Snack Bar Rhapsody takes a patient, unobtrusive look at the Snack Bar/Canteen as a Quebec cultural object. Nicolas Paquet's approach is based on the simplicity of day-to-day life, through the characters he clearly cares about and their daily practices. This documentary reflects the director's approach to filming in small, microcosm-like settings that allow us to cast our minds further ahead… a world away from the race for the best-fried potato! Starting with the imagery of the familiar - with two spaces known as canteens - the filmmaker skilfully and patiently provides access to two social contexts that are more different than one might think at first glance. In the first, set in a Kamouraska village far removed from stereotypical coastal landscapes, we find a counter with local regulars whom the owner, Micheline, knows and welcomes with warmth and friendliness. The second place, valiantly run by Nathalie, attracts the attention of the many tourists passing through, offering a canteen with the aesthetics of the pretty roadside shack near Tadoussac. As the story unfolds, we discover complex, nuanced, and even competing conjunctures, revealing the plurality of trajectories that make up the contemporary rural world.
 

Karina Soucy
Producer

In collaboration with