For the return to normality after two editions marked by the pandemic, this year the Cinémania Francophone Film Festival offers almost 120 films including 70 premieres and sees several big names of French and Francophone cinema on its red carpet.
• Also read: “North of Albany” on the Cinémania poster
• Also read: Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s “White Dog” opens Cinemania
Laurent Blanc, Clovis Cornillac, Pio Marmaï, Cédric Klapisch, Arnaud Desplechin and Denis Ménochet are among the many international guests expected at this 28th edition of Cinémania, presented from November 2nd to 13th in Montreal. After having to cope with several restrictive health measures during its previous two editions, the Festival and Program Director General Guilhem Caillard is pleased to welcome a large delegation of renowned actors and filmmakers to Montreal.
“It’s really making a comeback with a lot of enthusiasm,” explains Mr. Caillard in an interview with the Journal. Cinemania is the festival [montréalais] which receives most of the international guests known to the general public. We need to reconnect with the public, and we also need to do everything we can to help viewers reconnect with Quebec cinema and with a sense of belonging to international Francophonie.
Cinémania will offer festival-goers four competitions this year, including a new one entirely dedicated to Quebec cinema. In particular, we will find there the opening film of the festival, Chien blanc, by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette (The Goddess of the Fireflies), but also You will remember me by Éric Tessier, Tempête by Christian Duguay (screened at the end of the festival), Rodéo by Joëlle Desjardins Paquette et Au nord d’Albany, the first feature film by actress and director Marianne Farley. The jury for this local competition will be made up of directors from international festivals “so that Quebec cinema can shine more abroad,” says Guilhem Caillard.
Photo courtesy of Sylvie Ann Paré
Guilhem Caillard, General Director of the Festival and the Cinemania programme.
As for the international competition, the jury, co-chaired by French filmmaker Cédric Klapisch (The Spanish Inn) and Québec actress Pascale Bussières, will consist of Ricardo Trogi and Nour Belkhiria, as well as writer Philippe Besson. It should be noted that White Dog will also compete in this category alongside new films by Christophe Honoré (Le Lycéen), Ursula Meier (La ligne) and Lola Quivoron (Rodéo).
Nice visit
Out of competition, Michel Blanc presents Les Cadors, in which he stars alongside Jean-Paul Rouve. Laurent Lafitte will also be in town to defend two films: Everyone Loves Jeanne and Le Petit Nicolas. It is also worth mentioning the presence of French filmmaker Emmanuel Mouret (A Kiss Please), on the occasion of the release of his new comedy Chronicles of a Temporary Affair, and Belgian director Lukas Dhont, who will accompany his new feature film. Close, winner of the Grand Prix at the last Cannes Film Festival.
Pandemic committed, the last two editions of Cinémania took place in virtual mode (in 2020) and in hybrid formula (in 2021). This year, the festival is prioritizing a return to theaters.
“We’ve had a great success with our online program, but this year the goal is to return to cinemas to mobilize the public. The online part will not be forgotten and will return soon in one way or another. But right now the most important thing is to do a human event with people coming together. We want to create opportunities for encounters. For example, we organized a meeting between the great French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin and Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette in Inis. Cédric Klapisch gives a master class. We want to recreate moments of collective sharing. We do not shy away from the virtual, but the priority this year is to repeat a unifying event and rediscover the essence of cinema, that is, space and shared emotions.
The 28th edition of Cinémania will take place from November 2nd to 13th at several Montreal cinemas including the Imperial, the Cinéma du Musée and the Cinémathèque québécoise. Further details about the program: festivalcinemania.com