PAUL TANA’S COLLECTION

La Déroute, 110 minutes, 1998

This film exposes the desire of an italian immigrant to leave his mark, to make the world understand that he succeed on his own. It is also about the constant duality of cultures, origin and welcome. A baggage that immigrants carry throughout their lives.

La Sarrasine, 105 minutes, 1992

Montreal, 1904. Giuseppe and Ninetta live in a family house with some fellow Sicilians. One day while trying to defend his friend, Giuseppe accidently kills Theo, son-in-law of his French-Canadian best friend. This event aggravates the ongoing conflict between some ethnic groups and transforms many people’s destiny. Inspired by true events, The Saracen is a film about the Italian immigration in Quebec and the many conflicts resulting from the clash of both cultures.

Caffè Italia, Montréal, 81 minutes, 1985

Avoiding the trap of nostalgia, using both archival documents, fictions, current testimonies and extracts from a theatrical creation, Paul Tana paints an attached and nuanced portrait of the Italians of Montreal. From the first waves of immigration at the beginning of the century to the concert of the young rocker Aldo Nova, the film highlights, sometimes with humor, the contradictions of Italians here, deeply divided between the attachment to their homeland of origin and the need to be fully accepted by Quebec society.

Les Grands enfants, 83 minutes, 1980

This film, set in Montreal, does not tell a story in the traditional sense. Instead, it offers an honest image of the life of four young people and their dreams of change. People unemployed, dissatisfied with their work or caught up in complicated social relationships.