Filmmaker Ricardo Trogi’s fourth autobiographical comedy and director Daniel Roby’s forthcoming film about the life of Gilles Villeneuve are among eight French-language feature film projects receiving financial support from Telefilm Canada on Thursday morning.
Trogi’s fourth film, titled 1994-1995, inspired by his youth (after the popular films 1981, 1987 and 1991), chronicles the filmmaker’s adventures as he made his directorial debut 28 years ago by participating in La Course Destination Monde. Trogi finished writing the screenplay two years ago, but he was still waiting for the green light from the institutions (including SODEC and Telefilm Canada) to start filming.
Now that the project has received support from Téléfllm Canada, the film’s producer, Marie-Claude Poulin, is keeping her fingers crossed for a positive response from SODEC, which will announce its next round of funding in early May. “We’re confident,” she told the Journal on Thursday.
Another big project funded by Telefilm on Thursday: Villeneuve, a film directed by Daniel Roby (Louis Cyr, suspect number one) about the life of legendary Quebec racer Gilles Villeneuve. Co-written by Roby and Guillaume Lonergan, the feature film will explore the early years of Villeneuve’s career when the driver dominated snowmobile, Formula Ford and Formula Atlantic racing.
If Villeneuve also gets the green light from SODEC next month, filming could begin next fall, says producer Christian Larouche.
Other Quebec feature films financed by Telefilm Canada on Thursday include Fleur bleue, a drama directed by Geneviève Dulude-De Celles (A Colony), La petite et le vieux, a comedy directed by Patrice Sauvé (Ça sent la coupe), a fantastic Story directed by Nicola Lemay and Emilie Rosas and L’univers soufflé, a comedy by Anne Émond (Jeune Juliette). The Boss and the Customs Officer by Manon Briand and the drama Win your sky by Alexandre Auger and Mathieu Denis have also received federal approval.
– In collaboration with Cédric Bélanger