SPECIAL MENTION:  MARCEL TRUDEL
Proclaimed the "Dean of Canadian Historian", Marcel Trudel does not appear in the film, but his monumental work has been the inspiration for this documentary, and also for the historians appearing in the film. We are all indebted for his body of work and the courage he demonstrated for the publication of one of his more important books, L’esclavage au Canada français, re-published under its new title Deux siècles d'esclavage au Québec (2004). We are happy that Mr. Trudel had the opportunity to see the film Black Hands – Trial of The Arsonist Slave before he passed away on January 11th, 2011, at the age of 93.

Marcel Trudel
(Historian)

Mr. Trudel originally wanted to become a novelist, but became instead a historian.  While completing his Doctorate in Literature, his thesis, L'influence de Voltaire au Canada (1945), led him through historical references available at that time.  However, he found those references too patriotic and biased to be considered scientific and useful for his research.  After his first novel, Vézine (winner of the David Award) in 1946, Marcel Trudel decided to share his findings by publishing several volumes on the history of Canada, the first being Louis XVI, le congrès américain et le Canada, 1774-1789. It was the beginning of a very long continuation of uninterrupted work, bringing to light what really happened in New France.  Trudel wanted to expurgate the history books of empiric visions, that came off as patriotic and pious.  His work attracted critiques from his peers because the truth that he discovered did not always show the Quebec national heroes in a flattering light nor convey the long-held beliefs of Quebec history. Trudel taught at Carleton University and also was a professor and director of the History Department at the University of Ottawa, before being named “Outstanding Professor” when he retired at the age of 65. Trudel left behind a very important work highlighting the important and not well-known history of New France.  He wrote over fifty publications and contributed to the writing of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.

Denyse Beaugrand-Champagne
(Historian)

Denyse Beaugrand-Champagne is a historian, specializing in written, iconographic and sound archives research. She is a member of the advisory committee of researchers for the National Archives of Quebec. She has been a consultant for several institutions like the Canadian Museum of Civilization, le Ministère de la Culture et des Communications, Canadian Centre for Architecture, the Montreal Museum of Archeology and History. She also collaborated on many television productions like the series Origines on Historia channel and Le Canada, une histoire populaire on Radio-Canada. Her expertise spans two subjects:  New France and slavery.  For her book Le Procès de Marie-Josephe Angélique (Editions Libre Expression, 2004), Denyse went through several procedural documents of the 1734 trial, one of the most important events of Montreal’s rich history.

Paul Fehmiu-Brown
(Historian)

An author and historian specializing in slavery in Canada, Paul Fehmiu-Brown has written several books including Marie-Josèphe Angélique and Inventeurs et héros noirs. Born in Nova-Scotia, his family has had roots in Canada for nine generations. He was under the mentorship of author and historian Marcel Trudel, who, in 1960, put down the first paving stone in telling the truth, by reporting that there were approximately 4000 slaves in New France:  1600 Blacks and 2500 Amerindians. That discovery was unique because for a long time, past historians denied the existence of slavery in French Canada and insisted that the French Catholics did not allow slavery.  Since this research, Paul Fehmiu Brown continued the work of his mentor, by focusing his interest on the presence of Blacks in Canada of the time, by trying to recount individuals who made their marks during the New France era, among them being the slave Marie-Josèphe Angélique. He currently teaches at the University of Quebec in Montreal and was a consultant for the award winning film Black Soul by Martine Chartrand.

David Bureau
(Guide)

Holding a Degree in History, David Bureau worked at the Centre d’Histoire of Montréal as a historian, guide and presenter.  In the streets of the Old Montreal, he conducted the pedestrian circuit, re-telling the story of Angélique and her contemporaries by tracing the steps of key characters of that time. The Centre d’Histoire of Montréal is a museum that presented an exposition on the trial of Marie-Josèphe Angélique. This event challenged the visitors to find who was really guilty of burning Montreal on April 10th, 1734, which destroyed Hotel-Dieu hospital and more than forty houses.

Dorothy Williams
(Historian)

Historian Dorothy Williams is a Montrealer who founded Ethnocultural Diffusions, a non-profit organization, to collect the oral history of Blacks in Montreal and Blacbiblio.com, a business dedicated to the enumeration and on-line dissemination of Canadian research sources. Dorothy has a Master's in History, and is a doctorate in Library and Information Studies from McGill University (her dissertation research was on the history of Black printed publications in Montreal between 1934-2002). Dorothy has written two books devoted to the history of Blacks in Montreal: Blacks in Montreal: 1628-1986 An Urban Demography and The Road to Now: A History of Blacks in Montreal. The latter remains the only chronological study of Blacks on the island of Montreal. Dorothy has been awarded The Mathieu da Costa Award by the Black Coalition of Quebec, and has been featured on the Black History Month Calendar. In 2000 she won the E. J. Josey Scholarship for academic excellence, from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. On November 25, 2002, the government of Quebec awarded Dorothy Le Prix Québécois de la citoyenneté 2002 for “The Anne-Greenup Prize for the fight against racism and the promotion of civic participation”.

Pascal Brullemans
(Playwright)

Since completing his training in dramatic writing at the National theatre school of Canada, Pascal Brullemans is currently working on his parallel careers of playwright and screenwriter in multimedia, for which he has won many awards. Brullemans has collaborated several times with theatre director Eric Jean, including their adaptation of La dame aux camélias, performed by  Les Têtes Heureuses (Chicoutimi), theatre company. They received  a Masque Award for Best Play of Montreal.  Hippocampe, produced by Quat’Sous Theatre, won the Montreal Critic Award in 2002.  In addition to attracting a younger audience with the play L’armoire, Pascal wrote in 2005 Les mystères de Quat'Sous as well as Cuerpos extraños, performed in Mexico by the Cuatro Milpa theatre company. In 2009, Pascal Brullemans wrote Black Hands, a play which relates the last moments in the life of Angélique. His most recent work, Beauté, Chaleur et Mort is a un autobiographical play described as “powerful” by the Quebec press.

Peter Batakliev
(Stage Director)

Born in Bulgaria, Batakiev made his debut in theatre at the age of 16 years old.  He entered the National Academy of Theatre and Cinema in Sofìa, Bulgaria, and worked in many professional theatre companies in his homeland.  He left Bulgaria in 1990 for Canada, and after years of continuing to shape his craft between the North American cities of  St-John’s, Toronto and New York, he decided to make Montreal his home.  As an actor, he has worked with several renowned playwrights and theatre directors including Alexandre Marine, Wajdi Mouawad, Yves Desgagnés and Claude Poissant. With his interpretation of Lucke in the play En attendant Godot  produced by the Centaur Theatre, Peter won the Revelation of the Year Award for 1998-1999, given by the English Critic Circle. As a theatre director, Batakiev directed different plays including: Le colonel oiseau, Panique à Longueuil, Piège pour un homme seul, Peer Gynt, La dernière nuit de Socrate and several shows with the Ondinnok theatre company.  Peter Batakliev currently teaches and manages interpretation workshops at the National Theatre School of Canada, le Conservatoire d'Art Dramatique du Québec and at l’École Supérieure de Théâtre of the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQÀM).

Tetchena Bellange
(Character: Slave Marie-Josèphe Angélique)

Ever since Tetchena got her first principal role in the French-Canadian movie The Boys III (one of the box-office smash hits in Canada), she has been steadily building a career of impressive versatility. Gifted in drama and comedy, Tetchena has played in more than thirty projects, including feature films, commercials and TV series, in English and French. People love working with her. Tetchena starred in movies and TV series such as “Day after tomorrow” with Dennis Quaid, “Rumors” (Radio- Canada) and “Naked Josh” (O Channel, Showtime). In both seasons of “Da kink in my hair” on CanWest-Global television, she plays Claudette, the nasty rival of Letty. Tetchena has also played opposite Quebec’s star Pierre Lebeau in Roger Cantin’s latest movie “Cargo for Africa”. Passionate about storytelling, Tetchena writes, directs and produces projects she deeply cares about. For her directing and producing profiles, please consult the appropriate menus.

Franck Sylvestre
(Character: Hangman Mathieu Léveillé)

Being a storyteller and actor, Franck Sylvestre has toured different schools for 15 years telling stories and giving music workshops.  He takes part in almost all the fairy tale festivals in Quebec.  In 2010, Sylvestre produced and wrote the show La vengeance de Mocté Zuma, mixing fairy tale, theater and masks. From 2007 to 2010, he acted in La Croisée des Mots, a play produced by Les Deux Mondes Theatre.  In 2009, Franck was cast in Black Hands, from Decalage Theatre.  In 2010, he was in Macbeth produced by The Other Theatre.  In cinema, he appeared in the box office smash Elvis Gratton 2 and Sortie 67, directed by Jephté Bastien. In 2008, he was a narrator in the CD version of the book Contes d’Afrique (Planète Rebelle). In 2009, Franck wrote a fairy tale in the compilation book Contes Verts for Planète Bleue (Michel Brûlé).  In 2010, he wrote and recorded the audio book Contes du Ciel et de la Terre (Planète Rebelle).

Sonia Gadbois
(Character: Thérèse de Couagne, named la Veuve de Francheville)

A graduate of Cegep de St-Hyacinthe, and holding a Degree in Literary Studies from (UQÀM), Sonia Gadbois is an actress and a puppeteer.  She works in theatre (Black Hands, Peer Gynt, Le Marchand de Sable), dubbing (Vampire Suck, Transformers II, Les Décalés du cosmo, Amazing Race) and has appeared in several commercials.  Her credits also include roles in television and cinema.  Since 2004, she often tours the world with Theatre Sans Fil which has produced plays in several countries including Canada, United States, China, Spain and Mexico.  For 10 years, she worked in cultural management and productions of many shows.  Sonia also does pyrotechnical work and writing contracts.

Sounia Balha
(Character : Slave Marie-Manon)

After graduating from the National School of Theatre in 2008, Sounia was cast in several theatre plays including: Trois histoires de mer, L’apprentie and Black Hands directed by Peter Batakliev. She took part in several readings under the direction of Robert Bellefeuille, Arianna Bardesono, Marcelle Dubois for Never Lu and Alice Ronfard for the CEAD. She does not hesitate to work hard in projects in which she believes in.  She is co-founder of the Theatre AXE.  Their first production: Toccate et fugue, a unique show created for the elderly population living in old-age homes.  Sounia has also been cast in the highly rated Quebec television shows Les Hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin and Les Rescapés.  She will next be seen in the play N’habbek - Je t’aime written by Louis-Dominique Lavigne and in Correspondances, directed by  Marcelle Dubois. 

Nicolas Germain-Marchand
(Character: Judge Pierre Raimbeault)

Since graduating from the National School of Theatre in 2006, Nicolas has been cast in several plays, some of which have toured the province of Quebec.  He was seen in Les Petits Urbains, a fairy tale play written and directed by Yvan Bienvenue. He was also in three productions presented by Théâtre de l’œil:  La Cité des Loups, Ah, la vache! and Un Autre Monde.  The latter two plays were presented in English for the 2009-2010 Canadian Tour.  Nicolas was cast in Black Hands by Théâtre Décalage, Odyssées de l'Espace from Vaisseau d'Or Theatre and Mouton Noir by Chant'amuse Theatre. From 2007 to 2009, Nicolas was in the play Persée produced by Pire Espèce Theatre, where he had the opportunity to travel in Europe and Mexico during the tour.  The play was performed in French and Spanish.  Finally, in the play Nous étions une fois produced by Douze à Table Theatre, Nicolas made his debut as a playwright and interpreted his own text.

Daniel Desputeau
(Character: Treasurer François Bérey des Essars)

After studying at the University of Quebec in Montreal in 1989, Daniel has worked with several theatre directors including Claude Poissant, Jean-Pierre Ronfard and Robert Gravel.  He also nabbed roles in the Quebec TV series Minuit le soir, Rumeurs and feature films Gaz, Bar, Blues; Les sept jours du Talion.  He is also the creator, writer and actor in the TV series États Humains airing on ARTV.

Guillaume Cyr
(Character: Soldier Jean-Joseph Haugard)

Since graduating from the National School of Theatre in 2007, Guillaume has been seen in several productions such as Zorro produced by Picouille Theatre, Abraham Lincoln va au théâtre produced by theatre Petit à Petit, the trilogy of Pour en finir avec Shakespeare, Feydeau and Alexis Martin.  Recently, he was cast in L’Opéra de 4 sous at the TNM.  On Quebec television, Guillaume was cast in les Hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin, les Rescapés and la Galère. He was also seen in the following films:  Nos jours heureux, Babine, les Grandes Chaleurs, Aurélie Laflamme and Fatal.