''The Negro'' (french: Le Nèg') is a 2002

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

drama film, directed by

Robert Morin Robert Morin (born May 20, 1949) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. In 2009, he received Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. Biography Robert Morin is known for his very personal, dark, and pessimistic ...

."Le Neg' shows up bigots: Morin's work is tough, personal". '

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', October 21, 2002. An examination of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

, the film centres on a police officer in a small

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

town who is trying to reconstruct, through the conflicting testimony of witnesses and participants, the events of the night before, when the petty vandalism of a woman's

lawn jockey A lawn jockey is a statue depicting a man in jockey clothes, intended to be placed in front yards as hitching posts, similar to those of footmen bearing lanterns near entrances and gnomes in gardens. Because of the prevalence of black lawn jockey ...

escalated within a few hours to the woman being found dead and the young

Black Canadian Black Canadians (also known as Caribbean-Canadians or Afro-Canadians) are people of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin, though t ...

suspected of committing the vandalism having been viciously beaten in a field. The film's original title, equivalent in

Quebec French Quebec French (french: français québécois ), also known as Québécois French, is the predominant variety of the French language spoken in Canada. It is the dominant language of the province of Quebec, used in everyday communication, in educa ...

to "the nigger", was controversial, with a Black youth group in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

demanding that the film's title and promotional poster be changed. Morin, however, defended his choice to use a controversial title, stating that "If it stirs up some controversy, then at least people will be talking about racism." The film's cast includes Iannicko N'Doua-Légaré,

Béatrice Picard Béatrice Picard, , (born July 3, 1929 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadians, Canadian actress whose career spans over six decades. She became known for her role as Angelina Desmarais in one of the first French Canadian "télé-roman" series called ...

Robin Aubert Robin Aubert (born May 13, 1972) is a Canadian actor, screenwriter and film director.

Vincent Bilodeau Vincent Bilodeau (born August 11, 1951) is a French Canadian actor and comedian from Quebec. Career Vincent Bilodeau appeared in many feature films including ''A Sunday in Kigali'' in 2006. Private life He is the brother of Yvon Bilodeau and the ...

Emmanuel Bilodeau Emmanuel Bilodeau (born August 29, 1964) is a Canadian actor from Quebec. He is most noted for his performances in the 2000 film ''Soft Shell Man (Un crabe dans la tête)'', for which he won the Jutra Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 4th Ju ...

Sandrine Bisson Sandrine Bisson (born June 22, 1975 in Quebec City, Quebec) is a Canadians, Canadian actress from Quebec. She won the Jutra Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 12th Jutra Awards in 2010 for her performance in ''1981 (film), 1981'', and was a ...

René-Daniel Dubois René-Daniel Dubois, OC (born July 20, 1955, in Montreal) is a Québécois playwright and actor. Biography Movie career He is best known for his 1985 play ''Being at Home with Claude'', which was adapted into an award-winning film in 1992 and th ...

, Jean-Guy Bouchard and

Dorothée Berryman Dorothée Berryman (born April 28, 1948) is a Canadian actress and singer from Quebec. Career Berryman appeared on stage while she was still a student at Laval University. Active since 1971, she pursued a career in musical theatre and television ...

Awards

The film was named to the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

's year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2002. The film received four

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

nominations at the

23rd Genie Awards The 23rd Genie Awards were held in 2003 to honour films released in 2002. The ceremony was hosted by Arsinée Khanjian and Peter Keleghan. Nominees and winners The Genie Award winner in each category is shown in bold text. References {{Cana ...

in 2003: Best Original Screenplay (Morin), Best Costume Design (

Sophie Lefebvre Sophie Lefebvre is a Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and ...

), Best Editing (

George Browne George Browne may refer to: *Sir George Browne (died 1483) (1440–1483), took part in Buckingham's rebellion *George Browne (archbishop of Dublin) (died 1556), Anglican bishop in Ireland * George Browne (by 1517–62 or later), MP for Berwick-upon ...

and

Lorraine Dufour Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of G ...

) and Best Art Direction or Production Design ( André-Line Beauparlant). The film received three Prix Jutra nominations, for Best Direction (Morin), Best Screenplay (Morin) and Best Editing (Dufour)."Seraphin leads with 9 Jutra nominations". ''

'', January 29, 2003. Dufour won the award for Best Editing.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Negro, The 2002 films 2002 drama films Canadian drama films Films shot in Quebec Black Canadian films Films directed by Robert Morin 2000s Canadian films