Zachary Richard, toujours batailleur

Deux nominations – Prix Gémeaux 2017
Prix du Public – Festival internationale du cinéma francophone en Acadie 2016

World renowned singer Zachary Richard is on a quest to understand why Acadians and Cajuns are a resilient people and what is the pertinence of the Acadian identity today. He traces the journey of his heritage through Acadie in the three Maritime provinces of Canada and in Louisiana, trying to uncover how history has shaped his Cajun culture.

Zachary makes surprising discoveries about his own ancestors, the Richard, and the Boudreaux, who developed Acadie for a century and a half, before having to resist against the British occupants and avoiding the deportations of 1755 and 1758. He sets foot for the first time at the sites of lost Acadian villages and of the Acadian refugee camps where his ancestors survived the cold and famine. His fugitive ancestors are finally captured and imprisoned on Georges Island in Halifax, before forming the first massive migration to Louisiana.

Back in Louisiana strongly creolized in the last 250 years, Zachary consults Cajuns on the pertinence of their Acadians origins. Despite the numerous hardships of history, will the “militant” Zachary Richard be able to come to terms with his past, to forgive, and look towards the future?

View the trailer