The Gardener

The Gardener
Le Jardinier

First feature by Sébastien Chabot

Quebec, Canada / 2016 / 87 min. / English, French s.-t. 

The film was premiered at the Québec City Film Festival 2016 where it won the CANADIAN BEST FILM AWARD from the public. It was also highlighted at the Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival 2016.

This is a wonderful film and the most visually attractive narrative. The viewer is bound to feel nostalgic for the beauty and harmony that could be created everywhere on our planet Earth, instead of proliferating the massive pollution and myriads of waste dumps that encircle our habitats. A comparison to the Garden of Eden is heard in the film, making one to wish the humanity was able to work collectively to create a paradise-like places to inhabit rather than pursuing the current general destruction of our Earth environments.

Frank Cabot, gardener, horticulturist, and influential philanthropist narrates his personal quest for perfection through the creation of his gardens Les Quatre Vents. Sprawled on more than 8 hectares, his English-style gardens open their doors to a film crew for the very first time. Knowing he has a degenerative pulmonary disease with little time to live, Cabot confides about his ambitious aesthetic and visionary mission on camera. Nestled at the top of Mount Murray in the Charlevoix region of Quebec, Les Quatre Vents, under the guidance of Frank Cabot, has become one of the most beautiful private gardens in the world. It was created over three generations of Cabot family, and became a true horticultural masterpiece, an enchanting place of beauty with many hidden surprises.

Through his interviews with Frank Cabot, his family, authors and experts in English gardening, the film recounts the personal history of Frank Cabot and his artistic philosophy that led to the creation of one of the greatest Private gardens of the world.

Film’s Official Synopsis:

"The Gardener is a documentary reflecting on the meaning of gardening and its impact on our lives. Shortly before his passing at the age of 86, influential gardener and horticulturist Frank Cabot recounts his personal quest for perfection at Les Quatre Vents , his twenty-acre English style garden and summer estate that was opened to a film crew for the first time in 2009. Nestled amongst the rolling hills of the Charlevoix County in Quebec, Les Quatre Vents has become one of the world’s foremost private gardens. Created over three generations, it is an enchanted place of beauty and surprise, a horticultural masterpiece of the 21st century. Through the words of Cabot and his family, and with the participation of gardening experts and writers, the film looks back at this remarkable  man’s personal story and the artistic philosophy that gave birth to one of the greatest gardens in the world."

The Gardener was written and directed by Sébastien Chabot with the participation of Raynald Bergeron, Francis H. Cabot, Anne Cabot, Colin Cabot, the Right Honorable Adrienne Clarkson, Jean Des Gagniers, Father Louis Genest CSV, Penelope Hobhouse, and Tim Richardson.

PRODUCTION TEAM 

CAMERA:  Geneviève Ringuet
MUSIC: Luc Saint-Pierre
EDITING: Aurélie Govaere
SOUND MIXING: Jean-Philippe Goyette
SOUND DESIGNER: Jean-François Turcotte
PRODUCER: Sébastien Chabot, Julie Dalbec, Michael Slack
DISTRIBUTOR: Lizanne Rouillard, distributed in Canada by Les Films d'aujourd'hui

Click on images to enlarge them.

Follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thegardenermovie/?fref=ts

Trailer on VIMEO: https://vimeo.com/206253368

The film will be screened on March 17, 2017 in four Quebec cinemas: the Beaubien and the Cinéma du Parc in Montreal, the Cartier in Québec City, and will have a Red Carpet reception at Trois-Rivières.

The film will be shown in preview and in the presence of the director on Monday, March 13, 2017, at 6:30 pm as part of Cinémagique at the Cinéma du Parc, Montreal.