Salut, Gadou!

"When she learns that the local youth centre is in danger, Geneviève refuses to give in without a fight. She tries to convince her friend Gadou to participate in the movement to save it.

Salut, Gadou! is a fictitious tribute to the Saint-Jean-Baptiste neighbourhood’s history of community involvement (downtown Quebec). It is based on a novel by the same name by Malcolm Reid, published in 1982. Reid’s novel was inspired by the neighbourhood’s Saint-Gabriel movement (1976) and the operation to rescue what is now the community’s youth centre.

Starting in June 2021, a cultural outreach project transformed an entire inner-city neighbourhood into a playground for fiction and learning about civil society. Readings and group discussions were fuel for writing scenes and poems. Young people imagined how the story might take shape in today’s world before participating in organizing, filming, and creating the original soundtrack.

Salut, Gadou! involved 10 youths for an entire summer, four of whom worked on screenwriting. Twenty-odd youths had speaking parts while just as many were extras. Thirty-odd adults, including historian Réjean Lemoine and four professional actors (Charlie Cameron, Justice Rutikara, Jean-Marie Alexandre, Thomas Langlois) were also involved, as well as a choir of 12 children from immigrant backgrounds who are neighbours. Salut Gadou! also had its own band and features five never-before-released songs. More than 20 neighbourhood businesses supported the project, which was produced in collaboration with the Comité populaire Saint-Jean-Baptiste, the Maison des jeunes Saint-Jean-Baptiste and La Bande Vidéo.

Project directed by Hélène Matte, in collaboration
with the filmmakers of tomorrow
Co-directed by Jérémie Thibault
Camera and editing by Marco Chantal

AWARD WINNER 2022 Best Medium Length Film The Cotswold International Film Festival
AWARD WINNER Youth Sunrise Trophy Best World FF, Munich
Prix Intergenerations Québec 2022
Nominee Social Change FF, United States
Sipontum Arthouse International FF, Italy
Short Stop FF, Romania"