The Director
Martin Frigon’s first documentaries were inspired by the people and the vast maritime landscape of the Gaspé in Eastern Quebec where he grew up. He applied the cinéma vérité style he learned as a film student to document the rich and colourful lives and language of the fishers in his film Mourir au large (Dying at sea), and of miners left stranded by the multinational Noranda in Make Money, Salut, bonsoir! Using the documentary form, Martin gives a voice to the forgotten people of impoverished resource-based communities of the Gaspé, the third world in our midst, remarkable people who speak out about their hopes and desires for a better future, thwarting attempts to sweep them out of official history and current affairs.
Martin pursues these interests to the southern hemisphere in his latest film Mirage of El Dorado. He learned that Noranda Mines was relocating its smelter from Murdochville in the Gaspé to northern Chili while he was filming Make Money, Salut, bonsoir! It was a story he felt compelled to follow and the resulting film, Mirage of El Dorado is a searing exposure of the impact of Canadian mining operations abroad.
Martin Frigon is not only a documentary filmmaker, but also a passionate writer, and social and history critic. His first book Contes, légendes et récits de l’Outaouais (Tales, legends and stories from the Ottawa Valley) has just been published by Éditions Trois-Pistoles.