QAHN’S first annual “Scandal Makers” Online Film Festival

A new series for the new year

The Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network (QAHN) is virtually launching its world premier of a new series of its popular mini cemetery documentaries called “Scandal Makers.” The first series, presented in 2020, features the stories of some of the more disreputable characters of the past buried in rural cemetery sites in the Eastern Townships’ Missisquoi County. In this new series, viewers will enjoy seeing local historians visit the graves of legendary or notorious folks in graveyards found in Compton and Stanstead counties.

QAHN’S mission to protect and preserve the history and heritage of Quebec includes the historic and often abandoned cemeteries that are found in the rural landscape across the province.

“The documentaries are a way of keeping the past from fading away by continuing to tell the stories of the dearly (or infamously) departed,” says project director Heather Darch. “The words ‘beloved mother or father’ hardly tell the full story of a life, and most of us pass by graveyards never knowing the stories of the people laid to rest there. It’s people like Kathy Curtis from the Colbycurtis Museum, local historians like Anne Leydet or QAHN’S president Grant Myers who help keep those stories buried beneath tombstones and inside mausoleums from disappearing.”

The goal of the documentary films is to engage the communities that are situated near the sites in the care and protection of the cemeteries. Bringing an awareness to the sites and the stories they hold helps people to discover aspects about their community they might otherwise never know. It is hoped that the series can serve to educate people about the importance of protecting these sites and seeing them as important to a community’s past and Quebec’s history in general.

“We want to make the documentaries entertaining, but they are also factual and well-researched stories so that we can bring local stories to life,” says Darch.

QAHN’S Executive Director

Matthew Farfan, who originally conceptualized the idea of creating films in heritage cemeteries, emphasizes that it is “important to bring to life the long-silenced voices of those who came before us. These were real people with jobs, families and lives who not only had joy and successes in life, but who also endured pain and misfortune, and in some cases scandal. I think they can offer lessons that we can still learn from today.”

The live event will feature opening remarks from both Darch and Farfan with special guests Kathy Curtis, Anne Leydet and Grant Myers, the featured stars of the documentaries. Following the films, viewers will have the opportunity to participate in a live virtual discussion and Q&A.

The online launch takes place on Sunday Jan. 23, 2022. Everyone is welcome and viewers can access the event live by going to QAHN’S public Facebook page (no need to have one of your own) at 1 p.m. at www.facebook. com/qahncanada or on Zoom by registering on the link found on the

Facebook page.

For more information, please contact QAHN home@qahn.org or by calling the office at 819-564-9595/Toll free 1-877-964-0409 or by visiting the website at www.qahn.org