The Negro (film)


The Negro is a Canadian drama film, directed by Robert Morin and released in 2002. An examination of racism, the film centres on a police officer in a small Quebec town who is trying to reconstruct, through the conflicting testimony of witnesses and participants, the events of the night before, when the petty vandalism of a woman's lawn jockey escalated within a few hours to the woman being found dead and the young Black Canadian suspected of committing the vandalism having been viciously beaten in a field.
The film's original title, equivalent in French to "the nigger", was controversial, with a Black youth group in Montreal demanding that the film's title and promotional poster be changed. Morin, however, defended his choice to use a controversial title, stating that "If it stirs up some controversy, then at least people will be talking about racism."
The film's cast includes Iannicko N'Doua-Légaré, Béatrice Picard, Robin Aubert, Vincent Bilodeau, Sandrine Bisson, René-Daniel Dubois and Dorothée Berryman.

Awards

The film was named to the Toronto International Film Festival's year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2002.
The film received four Genie Award nominations at the 23rd Genie Awards in 2003: Best Original Screenplay, Best Costume Design, Best Editing and Best Art Direction or Production Design.
The film received three Prix Jutra nominations, for Best Direction, Best Screenplay and Best Editing. Dufour won the award for Best Editing.