Original Language: French
Le Club Vinland (The Vinland Club)
This fascinating drama tells the story of Brother Jean (Sébastien Ricard), a priest teaching in the Charlevoix region of Quebec in the 1940s. A passionate amateur archaeologist, Jean plans an expedition with his students to find proof of the presence of a Viking settlement along the shores of the St-Lawrence River. The film won three Prix Iris, including best actor for Ricard.
Director
Benoît Pilon
Writers
Normand Bergeron, Benoît Pilon, Marc Robitaille
Cast
Sebastien Ricard, Rémy Girard, François Papineau, Fabien Cloutier
Producer
Chantal Lafleur
Genre
Drama
Interests
Classics, History
Original Language
French
Les Pee-Wee (The Pee-Wee: The Winter that Changed My Life)
In this uplifting story, 12-year-old Janeau (Pilon) and his father have moved to a new town after the tragic death of his mother. As they struggle to adjust, Janeau is befriended by Julie (Morel-Michaud), a goalie for the local pee-wee hockey team, The Lynx, who are preparing for a province-wide championship.
Julie immediately sniffs out Janeau’s hockey talent, and eventually convinces her coach to let Janeau join the team, much to the dismay of the team’s current star, Joey (Goulet), and his overbearing father.
This stirring hockey comedy will have audiences cheering for The Lynx as they race to settle their differences — both on and off the ice — before the championship.
Director
Éric Tessier
Tessier’s first film was the award-winning short Viens dehors! His feature films include Sur le seuil, Vendus, 5150 rue des Ormes, Junior Majeur, and Les Pee-Wee: L’hiver qui a changé ma vie, which won the Best Feature Film award at TIFF Kids. He recently directed the films Tu te souviendras de moi and When Love Blooms, and episodes of Hôtel and Transplant. He is currently directing The Amityville Curse.
Writers
Martin Bouchard, Emmanuel Joly, Jean-Sébastien Poirier
Cast
Alice Morel-Michaud, Rémi Goulet, Antoine Olivier Pilon
Producer
Christian Larouche
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Family
Interest
Sports
Original Language
French
Paul à Québec
Director
François Bouvier
Film and TV director Bouvier was nominated for the Best Director Genie in 1990 for his film Les matins infidèles. Since then, he has directed numerous television shows and films, including Histoires d'hiver and Maman Last Call, starring Patrick Huard. He recently directed the TV series Ruptures and the film La Bolduc. Currently he is completing work on the film La Cordonnière.
Writers
Michel Rabagliati, François Bouvier
Cast
Louise Portal, Gilbert Sicotte, Julie LeBreton, François Létourneau
Producers
Karine Vanasse, André Rouleau, Valérie d'Auteuil, Nathalie Brigitte Bustos
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Interests
Arts and Culture, Family Relationships, Literary Adaptation
Original Language
French
La vraie nature de Bernadette (The True Nature of Bernadette)
This subversive and light-hearted classic premiered at Cannes, won three Canadian Film Awards and was selected in TIFF’s first list of its Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time.
“Bernadette is one of the most memorable protagonists in all of Gilles Carle’s films, and in Quebec cinema as a whole.” — François Lévesque, Le Devoir
Director
Gilles Carle
An Officer of the Order of Canada, Carle was an important figure in Quebec cinema whose work includes shorts and features, documentaries, and television. His credits include the classics La vie hereuse de Léopold Z, Les Plouffe, La Vraie nature de Bernadette, and Maria Chapdelaine. Carle was a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec and a Knight in France’s Légion d'honneur. He also received a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
Writer
Gilles Carle
Cast
Micheline Lanctôt, Donald Pilon, Reynald Bouchard
Producer
Pierre Lamy
Genre
Drama
Interest
Strong Female Leads
Original Language
French
Pour la suite du monde (For Those Who Will Follow)
In 1962, Michel Brault and a team of filmmakers travelled to the island to document the resumption of the practice decades after it had been abandoned, shedding light and wit on this “resourceful” tradition.
A balance of grace, humour, and up-close observation, Pour la suite du monde is known as a landmark achievement in documentary filmmaking and was screened at the Cannes film festival.
Directors
Michel Brault
An Officer of the National Order of Quebec, Brault was a legendary cinematographer and filmmaker, and the only Canadian to win the Best Director Award at Cannes, for Les Ordres. He also directed Les noces de papier, Mon amie Max, and many other features, along with over 80 credits as a cinematographer, including some of Canada’s most iconic films, such as Pour la suite du monde (which he co-directed), Mon oncle Antoine, and Les Bons débarras. He passed away in 2013.
Writers
Pierre Perrault, Michel Brault
Producers
Fernand Dansereau, Jacques Bobet
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Classics, Environment, History
Original Language
French
Les Plouffe (The Plouffe Family)
This is kitchen-sink drama at its most satirical, dramatizing an entire era in the quirks of this memorable clan. The lovable characters and unforgettable moments make Les Plouffe a simultaneously sad, funny and loving account of life in WWII-era Quebec.
This French Canadian classic won seven Genie Awards, including Best Achievement in Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Filiatrault).
Director
Gilles Carle
An important figure in the development of Québec cinema, Carle was a prolific filmmaker whose work includes shorts and feature films, documentaries, and television. He made several films with the NFB, including the classic La vie heureuse de Léopold Z. His credits also include Les Plouffe, La Vraie nature de Bernadette and Maria Chapdelaine. An Officer of the Order of Canada, a Grand Officer of the Ordre National du Québec and a Knight in France’s Légion d'honneur, he has received numerous international prizes, Genies, Canadian Film Awards and a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
Writers
Gilles Carle, Roger Lemelin, Jacques Vigoureux
Cast
Gabriel Arcand, Pierre Curzi, Émile Genest, Juliette Huot, Denise Filiatraul
Producers
Denis Héroux, Justine Héroux, John Kemeny
Genre
Drama
Interests
Family Relationships, History, Literary Adaptation
Original Language
French
Le démantèlement (The Dismantling)
A beautiful, evocative and emotionally powerful film about family, connection and growing older, whose startling insight and emotional maturity belies the youth of its director.
Director
Sébastien Pilote
Writer
Sébastien Pilote
Cast
Gabriel Arcand, Gilles Renaud, Lucie Laurier, Sophie Desmarais
Producers
Marc Daigle, Bernadette Payeur
Genre
Drama
Interest
Family Relationships
Original Language
French
Tout ce que tu possèdes (All That You Possess)
While the world outside his work hardly seemed to exist for Pierre at the start of the film, he is soon opened up to the possibility of reconnecting with his own past, which arrives in the form of an estranged daughter whom he abandoned years before.
This quiet, subtle and poetic drama about forgiveness, atonement and love is anchored by Drolet’s exquisite performance as the lonely Pierre.
Director
Bernard Émond
Writers
Bernard Émond, Edward Stachura
Cast
Patrick Drolet, Willia Ferland-Tanguay, Isabelle Vincent, Gilles Renaud
Producer
Bernadette Payeur
Genre
Drama
Original Language
French
La vie heureuse de Léopold Z (The Merry World of Léopold Z)
On Christmas Eve, a snow plow operator (Guy L’Ecuyer) in Montreal is suddenly called upon to work in an unexpected snowstorm which becomes a problem as he has not finished his Christmas shopping. Determined to get all his gifts while continuing to clear the roads, Léopold has a series of comedic misadventures that become increasingly ridiculous as his time begins to run short.
Originally commissioned as an NFB documentary about snow clearing, director Gilles Carle creatively reframed it as a narrative film to create a unique blend of documentary and direct cinema that also cheekily comments on contemporary social and political issues. It won the Best Feature prize at the 1965 Montreal International Film Festival.
Director
Gilles Carle
An Officer of the Order of Canada, Carle was an important figure in Quebec cinema whose work includes shorts and features, documentaries, and television. His credits include the classics La vie hereuse de Léopold Z, Les Plouffe, La Vraie nature de Bernadette, and Maria Chapdelaine. Carle was a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec and a Knight in France’s Légion d'honneur. He also received a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
Writer
Gilles Carle
Cast
Guy L'Écuyer, Paul Hébert, Suzanne Valéry
Producer
Jacques Bobet
Genre
Comedy
Interest
Classics
Original Language
French
De père en flic (Father and Guns)
The pair infiltrates an outdoor camp for fathers and sons to snag Charles Bérubé (Girard), the biker gang's lawyer. As Jacques and Marc try to locate their missing colleague, they find the camp's bonding activities are having an emotional and hilarious impact on their own relationship.
De père en flic is the highest-grossing French-language film in Canadian history.
"A can't-miss buddy comedy about a pair of dysfunctional father-son cops who are forced to go undercover at a touchy-feely bonding retreat...a genuinely amusing hybrid." — Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter
Director
Émile Gaudreault
Gaudreault co-wrote Louis 19, le roi des ondes, which Ron Howard adapted into EDtv. Gaudreault both co-wrote and directed De pere en flic (the highest-grossing French-language film in Canadian history), Le vrai du faux, Le sens de l'humour and Mambo Italiano, which earned six Canadian Comedy Award nominations. He also wrote and directed De père en flic 2, and most recently, the comedy Menteur. He also co-wrote the upcoming Lignes de fuite, and is producing the English-language remake of De père en flic, Fathers and Guns.
Writers
Émile Gaudreault, Ian Lauzon
Cast
Michel Côté, Louis-José Houde, Rémy Girard, Patrick Drolet, Caroline Dhavernas
Producers
Denise Robert, Daniel Louise
Genres
Action/Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Interest
Family Relationships
Original Language
French