The UTM Department of Modern Foreign Languages will sponsor a Canadian film series. All films will be shown at 7 p.m. in Watkins Auditorium in the UC on campus.

The first film, “Margaret’s Museum,” will be shown March 31. “My Uncle Antoine” (“Mon oncle Antoine”) will be shown April 4 and “The Barbarian Invasions” (“Les Invasions Barbares”) will be shown April 7.

“Margaret’s Museum” is set on the coast of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. It provides an in-depth view of daily life in the 1930s of a small community which cherishes its Scottish traditions and culture. Margaret, the main character, has suffered through the death of her father and her brother, both of whom perished while working as coal miners. She has subsequently developed a hatred for the mines that provide the region’s primary source of economic support. When she finds herself attracted to a charming stranger, Neil, she is happy and relieved to learn that he has no plans to work in the mines. Soon after their marriage, financial difficulties force Neil to go back on his word and return to the mines. Rebelling against the harsh reality which hems her in, Margaret decides to create an unusual museum to show the world the “true price of coal.” This film is in English and will be introduced by Angelina MacKewn, UTM assistant professor.

“My Uncle Antoine” is Claude Jutra’s lyrical masterpiece about the coming-of-age of a 15-year-old boy in a small Quebec village in the eastern townships. It is one of the most influential Canadian films ever made. Jutra filmed “My Uncle Antoine” on location in the backwoods of Quebec, using many of the local inhabitants. The result is a gentle, nostalgic and deeply moving film which contrasts the traditional lifestyles of the Quebecers with the encroachment of the modern industrial world and evokes universal truths about death, fear, love and desire. The film will be shown in French with English subtitles. It will be introduced by Dr. Lucia Florido, UTM assistant professor.

“The Barbarian Invasions” is a film that centers on a dissolute Quebec history professor named Remy, who is diagnosed with terminal cancer. His friends and colleagues, former wife and former lovers gather with him at a lakeside cottage to prepare a gourmet feast and help him depart this world in style. Despite the sad plot, the film is at times funny and heartwarming, as the main character, confronted by his own mortality, passes his career and life in review. This award-winning film was directed by Quebec’s leading filmmaker, Denys Arcand. It will be shown in French with English subtitles and introduced by Dr. Robert Peckham, UTM professor.

The series is free and open to the public. It is funded by the UTM College of Humanities and Fine Arts and by a Canadian Government Program Enhancement Grant.