The man who planted trees: TOHU celebrates the centenary of Frédéric Back

The painter, illustrator and director Frédéric Back, known in particular for his Oscar-winning short film The man who planted trees, would have been 100 years old on April 8. For the occasion, TOHU is offering several free activities this summer surrounding the artist’s work with an environmental message.

The celebrations will kick off on Thursday under the TOHU Big Top, where the public is expected from 7 p.m., alongside Frédéric Back’s former colleagues. Among them, Hubert Tison, founder of the Radio-Canada animation studio, where Mr. Back worked from 1968 to 1993, making ten short films for the public broadcaster.

His son Christian Back and environmentalist Laure Waridel, spokesperson for the event, will also be present to pay tribute to the man who won two Oscars for animated short films. Crack! (1981) and The man who planted trees (1987), inspired by the short story of the same name written by Jean Giono in 1953.

An environmental activist before his time

This film made entirely with wax pencil, which has been translated into several languages, features a 55-year-old shepherd named Elzéard Bouffier, who dedicates his life to planting trees in the desert valleys of the Alps of Provence, reforesting patiently a place where life had long since retreated.

The man who planted trees, who marked our collective imagination here in Quebec, but also elsewhere in the world”,”text”:”The work of Frédéric Back has marked many environmentalists and many citizens who had a taste for commitment by seeing his film The Man Who Planted Trees, which left its mark on our collective imagination here in Quebec, but also elsewhere in the world”}}”>The work of Frédéric Back has left its mark on many environmentalists and many citizens who have had a taste for commitment by seeing his film in particular. The man who planted treeswhich marked our collective imagination here in Quebec, but also elsewhere in the worldexplains Laure Waridel.

It is a work that touched me so much that I would even say that it transformed me. To see this character, who in many ways resembles Back in his tenacity, his simplicity and his modesty, transform an entire valley, it’s as if it creates hope of being able to change the world.

Thursday evening will begin with a series of tributes to Back from Back’s friends, colleagues and loved ones. The two Oscar-winning short films will then be presented, with excerpts from the documentary Frédéric Back : full-scale. The public can reserve places for the evening free of charge on the TOHU website. (New window).

Activities all summer

The festivities surrounding Mr. Back’s centennial will continue until September, with conferences on climate change, workshops on urban gardening and free screenings of his short films at the Center des arts de la Maison d’Haïti .

Several activities will be held in Frédéric-Back Park adjacent to TOHU, a former landfill site whose transformation is closely linked to the artist’s environmental approach. When the park was inaugurated and dedicated to his memory, it was a great moment because it was a place that was inaccessible, polluted and toxicexplains the artist’s son, Christian Back.

Citizens’ rehabilitation efforts have made it possible to recreate a natural space in a densely populated neighborhood. I find that it ties in with the themes of several of his films.

Multidisciplinary artist Dominique Desbiens will also create a large mural in homage to the man on the containers surrounding the entrance to TOHU. Citizens of the Saint-Michel district are also invited to add their own brushstroke between July 22 and 27.

In the same spirit, visual artist Guylaine Chevarie-Lessard painted giant canvases inspired by the work of Frédéric Back, which will be exhibited in the Desjardins hall of TOHU on September 18. The opening in formula 5 to 7 will be followed by a conference by Frédéric Back’s biographer, Hélène Jasmin.

Another date to remember: September 1, a day of family activities. On the menu, among other things: a theatrical journey through the trees by the Toxique Trottoir troupe, ecological tales with the Storytellers for Hire and the circus show The crinoline with hatsfrom the Marguerite à bicyclette troupe, which won two awards from the Conseil des arts de Montréal last April.

The complete program of activities surrounding the centenary of Frédéric Back is available on the TOHU website (New window).