Director: Eva Kabuya Exec. Producer Marie-Pierre Bellerose Production Company: St Laurent TV, Copyright: HG Distribution, Canada, 8×10′, 2019 Rights: World excluding French Canada
As a dizzying heatwave hits Montreal and throws the city into a state of general torpor, eight residents of the Saint-Henri neighbourhood fall prey to events that reason cannot explain. Dog Days is an anthological series that pays homage to Saint-Henri’s inhabitants, in a fully-changing neighbourhood. This romantic drama, crossed by timeless characters and places, is an ode to love and to Saint-Henri. A veritable doorway to the intimate lives of its inhabitants, the series is based on a coherent universe dotted with dreamlike elements.
In her book The Tin Flute (original French title Bonheur d’occasion, “secondhand happiness”) from 1945, author Gabrielle Roy made her readers discover what she had seen in Saint-Henri during the 1940s. In the following decades, Saint-Henri has become an area of cultural melting pot, to which the black community significantly contributed. Absent in the book, black people have inhabited the neighbourhood since the 19th century.
Thus, as a wink to the original work, Amours d’occasion uses the neighbourhood as a setting but propels the story into a new dimension, painting a portrait of today’s Saint-Henri through all its inhabitants. Going further than serving as an ornament, Saint-Henri becomes a character in its own right and comes to life in the eyes of each character.
Mireille Metellus (Afterwards, White Skin) is Louise, Karina Aktouf (Les Casablancais, Le Gentleman) is Hind and newcomer Audrey Roger (Slut in a Good Way) is Djamina in this multi-award-winning tv series from Quebec.
