Telefilm Canada to fund the production of 12 French-language feature films
Telefilm Canada announces 12 French-language feature film titles receiving financing under the Production Program, for a total amount of $14.2 million.
An Advisory Committee comprised of external and internal representatives evaluated the projects and made recommendations to Telefilm. The decision-making process reflected Telefilm’s goal of fostering a diversity of voices in the industry, ensuring that Telefilm funds a balanced portfolio of productions that reflects a variety of genres, budgets and company sizes, regions of the country, and perspectives. Names of the Advisory Committee members will be made available once all funding decisions have been announced.
Drag (drama)
Director and screenwriter: Sophie Dupuis
Production: Bravo Charlie
A bright and confident young man, Simon is the rising star of Montreal’s drag queen scene. When he meets Olivier, the new drag queen at the show bar, he instantly falls under his spell. But while Simon thinks he’s in an exhilarating love affair, a toxic dynamic develops between them, stemming from Olivier’s narcissistic personality. Meanwhile, Simon’s mother Claire, a famous opera singer, returns home after a 15-year absence.
Frontières (fantasy)
Director and screenwriter: Guy Édoin
Production: Max Films Média
Near the U.S. border, Diane tries to mourn her father’s death in a tragic accident. She then develops a paranoid disorder – to the point of believing her house is now haunted by him. Her two sisters, worried, alert Angèle, their mother, who must come help the family.
Jules au pays d’Asha (tale)
Director and screenwriter: Sophie Farkas Bolla
Production: Bêtes Lumineuses and Terre Innue
On a cold winter’s today in 1940, young Jules and his family move in with his uncle Jovite, the mayor of a village in northern Quebec. Because he suffers from a rare disease, Jules is soon banished from school. His dog Flagrant becomes his only friend. But when Flagrant runs off into the forest, Jules has no choice but to venture out to find him. On the way, he meets Asha, a mysterious little girl who promises Jules that her mother can cure him of his illness. The problem is that she doesn’t know where her mother is. Together, they decide to look for her, but what waits for them at the other end of the forest is not what they had imagined.
La meute (drama)
Director: Anne Émond
Screenwriter: Catherine-Anne Toupin
Production: Max Films Média and K.O. 24
Sophie is a traumatized woman who is being stalked. In an attempt to escape her reality, she ends up in an Airbnb hundreds of kilometres away. She is welcomed by Martin, who lives there with his aunt, Louise. Over a series of drunken evenings, tongues are loosened and a disturbing complicity looms between the man and the traveller. What if Sophie’s presence in this remote village isn’t a coincidence?
La mort n’existe pas (animation)
Director and screenwriter: Félix Dufour-Laperrière
Majority coproduction (Canada-France-Luxembourg): Embuscade Films (Canada), Miyu Productions (France) and Doghouse Films (Luxembourg)
*Funded by Eurimages
After a failed armed attack during which she abandons her companions, Hélène heads to the woods. Manon, one of her accomplices, comes back to haunt her. Together, they wander through a valley that is both charming and fantastic, where metamorphoses, poisonous powers and great upheavals will soon disrupt the order of things. Hélène will have to revisit her choices and the personal and collective dilemmas that constrain them.
Le frère (drama)
Director: Bachir Bensaddek
Screenwriter: Maria Camila Arias
Majority coproduction (Canada-France): Possibles Média (Canada), Rectangle Productions (France)
Seventeen-year-old Halima flees France and rebuilds her life in Quebec. Six years after having a first child, she becomes pregnant again, but her depressive state is cause for concern for her husband Sylvain and her daughter Léa. The urgency to return to France is overwhelming for Halima. Together with Sylvain and Léa, she reconnects with her family but is sucked back into the memories of a wounded child that no one but herself seems to want to discuss.
Le plongeur (drama)
Director: Francis Leclerc
Screenwriters: Éric K. Boulianne and Francis Leclerc, based on the novel by Stéphane Larue
Production: Go Films
It is winter 2002 in Montreal, and the narrator is not yet 20 years old. He enjoys Lovecraft, heavy metal, comic books and science fiction. A graphic design student, he has always drawn and wants to become a comic book artist and illustrator. For months, however, he has been avoiding his friends, lying, getting into debt, sucked into a spiral that threatens to consume his entire life: he is a gambler. He has put all his money into playing video lottery games. He reaches the end of his resources, alone and homeless. That’s when he becomes a dishwasher at La Trattoria…
Rodeo (drama)
Director and screenwriter: Joëlle Desjardins Paquette
Production: Colonelle Films
Trapped in a difficult separation conflict, a father decides to kidnap his eight-year-old daughter. He absconds with her in his Kenworth W900 in the hope of competing in the legendary World’s Best Truck Rodeo, the ultimate truck rally held annually in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The path taken will be a far cry from the level plains, and guilt and lies will taint the quest for the “enchanted land.”
Testament (Comedy)
Director and screenwriter: Denys Arcand
Production: Cinémaginaire
In an age of political correctness, identity evolution, protests, cultural scandals, activism, media storms and other controversies, an elderly man who has lost faith in humanity rediscovers his bearings and, eventually, happiness.
Un été comme ça (drama)
Director and screenwriter: Denis Côté
Majority coproduction (Canada-France): Metafilms (Canada), Cinéfrance Studios (France)
Invited to a retreat to explore their sexual problems, three young women spend their days and nights confronting their inner demons. Under the quiet supervision of a German therapist and a caring social worker, the group tries to maintain a delicate balance. For the young Geisha, the brooding Leonie and the unpredictable Eugénie, it will be 26 days of avoiding the screams, taming the whispers of the present and contemplating the future.
Un grand homme (drama)
Director and screenwriter: Philippe Lesage
Majority coproduction (Canada-France): Productions l’unité centrale (Canada), Shellac Sud (France)
Sixteen-year-old Jeff is invited by his best friend’s family to stay at a huge estate tucked away in the backwoods where legendary director Blake Cadieux lives. Secretly in love with Alyosha, his friend’s older sister, Jeff undergoes intense emotions during this extraordinary visit, where he also becomes a witness to the sometimes toxic power dynamics of a group of adults. He wishes he could count on Blake, but the possible mentor turns out not to be the role model he had hoped for.
Viking (science fiction comedy)
Director: Stéphane Lafleur
Screenwriters: Stéphane Lafleur and Éric K. Boulianne
Production: micro_scope
The Viking Society is recruiting volunteers to take part in the first manned mission to Mars. The goal is to form a B-team of alter egos who will live a parallel adventure behind closed doors on Earth, in the hope of remotely solving the interpersonal problems experienced by the five real astronauts who will soon land on the red planet. The film recounts how David, a physical education teacher, seizes this opportunity to rekindle his dream of becoming an astronaut and perhaps making a difference. Somewhere between an unlikely science fiction story and a modern allegory, Viking is a dramatic comedy about the disconnect between our aspirations and reality.
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Telefilm is dedicated to the cultural, commercial and industrial success of Canada’s audiovisual industry. Through funding and promotion programs, Telefilm supports dynamic companies and creative talent at home and around the world. Telefilm also makes recommendations regarding the certification of audiovisual treaty coproductions to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and administers the programs of the Canada Media Fund. Launched in 2012, the Talent Fund raises private donations to principally support emerging talent.
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Media contact:
Joyce Richards
Advisor, Public Relations – English Market
Telefilm Canada
647-475-4903
joyce.richards@telefilm.ca