125 minutes – Drama
Language: French
Festival release date: August 2020 (Beijing International Film Festival)
Release date: April 2, 2021 (Montréal)
Production company: Productions Avenida
Canadian distributor: Les Films Opale
Set in a boarding school for boys in Charlevoix, Québec, it is Christmas 1948. Frère Jean (Sébastien Ricard) is very popular with his young students but not so much with his superiors. With his students, Frère Jean launches a play that explores the hypothesis that Canada was first visited by Vikings in 1000 AD not discovered by Jacques Cartier in 1534. Warned that his ideas run contrary to the official version approved by the Catholic Church, Frère Jean continues to push his theory, convinced that the mythical Vinland, as described by Icelandic explorer Leif Erikson would be located on the Charlevoix coast. He enlists his students, creating Le Club Vinland (The Vinland Club) in a project to locate archaeological evidence of the ancient Norse settlement.
Originally slated for release on April 17, 2020, it had its world premiere at the Beijing International Film Festival in August 2020, before having its North American premiere at the Abitibi-Témiscamingue International Film Festival on October 31, 2020. Sébastien Ricard was given the Best Actor award at the 22nd Quebec Cinema Awards on June 6, 2021.
Chantal Lafleur
Benoit Pilon
Normand Bergeron
Marc Robitaille
François Gamache
Richard Comeau
Guido Del Fabbro
Pierre Lapointe
Patrice Bengle
Louise Tremblay
Francesca Chamberland
Sébastien Ricard
Rémy Girard
François Papineau
Fabien Cloutier
Arnaud Vachon
Xavier Huard
Émilie Bibeau
Guy Thauvette
Alexandre Perreault
Alexis Guay
Xavier Rivard-Désy
Guy Sprung
Jacques Allard
Michel Laperrière
Émile Schneider
Léo Bergeron
Émile Tremblay
Edouard Roy-Frenette
Frère Jean
Frère Léon
Frère Cyprien
Frère Lucien
Émile Lacombe
Frère Mathieu
Marguerite
Frère Rosea
Jérôme Dubé
Chouinard
François
Pr. Thompson
Pr. Dubois
Doyen
Jeune professeur
Viking 1
Viking 2
Viking 3
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First published as Northernstars.net February 1, 1998
ISSN 2563 4895