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Cabins

They go by such names as Bel Azur, Riviera, Étoile d'Or, and Goëmons-sur-Mer. These clusters of small cabins are almost all built the same way, lined up along Highway 132 out of Quebec City on the way to the Gaspé, facing the sea or the road. Some are still jaunty, sporting wooden chairs, verandas painted in all sorts of colours, flower boxes and kitchenettes. Others are boarded up, abandoned. Another bunch lie somewhere in between, their owners not knowing if it's worthwhile to fix them up but opening them every season for one more year anyway.

Having first appeared around 1930 alongside the automobile and paid vacations, most of these tiny houses have long since been replaced by motels and highways. Some have withstood the test of time and the winds of change. Stretching over close to 1,000 km along the coast of the St. Lawrence, they've seen the village docks disappear and now they watch as wind turbines spring up around them. In perfect harmony with the landscape, they've put down roots, and they either take their owners hostage or save their lives, depending on how you look at it.

The film plays out like a voyage, sometimes just passing through. Or the camera stops for a bit when it rains. At other times, we peer into the lives of locals and welcome them into ours. Hardly your usual fare. You feel as though you've been swept away, in a parallel universe, to twenty-odd places that are as different as they are identical.

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E.S.T., M&E

Reporter(s): Johanne Fournier

Producer: Johanne Fournier

2008

Length: 52

Colour

Version: Anglais

Code: VINT-100A

Available Rights: FRANCE TELEVISIONS DISTRIBUTION : Europe and French speaking Africa SOCIÉTÉ RADIO-CANADA : All other territories