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Madwoman of God

This feature-length film tells the story of the passion between Marie de l’Incarnation, a mid-seventeenth-century nun and God, her "divine spouse." Fusing documentary and acting by Marie Tifo, whom we follow as she rehearses for this demanding role, the film paints an astonishing portrait of this mystic who abandoned her son and left France to build a convent in Canada, where she became the first female writer in New France.

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This feature-length film tells the story of the passion between Marie de l’Incarnation, a mid-seventeenth-century nun and God, her "divine spouse." Fusing documentary and acting by Marie Tifo, whom we follow as she rehearses for this demanding role, the film paints an astonishing portrait of this mystic who abandoned her son and left France to build a convent in Canada, where she became the first female writer in New France.

  • cast
    Marie Tifo
    Lorraine Pintal
    Dominique Deslandres
    Gabrielle, Soeur Noëlle
    Aline Apostolska
    Bernard Keating
    Marguerite, Soeur Chénard
    François Vincent
    Jacques Lacoursière
    Louise Courville
    Marie Chouinard
  • research
    Jean-Daniel Lafond
  • research assistant
    Mylène Béliveau
  • writer
    Jean-Daniel Lafond
  • director
    Jean-Daniel Lafond
  • producer
    Jean-Daniel Lafond
    Johanne Bergeron
    Yves Bisaillon
  • editor
    Babalou Hamelin
  • director of photography
    Michel La Veaux
  • camera assistant
    Philippe Arsenault
    Ugo Brochu
    François Gamache
  • lighting
    Steve Renaud
  • location sound
    Marcel Chouinard
    Normand Lapierre
    Pierre Bouchard
  • sound design
    Stéphane Larivière
  • sound design assistant
    Guillaume Daoust
    Sylvain Richard
  • music design
    Louise Courville
  • music - performance
    Louise Courville
    Lyne Lavigueur
    Isabelle Marchand
  • makeup
    Brigitte Bilodeau
  • set decorator
    Claude Gasser
  • production manager
    Yannick Savard
  • assistant production manager
    Jacinthe Lauzier
    Doris Lapierre
  • location photographer
    Michel La Veaux
    Yan Turcotte
  • production assistant
    Philippe David Gagné
    David Giasson
    Jean-Sébastien Lambert
    Catherine Lavoie
    Raymond Maranda
    André Ouellet
  • driver
    Christian Laberge
  • digital editing
    Phyllis Lewis
    Pierre Dupont
    Martine Forget
  • online editor
    Denis Pilon
  • translation
    Fred Reed
    Christine York
  • subtitles
    Christine York
  • titles
    Gaspard Gaudreau
  • foley
    Lise Wedlock
  • foley recording
    Luc Léger
  • music recording
    Luc Léger
    Sylvain Cajelais
  • voice recording
    Audio Postproduction SPR Inc.
    Geoffrey Mitchell
  • re-recording
    Serge Boivin
  • marketing officer
    Julie Arseneault
    Jenny Thibault
  • marketing officer - assistance
    Solen Labrie Trépanier
  • administration
    Denise DesLauriers
    Johanne Dubuc
  • administrative team
    Mirabelle Bélanger
    Dominique Brunet
    Lise Lévesque
  • production coordinator
    Hélène Regimbal
  • technical coordinator
    Jean-François Laprise
  • associate producer
    Maryse Chapdelaine
  • executive producer
    Yves Bisaillon

Education

Ages 15 to 17

Notes

How was Marie de l’Incarnation different from her religious contemporaries, especially in her attitudes toward Native people? The actress who plays the role of Marie de l’Incarnation consults a number of people to help her: historians, a singer, a dancer, and so on. Does this help us better understand history? Have students pick a historical figure and attempt to “decode” that person from a physical and emotional perspective.

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Madwoman of God
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