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They Had Thirteen Children...
Somewhere in Acadie, there is a little white house where an unusual family used to live. Eight of the thirteen Lirette children had intellectual and physical disabilities. Anika Lirette traces the history of her family as it struggled with the consequences of a genetic disorder, phenylketonuria (PKU), that was still unknown at the time, but that is today easy to control through diet. In a Catholic society that condemned birth control, and at a time when medical services were virtually non-existent, the Lirette family was left to its own devices to battle against a harsh destiny that would be highly improbable in our day and age. Through first-person accounts and archival photography, the filmmaker has made a respectful, sensitive and touching family portrait that honours the memory of her grandparents. This documentary short was produced as part of the Tremplin contest, which gives young Canadian francophones living outside Quebec a chance to make their first film under professional conditions.
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