The Promised Land

Based on a novel (Nuages sur les brûlés by Hervé Biron) about the colonization of northern Québec during the depressed 1930s, these films relive the toil, hardship and unexpected rewards of the pioneer. Folk-singer Félix Leclerc appears in each episode. Part I: First encounter with the inhospitable wilderness. Clearing a townsite. Part II: Struggles for leadership. Log cabins are built and the womenfolk arrive. Part III: Dangers of frontier life. Forest fire, accident, anxiety about bankruptcy, lack of implements, work. But young romance blossoms. Part IV: Big steps forward. The curé brings in teachers, and is in turn presented with a new, though rough-hewn, church.