue through the [[Hudson's Strait]] and Isabella Bay near [[Clyde River (Baffin Island)|Clyde River]] before visiting [[Pond Inlet]] for two or three weeks, then moving on to [[Resolute Bay]] to await the best window to the [[Northwest Passage]]. From there it would move into the [[Beaufort Sea]] and come through the [[Bering Strait]] to reach [[Vancouver]].<ref name="Hill" /> The departure was delayed by almost two weeks due to heavy ice conditions on the Labrador Coast.<ref name="Hill" />
For a journey projected as lasting up to six months, the ''Sedna IV'' had a permanent crew of nine, along with five filmmakers, picking up other researchers and scientists along the way, with a supply of 7.2 tonnes of food and 78,000 litres of fuel.<ref name="Hill" /> After sailing along the coast of [[Labrador]], the ship would continue through the [[Hudson's Strait]] and Isabella Bay near [[Clyde River (Baffin Island)|Clyde River]] before visiting [[Pond Inlet]] for two or three weeks, then moving on to [[Resolute Bay]] to await the best window to the [[Northwest Passage]]. From there it would move into the [[Beaufort Sea]] and come through the [[Bering Strait]] to reach [[Vancouver]].<ref name="Hill" /> The ''Sedna IV'' was only the seventh sailboat in history to make the legendary Northwest Passage from east to west,<ref name="CanalD">{{cite web |title=Jean Lemire Chief of mission |url=https://1000jours.canald.com/en/about/ship-crew/29/jeanlemire |website=1000jours.canald.com |publisher=[[Canal D]] |accessdate=27 January 2019}}</ref> taking only five months to complete its voyage despite being delayed by almost two weeks due to heavy ice conditions on the Labrador Coast.<ref name="Hill" />


The documentary film was the first in a series of five with with a collective budget of $5.9 million,<ref name="Hill" /> all shot on the same expedition, under the project title, ''Mission Arctique'' (''Arctic Mission''), each one exploring the impact of global warming on Canada's North,<ref name="NFB" /> including the effect on the region's [[Inuit]] and an analysis of world politics surrounding [[global warming]], as Lemire explained:<blockquote>It was important for me to make something on the North with people in the North, to be sure we really get Inuit involved... Very often what we do is go up North then come back and make the film. I think now it's important to give a chance to the Inuit to say what they have to say about the climate and global warming.<ref name="Hill" /></blockquote>
The documentary film was the first in a series of five with with a collective budget of $5.9 million,<ref name="Hill" /> all shot on the same expedition, under the project title, ''Mission Arctique'' (''Arctic Mission''), each one exploring the impact of global warming on Canada's North,<ref name="NFB" /> including the effect on the region's [[Inuit]] and an analysis of world politics surrounding [[global warming]], as Lemire explained:<blockquote>It was important for me to make something on the North with people in the North, to be sure we really get Inuit involved... Very often what we do is go up North then come back and make the film. I think now it's important to give a chance to the Inuit to say what they have to say about the climate and global warming.<ref name="Hill" /></blockquote>

The Arctic mission sounded the alarm on the disastrous consequences of climate change on the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.<ref name="CanalD" />


Lemire went on to make four more documentary series aboard the ''Sedna IV'': ''Mission Baleines'' (''Whale Mission''), ''Mission Antarctique'' (''Antarctic Mission''), ''Le dernier continent'' (''The Last Continent''), and ''1000 jours pour la planète'' (''1000 Days for the Planet'').<ref name="Senneville" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Lemire |url=http://lequebecunehistoiredefamille.com/communaute/lemire/photo/jean-lemire |website=Le Québec une histoire de famille |accessdate=26 January 2019 |language=French}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration 2015 Recipient - Jean Lemire |url=http://www.rcgs.org/awards/ondaatje_medal/winner_ondaatje2015.asp |website=www.rcgs.org |publisher=[[Royal Canadian Geographical Society]] |accessdate=26 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=1000 jours pour la planète (An 3) Épisodes 1-2-3 / 1000 Days for the Planet (Year 3) Episodes 1-2-3 |url=https://www.eyeoncanada.ca/television/details/1000-jours-pour-la-planete-an-3-pisodes-1-2-3-1000-days-for-the-planet-year |website=Eye on Canada |accessdate=26 January 2019}}</ref> He was moved by what he saw in the Arctic, recalling his experiences in an emotional text posted to the ''Domaine bleue'' website in 2007, describing [[polar bear]] carcases along the beaches of [[Hudson Bay]], victims of unusually early and fast spring melts; how he once found himself up to his knees in melting [[permafrost]] that smelled of [[methane]]; and despair as villages vainly tried to stave off the waves of a swelling sea, forced to move: the forgotten inhabitants of the North were the first "climate refugees", victims of [[greenhouse gases]].<ref name="Lemire">{{cite web |last1=Lemire |first1=Jean |title=La chaleur des «autres»... texte de Jean Lemire |url=https://www.domainebleu.ca/la-tribune-f38/la-chaleur-des-autres-texte-de-jean-lemire-t53884.html |website=Domaine bleue |date=3 February 2007 |accessdate=26 January 2019 |language=French}}</ref>
Lemire went on to make four more documentary series aboard the ''Sedna IV'': ''Mission Baleines'' (''Whale Mission''), ''Mission Antarctique'' (''Antarctic Mission''), ''Le dernier continent'' (''The Last Continent''), and ''1000 jours pour la planète'' (''1000 Days for the Planet'').<ref name="Senneville" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Lemire |url=http://lequebecunehistoiredefamille.com/communaute/lemire/photo/jean-lemire |website=Le Québec une histoire de famille |accessdate=26 January 2019 |language=French}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration 2015 Recipient - Jean Lemire |url=http://www.rcgs.org/awards/ondaatje_medal/winner_ondaatje2015.asp |website=www.rcgs.org |publisher=[[Royal Canadian Geographical Society]] |accessdate=26 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=1000 jours pour la planète (An 3) Épisodes 1-2-3 / 1000 Days for the Planet (Year 3) Episodes 1-2-3 |url=https://www.eyeoncanada.ca/television/details/1000-jours-pour-la-planete-an-3-pisodes-1-2-3-1000-days-for-the-planet-year |website=Eye on Canada |accessdate=26 January 2019}}</ref> He was moved by what he saw in the Arctic, recalling his experiences in an emotional text posted to the ''Domaine bleue'' website in 2007, describing [[polar bear]] carcases along the beaches of [[Hudson Bay]], victims of unusually early and fast spring melts; how he once found himself up to his knees in melting [[permafrost]] that smelled of [[methane]]; and despair as villages vainly tried to stave off the waves of a swelling sea, forced to move: the forgotten inhabitants of the North were the first "climate refugees", victims of [[greenhouse gases]].<ref name="Lemire">{{cite web |last1=Lemire |first1=Jean |title=La chaleur des «autres»... texte de Jean Lemire |url=https://www.domainebleu.ca/la-tribune-f38/la-chaleur-des-autres-texte-de-jean-lemire-t53884.html |website=Domaine bleue |date=3 February 2007 |accessdate=26 January 2019 |language=French}}</ref>

Revision as of 03:26, 27 January 2019

La grande traversée
Directed byJean Lemire,
Thierry Piantanida[1][2]
Written byJean Lemire,
Thierry Piantanida[1][2]
Produced byJean Lemire
(co-producers:
Éric Michel,
Colette Loumède,
Stéphane Millière)[3]
Narrated byJoël Le Bigot,
Jean Lemire[1]
(English: David Suzuki,
Jean Lemire)[2]
CinematographyMartin Leclerc[1][2]
Edited byFrédéric Lossignol,
Alain Belhumeur[1][2]
Music byHervé Postic[1][2]
Distributed byNational Film Board of Canada
Release date
  • 31 October 2003 (2003-10-31)
(FCMM)
Running time
52 minutes[1][2]
LandKanada
SpracheFrench
BudgetC$1.18 million (estimated)[note 1]
Box officeC$12,113 (Canada)[5]

La grande traversée (English: The Great Adventure) is a 2003 Canada-France documentary film written and directed by Jean Lemire and Thierry Piantanida,[1][2] as well as co-produced and co-narrated by Jean Lemire,[3] made to foster awarerness of global warming as seriously jeopardizing a fragile Arctic ecosystem, the first installment of the documentary series Mission Arctique (Arctic Mission), encompassing a five-month 2002 scientific expedition aboard the Sedna IV on a voyage from Montreal to Vancouver through the Northwest Passage, with the beauty and fragility of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago on full display.[2]

Synopsis

Jean Lemire tells the story of a journey in the form of a travel diary. A crew of filmmakers, scientists, and seasoned sailors, undertake a five-month, 21,000-kilometre scientific mission to record the impact of global warming on the islands of the Canadian Arctic. The crew navigate the three-masted sailing yacht Sedna IV through the Northwest Passage, a treacherous, ice-choked route.[2] The voyage begins in the Magdalen Islands near Montréal and ends in Vancouver,[3] with stops including Beechey Island, where John Franklin and his crew wintered in 1846 during his last expedition,[6] underscoring how survival is a daily struggle in the Far North: the crew face unusually cold weather that makes navigation exceptionally perilous.[2] Contacts with Northern inhabitants both help guide the crew and reinforce the documentary's message concerning the impact of human activity on the world.[3]

Jean Lemire dreamed of filming an "environmental awareness journey" for twelve years.[4] The project was two years in the making, a period of "intense efforts and negotiations".[7] Originally, Lemire and his team hoped to find a modest 18-metre sailing vessel that would suit their purposes.[8] In 2001, Lemire and five others acquired a 51-metre steel-hauled sailboat which had been refurbished from a North Sea fishing boat in 1992, and re-fitted it into an expedition vessel with cabins to sleep twenty crew, two editing suites, three high-density cameras[4][6] and a system of satellite communication which would allow hundreds of thousands to follow the voyage.[8] Rechristened the Sedna IV after the Inuit goddess of the sea, the three-masted schooner was now an oceanographic vessel and seagoing cinematographic studio,[8] specifically designed for filming documentaries, collecting data for scientific studies, and serving as a "floating media lab" for students around the world.[7]

For a journey projected as lasting up to six months, the Sedna IV had a permanent crew of nine, along with five filmmakers, picking up other researchers and scientists along the way, with a supply of 7.2 tonnes of food and 78,000 litres of fuel.[4] After sailing along the coast of Labrador, the ship would continue through the Hudson's Strait and Isabella Bay near Clyde River before visiting Pond Inlet for two or three weeks, then moving on to Resolute Bay to await the best window to the Northwest Passage. From there it would move into the Beaufort Sea and come through the Bering Strait to reach Vancouver.[4] The Sedna IV was only the seventh sailboat in history to make the legendary Northwest Passage from east to west,[9] taking only five months to complete its voyage despite being delayed by almost two weeks due to heavy ice conditions on the Labrador Coast.[4]

The documentary film was the first in a series of five with with a collective budget of $5.9 million,[4] all shot on the same expedition, under the project title, Mission Arctique (Arctic Mission), each one exploring the impact of global warming on Canada's North,[2] including the effect on the region's Inuit and an analysis of world politics surrounding global warming, as Lemire explained:

It was important for me to make something on the North with people in the North, to be sure we really get Inuit involved... Very often what we do is go up North then come back and make the film. I think now it's important to give a chance to the Inuit to say what they have to say about the climate and global warming.[4]

The Arctic mission sounded the alarm on the disastrous consequences of climate change on the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.[9]

Lemire went on to make four more documentary series aboard the Sedna IV: Mission Baleines (Whale Mission), Mission Antarctique (Antarctic Mission), Le dernier continent (The Last Continent), and 1000 jours pour la planète (1000 Days for the Planet).[8][10][11][12] He was moved by what he saw in the Arctic, recalling his experiences in an emotional text posted to the Domaine bleue website in 2007, describing polar bear carcases along the beaches of Hudson Bay, victims of unusually early and fast spring melts; how he once found himself up to his knees in melting permafrost that smelled of methane; and despair as villages vainly tried to stave off the waves of a swelling sea, forced to move: the forgotten inhabitants of the North were the first "climate refugees", victims of greenhouse gases.[13]

Release and reception

La grande traversée had its premiere at the Montreal International Festival of New Cinema and New Media on 31 October 2003.[14][15] The film was screened at the Yorkton Film Festival in May 2004, where it won the Golden Sheaf Award in the category Nature/Environment.[1] All five documentaries were intended for broadcast on television in Canada and Europe. The French version was broadcast in Canada on Télé-Québec, while the English version appeared on the CBC's The Nature of Things,[4] with narration by David Suzuki.

Commercial performance

La grande traversée was the fourth-highest grossing documentary film in Canada for the year 2003, collecting $12,113 in box office receipts, according to data from the Motion Picture Theatres Association of Canada.[5]

Critical response

Séverine Kandelman calls the documentary a good family film, despite a few flaws in execution and a commentary which occasionally waxes a little too poetic. The film inspires admiration for the brave explorers who undertook the same voyage in hostile waters but with far less advanced technology, opening a window on a little-known world and serving as a reminder of the dangers of global warming.[6]

Accolades

Home media

A 90-minute special edition DVD was released on 11 November 2004.[17] The five films of Mission Arctique were released together on DVD in 2005.[18]

Notes

  1. ^ This figure is based on dividing the collective budget of all five documentary films in the series, which was C$5.9 million.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "La grande traversée". onf-nfb.gc.ca/ (in French). National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "The Great Adventure". www.onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e "La grande traversée [enregistrement vidéo]". Polaris Catalog. CSA. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hill, Miriam (21 June 2002). "The Sedna's Arctic mission". Nunatsiaq News. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  5. ^ a b An Economic Profile of the Canadian Documentary Production Industry (Getting Real, Volume 2) (PDF). Prepared for the Documentary Organization of Canada. Ontario Media Development Corporation. 2004. p. 84. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Kandelman, Séverine (29 October 2003). "La Grande Traversée : Climat ambiant". Voir (in French). Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Arctic Voyage The Sedna IV Sails the Northwest Passage". Anthropolis News. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d Senneville, Renée (17 June 2015). "Toucher les gens par la beauté du monde…". Magazine Portrait (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Jean Lemire Chief of mission". 1000jours.canald.com. Canal D. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Lemire". Le Québec une histoire de famille (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration 2015 Recipient - Jean Lemire". www.rcgs.org. Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  12. ^ "1000 jours pour la planète (An 3) Épisodes 1-2-3 / 1000 Days for the Planet (Year 3) Episodes 1-2-3". Eye on Canada. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  13. ^ Lemire, Jean (3 February 2007). "La chaleur des «autres»... texte de Jean Lemire". Domaine bleue (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  14. ^ Despatis D., Pierre-Alexandre (Winter 2004). "L'ancien et le nouveau : Le FCMM et les nouvelles technologies de cinéma" (PDF). Nouvelles vues (in French) (1): 2.
  15. ^ "Grande traversée, La". Canoe.ca. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  16. ^ a b Télé-Québec: rapport annuel, 2004-2005 (PDF) (in French). Québec: Ministre de la culture et des communications. 2005. p. 18. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  17. ^ "La grande traversee dvd". La librairie Gallimard de Montréal (in French). Gallimard. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  18. ^ Rège, Philippe (2010). Encyclopedia of French Film Directors, Volume 1. Lanham, Md.; Toronto: Scarecrow Press. p. 816. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
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