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THE HORSE PALACE

68 min, Documentaire, Québec, Canada, 2012
Directed byNadine Gomez
Produced byArgus Films
LanguagesFrench, English
Short descriptionIn the manner of an urban tale, this documentary invites us to reflect on the meaning and value of the intangible heritage of our cities.
Film subjects Environment , Urban Planning
Regis du cinemas, general

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Press reviews

The film has an elegiac tone, as it reflects on both on the sadness and the inevitability of time changing, the balance between the need to keep urban heritage alive, and the denial of living in the past. Cult MTL You know those horse-drawn-carriages in Old Montreal? Ever Wonder where they go at night? Nadine Gomez finds the answer, and comes up with a few other pressing questions in her documentary. The Montreal Gazette

Film details

Synopsis

Once, one of Canada’s most densely populated districts, Griffintown is now dotted with vacant lots and uninhabited areas. At the corner of a small street, at the end of a dirt alley, the sun rises on The Horse Palace. Leo Leonard, the owner, stands lonely and fragile, just like this place that is his whole life. But at 83, Leo, the ultimate representative of the Irish community which founded this neighbourhood, must resign himself to leave. What will become of this century old building and its inspiring picturesque beauty? Where will Jean, Judy and the other coachmen, who work here everyday, go? Will the land fall into the hands of real estate promoters, greedy for space to build new condos? Will the foundation that was set up to preserve the stable be able to insure its survival?

 

Credits

Direction of Photography : Saël Lacroix, David Marescot

Editing : Natalie Lamoureux

Music : Rafaël Proulx-Langlois

Production : Argus Films

Executive Producer : Carmen Garcia

Productrice : Nadine Gomez

 

Financial partners

Argus Films

Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec

Emploi Québec

SODEC

ONF

Les Films du 3 Mars

 

Direction

Nadine Gomez

A graduate of UQÀM with a master’s degree in communications, Nadine Gomez has been creating documentary films for over 10 years, having directed The Horse Palace (2012), Métro (2015) and Exarcheia, The Chanting of Birds (2018), among others, as well as the podcast J’aime Hydro (2019), co-produced by Théâtre Porte-Parole. She is currently working on her first fiction project, Créatures du hasard, a loose adaptation of Lula Carballo’s book of the same name, produced by Les films Cosmos.

 

Filmography

CHRONICLE OF A CITY, 76 min, Documentary, 2025
CECI EST UNE ESPÈCE AIMÉE, 10 min, Documentary, 2021
AVANT LA NUIT, 10 min, Documentary, 2020
EXARCHEIA, THE CHANTING OF BIRDS, 73 min, Documentary, 2020
MÉTRO, 17 min, Documentary, 2015
THE HORSE PALACE, 68 min, Documentary, 2012