Arrest, imprisonment without charge, and humiliation during the October Crisis: five victims’ stories that would change Quebec cinema forever.
Blending fiction and documentary, Orders draws on the testimonies of some 50 people imprisoned without charge following the invocation of the War Measures Act in October 1970. Michel Brault recreates the experiences of five of them: a worker and his wife, a doctor, a social worker and an unemployed man. From their arrest to their release, the film sheds light on the humiliation and real human consequences of the October Crisis. A landmark of Quebec cinema, Orders won the Best Director Award at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival.
Orders, Michel Brault, provided by the National Film Board of Canada