Duplessis' Orphans

In the 1950s, young boys placed in orphanages endured harsh and austere living conditions day after day. Forming a united group, they support each other and survive despite bullying, deprivation and little hope of better days. While these children survive as best they can, they have no way of suspecting or being aware of the secret negotiations between the clergy, the medical profession and the government, which will seal their destinies. Faced with the precarious financial situation of the institution, the solution is to transform the orphanage into a psychiatric institute in order to obtain additional subsidies. To demonstrate the need for this change in status, the orphans are labeled as crazy by the very people who took them in to help them. While their future as orphans was precarious, they become prisoners of an asylum system from which they have little hope of being able to free themselves even as they age.

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0 trackers | Status: Ended | Airs on Radio-Canada | Sunday 8:00 PM