La famille Fermanian

In 1948, penniless immigrant Philip Fermanian opened the Cinema Pine in Saint-Adèle, a movie theatre that would hold a unique place in the North American film industry.

In this book, author Stéphane Desjardins tells the story of the Fermanian family, whose patriarch left Turkey during the Armenian genocide of the 1920s and settled in the Pays-d’en-Haut, where he hoped to farm the land. Stuck with a rocky plot of land, the Fermanians had to earn a living by the sweat of their brow and reinvented themselves by selling produce.

The story takes an unexpected turn when a young woman from Saint-Adèle named Aurore (you cannot make this stuff up), accepts to marry Philip Fermanian on one condition: he will open a movie theatre. Their union produces two sons, only one of whom, Tom, will survive. Tom grows up in the family apartment above the movie theatre, his childhood resembling that of the Salvatore character in the film Cinema Paradiso.

The Fermanians’ story evokes various important events in Saint-Adèle’s history, and the author’s references to the films shown at The Pine are a nod to the film industry and its stars.