When shooting the short film ten years ago Imelda, In which he himself played his paternal grandmother, filmmaker Martin Villeneuve had no idea that this character would accompany him for almost a decade. Having added seven chapters to his series of short films over the years, the director has come full circle with the release of a feature film titled The 12 Labors of Imelda.
She has come a long way, Martin Villeneuve’s Imelda (Mars et Avril) since the release of the first short film in 2014. Originally, the filmmaker simply wanted to make a short film for his family to pay tribute to his colorful paternal grandmother, Imelda, in 2012 died at the venerable age of 101. But the screening of the short film was “a great success” in the Villeneuve family, which prompted Martin Villeneuve to present his film outside of the family circle.
“I was suggested to show it to other people to see if that laugh is communicative,” confides Martin Villeneuve in an interview with the Journal.
“I quickly noticed that people found someone from their family in Imelda. Everyone knows an Imelda. People have always told me that the character makes them laugh but touches them at the same time. »
Award-winning at festivals
The first Imelda has therefore made its merry way on the festival route and collected some awards along the way. Martin Villeneuve – Denis Villeneuve’s younger brother – continued the adventures of Imelda by directing a second short film in which Robert Lepage plays his father, then a third, with Ginette Reno in the role of his grandmother.
The feature film The 12 Works of Imelda, which hits theaters on Friday, is based on excerpts from seven of the eight short films Martin Villeneuve has made over the years (including five in 2021). Divided into 12 chapters, the film traces the last years of Imelda’s life. Alongside Robert Lepage and Ginette Reno, Anne-Marie Cadieux, Michel Barrette and Antoine Bertrand play members of the Villeneuve family.
generosity
Note: Martin Villeneuve, thanks to the generosity of his technical team and actors, has managed to shoot all the films of his Imelda series on a voluntary basis. Government institutions (SODEC, Telefilm Canada) have always turned their noses up at the project.
“It’s a project that grew out of a desire to make a film with friends, with the means available, for fun, and it’s always been that way,” recalls Martin Villeneuve. This is one of the reasons why all these well-known actors got involved in the project. The common denominator has always been pleasure. They all agreed because they wanted to be part of the project. »
Even though he has been imitating his grandmother since childhood, Martin Villeneuve has done his homework to try to deepen the character of Imelda as much as possible.
“I’ve studied the character for years,” says the filmmaker, who also wears several of his grandmother’s actual dresses and hats in the film.
“I tried to understand her, to penetrate her intimacy. What a great luxury to give yourself creative license to study a figure from your family history! I conducted interviews, I read his correspondence. Aside from directing the film, it was really interesting to be able to enter his life like that. »
♦ The 12 labors of Imelda hits theaters on October 28th.