Gabor: A Visual Journey into the Heart of Quebec

What if one could capture the soul of a country in a single gaze? What if, through the simple act of pressing a shutter, one could preserve the beauty of ordinary lives?

Gabor, the documentary by Joannie Lafrenière, is much more than a portrait of an artist. It is a film about memory, tenderness, the passage of time — and about a man who, for over sixty years, photographed Quebec with an eye that was as gentle as it was persistent. 

It all begins in 2015, when Lafrenière crosses paths with him during a photography event. For her, Szilasi’s work was a revelation. As a young woman, discovering his images made her realize she wanted to become a photographer. Between them, the connection is immediate — he is instantly charmed by the filmmaker’s candid and joyful approach. Out of this chemistry is born a rare film, where two creative sensibilities speak, respond to, and extend each other. Gabor is the story of this visual love affair, carefully told by Lafrenière, who delivers a profoundly human, funny, moving, and deliciously colorful film.

Gabor Szilasi photographed his adopted country and gave it a face. Arriving from Hungary in 1957 after fleeing the revolution, he found in Quebec not only a place of refuge but a subject worthy of his insatiable curiosity. The film reflects its subject: vibrant, warm, and observant. Szilasi approaches people with humility, asks questions, occasionally jokes: “It’s not the question that’s indiscreet — it’s the answer.”

Those he photographs eventually open their doors to him — and their hearts. Years later, his images still resonate — in Charlevoix, for example, or in the café “Chez Monica,” where memories come back to life under his lens. We follow him through various corners of Quebec, carrying his 4x5 camera, approaching the unknown with infinite patience.

Initially surprised, Quebecers are quickly flattered to be photographed. Decades later, they still talk about it with emotion. One woman recalls: “His images left a mark on us. People still talk about the time Gabor came to photograph us, years ago.”

Lafrenière films a man in motion, in transit, in conversation. She also captures the way Gabor looks at a face, a landscape, a light — a gaze that escapes language. Like in a moving scene where a music lover asks him to sit by a window and plays a Bach piece. Gabor then lets the music guide his photography.

The documentary also gives visual space to what Gabor doesn’t say. His childhood, marked by anti-Semitism and repression, is barely spoken of. Even his daughter admits to knowing little. In 1949, while trying to flee Hungary, he is imprisoned. After his release, he cannot resume his medical studies and becomes a laborer on Budapest’s subway construction sites. There, he buys a Russian camera — a Zorki. And begins to take photographs.

“Photography is a poem. Cinema, a novel,” he says. “When I press the shutter, I feel something very strong — something that goes beyond the moment.”

Gabor, the film, embraces this philosophy. It pays tribute to a discreet man, a monumental body of work, and a way of being in the world that resists noise and haste. Gabor Szilasi’s photographic career includes nearly 30 solo exhibitions and 60 group exhibitions across North America and Europe. 

Through Szilasi’s photographs, an entire Quebec reveals itself. A Quebec that deserves to be seen — and loved — just as Gabor did, for a lifetime.

Romane Fragne, May 2025
The photos are taken from the film GABOR
directed in 2022 by Joannie Lafrenière