PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release



Télé-Québec, in collaboration with Beitel / Lazar Productions, Les Jardins de Métis and Cinéma Quatre, invite you to the avant-première of the documentary Il était deux fois un jardin, on Monday, August 30 at 7:30 pm at the Salle Georges-Beaulieu in the Cégep de Rimouski in Rimouski.

The screening will be followed by a discussion in the presence of the director, Philippe Baylaucq, and the director of the Jardins de Métis, Alexander Reford.

Il était deux fois un jardin (Twice Upon a Garden in the English-language version) is a beautiful film that depicts one of the “great gardens of America” – Les Jardins de Métis. Created by Elsie Reford in the 1920s, and expanded by her great grandson, Alexander Reford, to include the International Garden Festival, the gardens are known for their original and innovative gardens.

Il était deux fois un jardin / Twice upon a garden is an essay on the art in nature and the nature of art. Filmmaker Philippe Baylaucq followed the gardens for two years, capturing their beauty over all four seasons and observing the artisans of the gardens and designers of the International Garden Festival as they toil to bring the gardens to life. We discover the gardens during a memorable winter blizzard, under torrential rains, during quiet summer evenings and the soft evening light of autumn sunsets. The film sways between images of the historic gardens and footage of the contemporary installations of the International Garden Festival where the serenity of the gardens contrasts with the frenzy surrounding the creation of the Festival.

The documentary Il était deux fois un jardin will be broadcast on Monday, September 6 at 9 pm on Télé-Québec as part of the program Questions de société.

The film won the Prix du public at the Montreal International Festival of Films on Art in March. 2010.

The DVD is on sale at the Garden Shop and online from the Gardens website http://www.refordgardens.com/english/online-shop-videos.php.