After a strong start to the year at the box office, Quebec cinema will look to maintain its momentum into the summer season. Nearly a dozen local films of various genres will be released in cinemas throughout the province this summer. Here are seven not to be missed.
Montreal girl (9 June)
Photo courtesy of Patricia Chica
Hakim Brahimi and Nahéma Ricci star in this new film from director Patricia Chica (“Morning After”), which has been described as “a daring coming-of-age drama.” We follow the journey of a young Middle Eastern student who comes to Montreal to study medicine. He is looked after by his cousin, who introduces him to the metropolis’ nightlife and underground.
In an interview with the Journal at the time of filming, Patricia Chica described Montreal Girls as a tribute to her city. “The film tells the story of discovering Montreal from the perspective of an immigrant moving here, but also from the perspective of a Montreal director,” she said.
squishy heart (June 16)
Photo courtesy of Les Films Opale
Nine years after its first book release, author Sarah-Maude Beauchesne’s beloved young adult novel, Cœur de slush, comes to life on the big screen in this film adaptation by Mariloup Wolfe (Arlette).
Photo courtesy of Les Films Opale
The film will be released in cinemas just days before the start of the summer holidays and follows the first love affairs of Billie (Liliane Skelly), a 16-year-old teenager who works as a lifeguard at a water park. Ahead of its Quebec release, “Cœur de slush” will have its world premiere on June 1st at the 63rd International Youth Film Festival in Zlín, Czech Republic.
Jules in the land of Asha (7th of July)
Photo provided by MAISON 4:3
Described as a family story, this debut feature film from director Sophie Farkas Bolla tells the unlikely friendship between Jules, a boy with a rare skin disease, and Asha, a young indigenous girl, in rural Quebec in 1940. Together, the two new friends will make Dare to the other side of the forest to discover nature and its mysteries.
Jules au pays d’Asha has been screened at several children’s festivals around the world, including the Montreal International Children’s Film Festival (FIFEM), where it won the Grand Prix de Montréal.
A summer time (July 14)
Photo courtesy of Immina Films
Touted as a feel-good flick, this new film from director Louise Archambault (It Was Raining Birds, Gabrielle) follows a street vicar and vicar (assisted by Patrice Robitaille) who must decide to close his church because he can no longer pay the bills. After inheriting a property in Bas-du-Fleuve, he decides to take a group of homeless people there who, like him, need a break.
Written by Marie Vien (La passion d’Augustine, 14 jours, 12 nuits), Le temps d’unété also stars Guy Nadon, Élise Guilbault, Martin Dubreuil, Louise Turcot, Pierre Verville, Sébastien Ricard, Josée Deschênes and Gilbert Sicotte
Men from my mother (4th of August)
For her first feature film, director and singer Anik Jean has assembled an enticing cast including Léane Labrèche-Dor, Marc Messier, Patrick Huard, Colm Feore, Benoît Gouin, Anne-Marie Cadieux and Isabel Richer.
Written by screenwriter and author Maryse Latendresse, My Mother’s Men follows a young woman in her early thirties who receives an unexpected inheritance from her eccentric mother: a mission to reconnect with her five ex-husbands. In addition to directing the feature film, Anik Jean also composed the original music.
A respectable woman (18th of August)
Photo courtesy of Maison 4:3
After winning two Iris Awards at the last Gala Québec Cinéma for her roles in Les Oiseaux ivres and Maria Chapdelaine, actress Hélène Florent will star in this new film by filmmaker Bernard Émond (La novena, Against All Hope) at the end of the summer. , in which Martin Dubreuil, Paul Savoie and Brigitte Lafleur will also take part.
Une femme respectable, based on a short story by Luigi Pirandello, takes us to Trois-Rivières in the 1930s. We follow the daily life of a woman who has been separated from her husband for 11 years and agrees to take him home after the death of her husband and his concubine. She has to decide to live with him, but also with the three little girls he had with his second wife.
Toopy and Binoo (11 Aug)
SCREENSHOT FROM MOVIE POSTER
Marc Labrèche takes on the voice of the very talkative mouse Toopy in this animated film by Dominique Jolin and Raymond Lebrun, inspired by the books and the TV series of the same name. In this new adventure, Toopy and Binoo go in search of the mythical place “Lost Objects” and try to find Mr. Mou, Binoo’s beloved stuffed animal.
Geneviève Schmidt, Anne Dorval, Stéphane Rousseau and Xavier Dolan are among the many stars who have lent their voices to the film’s characters. Toupie et Binou will have its world premiere next month at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (France), a global benchmark for animated films.