J a c q u e l i n e N u w a m e E v e n t i d e M e d i a w w w . e v e n t i d e m e d i a . c o m4 1 6 - 5 3 3 - 0 1 4 9

E r i c J o r d a nT h e F i l m W o r k s

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c o n t a c t :

1 x 90 minDramatic History / Forensic InvestigationHD Widescreen

ANGELIQUE!The slave who burned Montreal

On the night of Saturday, April 10, 1734, Montreal burned. It started with a spark in the attic of a

wealthy widow’s home, then, erupted into an inferno. Within a few hours, the commercial center

of New France -hub of the North American fur trade-was reduced to smouldering ashes.

Was it arson? If so, who did it and why?

Before the night was through, a 27-year-old black slave woman named Mary-Joseph Angelique

was accused. She denied it, but rumour held that she did it to kill her mistress and escape with

her French lover.

Three officers of the crown are assigned the case and, over the next two-and-a-half months, they

conduct a detailed investigation that includes interviews with the accused and with the 25 men,

women and children who would testify against her. It was the most sensational trial of its day;

culminating in the conviction, torture and public hanging of Angelique.

But, did she do it? It’s time to take a second look.

ANGELIQUE! will combine dramatic reenactment of the events with a modern forensic investigation

by a team of legal experts, historians and crime-scene specialists to piece together the clues

and figure out what really happened on the night of April 10, 1734; and why.

As the scientists pick apart the details of the fire, the Historians and Lawyers unravel the story as

recorded in the trial. And, what begins as a simple crime-scene investigation, uncovers what is

believed to be the oldest recorded slave narrative in North America; revealing the untold history

of slavery in Canada.

We’ll come to see that the original trial was a farce. The conviction was based on nothing more

than hearsay and dubious accounts by “witnesses” who had their own secrets to hide.

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There’s the neighbour who claimed he tried to put out the fire but actually fled like acriminal,

allowing the flames to spread. There’s accounts by children as young as 5 yearsold and by

slaves whose words do not seem to be their own.

The widow, Mme Francheville, is portrayed as meek, childless, and vulnerable. In fact, she

was a powerful, hard-nosed businesswoman known to violently abuse her slave. Some say she

suspected Angelique slept with her husband and bore his children.

Our investigation takes us through the streets of old Montreal to the scene of the crime. Inside the

Francheville estate we discover that behind the veneer of impartial justice was a seething conflict

between masters and slaves. All of them had a motive to see Montreal burn.

Here, most slaves are Native. A year earlier, Sir Francheville led the genocidal slaughter of the

Fox people. The few survivors were sold into slavery, extending their life by an average of 18

months. This was their punishment for resisting his expanding trade in fur.

Next are the white indentured servants. Angelique’s European lover was an angry man. After

France had conquered his homeland, he was forced into 5 years of military service conquering

other lands for a king he despised. Once released, he had no option but to offer Mme Francheville

his indentured service; and bide time to plan his escape.

At the center of it all is Mary-Joseph Angelique; a black woman who was born into slavery but

refused to accept it. Her journey from Portugal to the new world is traceable by bills of sale;

her baptism to Christianity; and by the birth and death of her children. But, it is through the trial

documents, the transcripts of her own words, that we come to know her courageous and defiant

personality.

We learn of her previous attempts to escape with her lover, of her dreams for a life of freedom.

We hear the intelligence of her reasoning, her wit, and her refusal to confess. However, there are

Royal forces that will not be denied. The colonial governor, himself an owner of several slave

plantations in the Caribbean, requires a theatrically appropriate conclusion to the trial. So, on

Monday, June 12, the final interrogation begins. This time, Mathieu Leveille, himself a black

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a black slave is assigned to extract Angelique’s confession by torture. Her legs are placed in

wooden “boots” and smashed with a hammer until the bones crack and she finally confesses to

arson.

Yet, nothing they can do will make her implicate her lover. We learn that on the night of the

fire, they were together briefly; then, he disappeared into the thick smoke and was never seen

again.

If Angelique felt betrayed by her lover we will never know, only that she refused to name him

–even under the most extraordinary torture- refusing to betray the quest for freedom they had

shared.

Meanwhile, our crime-scene investigators have constructed a live experiment. They believe it

will demonstrate that the inferno of 1734 was not caused by arson. It was due to the illegal

construction practices of the Montreal merchants themselves. The fire could have started in

another house nearby.

Our ends as Angelique -bloody, broken, and near death- is wheeled in a garbage-cart to the

scaffold. She is hanged before a crowd of unrepentant onlookers. Her body burned; her ashes

blown to the wind.

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The Production Team:

Eric Jordan, Executive Producer

The Film Works:

The Film Works is an independent production company founded by partners Paul Stephens and

Eric Jordan. The company has earned an outstanding reputation for entertaining, innovative,

premium drama in both feature film and television.

The Film Works’ most recent feature film is Beowulf & Grendel, a powerful historical epic based

on the poem, Beowulf, starring Gerard Butler and Stellan Skarsgard. (See beowulfandgrendel.

com) This Canada-UK-Iceland co-production was released across Canada and the U.S. in 2006.

In 2002 The Film Works produced Julie Walking Home (Miranda Otto, William Fichtner), an

international co-production from acclaimed writerdirector Agnieszka Holland, which premiered at

the 2002 Venice International Film Festival. Also premiering in 2002 was Canadian director David

Sutherland’s Love, Sex and Eating The Bones (Hill Harper) which won Best First Feature

at the Toronto International Film Festival. Earlier features include the film adaptation of Rohinton

Mistry’s Such a Long Journey ( Roshan Seth, Om Puri, Ranjit Chowdry), a Canada-UK co-

production and multiple Genie Award winner, and two features by acclaimed writer-director

Clement Virgo, Love Come Down (Larenz Tate, Sarah Polley, Deborah Cox) and The Planet

of Junior Brown (Lynn Whitfield, Margot Kidder, Sarah Polley), which won the Grand Prize at

the Urban World Film Festival in New York. Our first feature was Ganesh: Ordinary Magic,

directed by Giles Walker, winner of the Grand Prize at the Frankfurt Kinderfest.

The Film Works started production in 1980 with Spirit Bay, the first North American television

series with an all Native cast, starring Graham Greene, Tantoo Cardinal and Gary Farmer. Spirit

Bay was broadcast on networks around the world. The Film Works’ first television movie, Where

the Spirit Lives, produced for CBC and PBS American Playhouse, was also broadcast

worldwide, winning more than twenty international awards, including the Gemini Award for Best

Television Movie. Life With Billy captured the TV Movie Prize at the San Francisco Film Festival.

The Arrow, a mini-series starring Dan Aykroyd, won the Chrysler Award for the Most Popular

Canadian TV Program, and six Gemini awards. Cowboys and Indians: The Killing of JJ

Harper, starring Adam

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Beach, premiered on the CBC and Starz. Other outstanding TV credits include Lyddie, a family

film for CBC and BBC, On My Mind, a children’s series for international television, and the

documentary series, Working Animals, for Discovery Channel.

The Film Works continues to work with outstanding writers, directors and international

partners to develop and produce remarkable feature films.

Jacqueline Nuwame, ProducerEventide Media:

Jacqueline Nuwame has nearly a decade of experience in media production and has held several

senior positions in both Television and New Media. Currently she is Interactive Project Lab Mentor

at the Canadian Film Centre’s Habitat New Media Lab. Prior to this position, she was the Director

of Communications at DECODE Entertainment Inc. In addition to her award-winning portfolio of

television and multimedia work, she has a broad range of experience in entertainment and new

media, marketing, as well as corporate communications.

Selected production credits include:

� Naturally Sadie (Season One) 26x22 mins. – Disney Channel and Family Channel

� Radio Free Roscoe (Season One & Two) 52x22 mins. – The N (Nickelodeon Digital

Channel) Family Channel

� The Blobheads (Season One) 26x22 – Nickelodeon International, CBC

� Be The Creature (Season One & Two) 26 x 40 mins. - The National Geographic

Channel US, CBC

� The Zack Files (Season One & Two) 52 x 22 mins. – Fox Family Channel, YTV

� Angela Anaconda (Season Two & Three) 65 x 22 – Fox Family Channel, Teletoon

Jacqueline Nuwame is also very involved in the Canadian production industry and is a

sought after guest speaker, recent panels include:

Session Producer – Just Kids,

Banff World Television Festival 2005

Panelist – Soundtrack Promotion, OMDC-NXNE Music Festival 2005

Panelist – WIFT, Marketing and New Media 2004

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Panelist – Digital Eve, Business Forum 2003

Panelist – OMDC Media Business Forum 2003

Judge New Media – Advertising – New York Festivals 2003

Presenter – Interactive Screen – Banff Centre of the Arts 2002

Panelist – ReelWorld Film Festival 2002

Clement VirgoDirector

Clément Virgo is an award -winning filmmaker of international acclaim whose credits span

directing, writing, and producing. Clement came to Canada from Jamaica at the age of 11. He

honed his visual sensibility at the renowned Norman Jewison Canadian Film Centre for ,Advanced

Film Studies.

Director: Feature Films

1. Poor Boy’s Game (2006)

2. Lie with Me (2005)

3. Love Come Down (2000)

4. One Heart Broken Into Song (1999) TV

5. The Planet of Junior Brown (1997)

6. Rude (1995)

7. Save My Lost Nigga Soul (1993) Short.

8. Split Second Pullout Technique (1992) Short

9. A Small Dick Fleshy Ass Thang (1991) Short

Writer: Feature Films

1. Poor Boy’s Game (2006)

2. Lie with Me (2005) (screenplay)

3. Love Come Down (2000)

4. The Planet of Junior Brown (1997)

5. Rude (1995)

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