Telefilm Canada Announces Funding Decisions
Telefilm Canada is pleased to announce that five diverse French-language feature-film projects, of which one is a minority Canadian co-production, can move forward thanks to various production programs under the second round of the Canada Feature Film Fund’s selective component for 2011-2012.
For the second year running, Telefilm Canada has increased the amount of the envelope normally allocated to the selective component thanks to savings tied to greater efficiency.
“We are looking at a very wide-ranging line-up of titles for movie theatres, which will draw audiences,” said Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada. “From cinéma d’auteur, with Rafael Ouellet‘s Camion, to films having wide audience appeal with Podz‘s L’Affaire Dumont, Telefilm is delighted to present projects that reflect the broad diversity of talent in Canada.”
“This second round of selections for fiscal 2011-2012 underscores our intention to promote talent in all its forms and at all levels,” said Michel Pradier, Director of Project Financing at Telefilm Canada. “Our selections include projects from seasoned creators as well as promising new talent, in a variety of genres. This bodes well for our industry.”
Following (in alphabetical order) are the French-language projects recently selected under the second round of decisions for the Canada Feature Film Fund’s selective component for 2011-2012:
L’Affaire Dumont
Based on a true story. In Boisbriand in 1990, corner-store delivery man Michel Dumont, a father of two young children who is separated from their mother, is accused, tried and sentenced for a sexual assault he claims he didn’t commit. During his trial, Michel falls in love with Solange, a young single mother who believes he is innocent. While in jail, Daniel and Solange get married and Solange decides to take on the monumental task of overturning his conviction. Michel’s case, a contemporary retelling of the David vs. Goliath story that unfolds over a 10-year period, has serious repercussions for the very concept of innocence.
Director: Daniel Grou, a.k.a Podz (7 jours du talion, 10 ½, C.A. Conseil d’administration, Minuit, le soir and Les Bougons : c’est aussi ça la vie)
Producer: Nicole Robert – Go Films
Distributor: Alliance Vivafilms
Writer: Danielle Dansereau
Alice
Alice lives in a home with five other intellectually disabled persons and works part-time in a bank. She has a crush on Martin, whom she met at the recreational centre where both are members of a choir made up exclusively of intellectually disabled singers. While the choir gets ready to take part in a world choral festival in Montréal, Alice and Martin look for an opportunity to consummate their love. Things take a dramatic turn when Martin’s mother, who vigorously opposes her son’s relationship with Alice, pulls him out of the recreational centre.
Writer-director: Louise Archambault (Familia)
Producers: Luc Déry and Kim McCraw – micro_scope
Distributor: Christal Films Distribution
Avant que mon cœur bascule
Sixteen-year-old Sarah, standing alongside a highway, pretends to be in trouble. Duped drivers pull over to help—and are robbed. This is how Sarah meets Marc, a history teacher whom she likes. Under the teen’s gaze, the man dies. Sarah’s life will never be the same again.
Director: Sébastien Rose (Comment ma mère accoucha de moi durant ma ménopause, La vie avec mon père and Le Banquet)
Producer: Paul Barbeau – Reprise Films Inc.
Distributor: Metropole Films Distribution
Writers: Sébastien Rose and Stéfanie Lasnier
Camion
Germain is a seasoned trucker. One day, he is involved in a traffic accident that results in the death of a young women, and his world comes to a halt and he starts to fall apart. When he learns that the lumber mill where he works is going to close, Germain loses the one thing in his life that allowed him to forget the terrible accident. Only a few years away from retirement, Germain becomes more and more apathetic, a state that worries his eldest son, Samuel. Samuel goes off to a remote part of the United States to look for his brother Alain, so that they can both return to the house where they grew up and offer their father a bit of hope and support—and make sure he doesn’t do anything that can’t be undone.
Writer-director: Rafael Ouellet (Le cèdre penché, Derrière moi and New Denmark)
Producer: Stephanie Morisette – Coop Vidéo de Montréal
Distributor: K-Films Amérique
Hors les murs
France-Belgium-Canada co-production (minority Canadian)
Paulo, a young pianist whose life is almost settled, meets Ilir, a bass player originally from Albania. It’s love at first sight for the two, but their love story is soon overtaken by life’s unexpected twists and turns. The boys are brutally separated when one of them ends up in jail for a minor gaffe. Will their love survive the separation?
Writer-director: David Lambert
Producer: Daniel Morin – Les Productions Cinématographiques Boréal Films Inc. (Canada), Red Star Cinéma (France), Frakas Productions (Belgium)
Distributor: K-Films Amérique