Dear Jackie is a cinematic letter to Jackie Robinson, the first Black man to play in Major League Baseball, after a stint with the minor-league Montreal Royals, and a key contributor to the civil rights movement in the United States. The film addresses Robinson directly and recounts the current situation of the Black community in Little Burgundy, once known as the “Harlem of the North,” drawing interesting parallels between the two eras. Through eloquent interviews, the filmmaker paints a portrait of racism and racial inequality in Montreal and Quebec as a whole. Presenting a unique historical and social perspective, Henri Pardo has made an important film that deconstructs the myth of a post-racial Quebec society.
