Debut of film trailer ‘Lac Mégantic: This Is Not an Accident,’ From Oscar Nominee Philippe Falardeau

Variety.com, By Leo Barraclough, March 28, 2023.

Academy Award-nominated director Philippe Falardeau (“Monsieur Lazhar,” “My Salinger Year”) will present his documentary series “Lac Mégantic: This Is Not an Accident” at Canneseries as its world premiere, followed by its North American premiere at Hot Docs as part of the Deep Dive category. Variety debuts its heart-breaking trailer here (see below).

In the four-part series, Falardeau investigates one of the worst oil train tragedies in history; a foreseeable catastrophe ignited by corporate and political negligence.

Almost 10 years ago, on July 6, 2013, a devastating tragedy occurred in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, when a runaway train derailed in the heart of this idyllic town. Within seconds, six million liters of Bakken oil explode, killing everyone in its vicinity, and incinerating downtown.

At the heart of this series are the survivors who share their most intimate stories of lost loved ones and the string of injustices they’ve faced since that summer night. Yet, the steps needed to prevent another Lac-Mégantic tragedy are still not in place.

“It was extremely important to me to give a voice and a face to the people of Lac-Mégantic, who not only suffered a massive tragedy, but have been reliving the trauma over the past 10 years as the powers-that-be continue to make negligent decisions that affect their everyday lives,” said Falardeau.

“Unfortunately Lac-Mégantic is not an isolated event. Even though this tragedy shocked the world and prompted widespread calls for greater safety measures, current events show that little has been done to avoid these types of transportation disasters. Our series is a call to action to bring much needed attention and change, in honor of all of those who lost their lives.”

Following its festival premieres, the French language version of the series begins streaming May 2 on VRAI, with other broadcast announcements to follow.

The series was co-written by Falardeau with Nancy Guerin (“Left Behind America,” “A Sister’s Song,” “Pink Ribbons Inc.”).

It was produced by Annie Sirois (“Can You Hear Me?,” “Last Summer of the Raspberries,” “Escobar Told By His Sons”) for Canadian production company Trio Orange, in collaboration with Quebecor Content, and executive produced by Carlos Soldevila.

It was created with the support of SODEC Quebec, Quebecor Fund, Rogers Documentary Fund and Canada Media Fund.