37th Rendez-vous Quebec Cinema to Present Quebec-Made Films in English

From February 20 to March 2, the 37thannual Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma, presented by Hydro-Québec, in collaboration with Radio-Canada, will include a significant number of Quebec-made films in English. Spanning a range of genres, including comedies, drama and thrillers, and tackling topical issues like sexual and cultural diversity, the program has something to please every cinephile. The Rendez-vous is an excellent opportunity to learn more about how our films are made, thanks to the many artists and other film professionals who attend the festival.

A FINE SELECTION OF FICTIONAL FILMS

Appiness by Eli Batalion will have its Canadian premiere at the festival, to be attended by the director and two of the film's actors, Varun Saranga and Amber Goldfarb. There will also be a number of first features, heralding a strong new generation of talent: Venus by Eisha Marjara; Touched, a thriller by Karl R. Hearne; and Everything Outside, written and directed by David Findlay. Other fictions include Birthmarked by Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais, starring Toni Colette; Allure by the Sanchez brothers, starring Evan Rachel Wood; Eye on Juliet by Kim Nguyen; Happy Face by Alexandre Franchi, starring Debbie Lynch-White; Summer of '84 by the RKSS collective, starring Tiera Skovbye; and Impetus by Jennifer Allyen, with Pascale Bussières and Emmanuel Schwartz. Several filmmakers and artists will attend the screenings, presented by Hydro-Québec.

BRILLIANT DOCUMENTARIES

The documentary section, presented by Télé-Québec, includes two Quebec premieres that will transport audiences to distant places: Wind Should Be Heard Not Seen by Claire Sanford and The Snowball Treasury by Kara Blake, who will attend the screening. Political and social themes are still inspiring to filmmakers, such as Dominic Gagnon with Going South; Helgi Piccinin with Belief Disbelief; and Mitchell Stafiej with The Devil's Trap. The three filmmakers will discuss their respective artistic visions with the audiences at these screenings. An encouraging sign: the documentary category prioritizes equal representation of filmmakers with My Dearest Sister, with director Kyoka Tsukamoto in attendance; New Memories by the late Michka Saäl; and Lida Moser Photographer:Odyssey in Black and White by Joyce Borenstein, who will attend the screening. The documentary section also features a number of Indigenous filmmakers, including Mommy Goes Race by Charlene McConini; Enhior'hén:'ne by Roxann Whitebean; and Qilliqtu by Kevin Tikivik, made through the Wapikoni Mobile initiative.

SPOTLIGHT ON SHORTS

The roster of short films includes several premieres: the world premiere of Political Playgirl by Xenia Sin; the Canadian premiere of Bottom of the 6th Expos vs Mets July 3,1973 by Allan Brown; and the Quebec premiere of Plan Dreaming Deep by Charlotte Clermont. Other noteworthy entries include Anna by Kim Kielhofner; Constellations by Anne Maguire; Bone Mother by Dane Hayward and Sylvie Trouvé; Milk by Santiago Menghini, who has recently secured funding to make a feature-length version of his film; and The Monster Within byGhislain Ouellet, who took home the award for best horror short at the Hollywood International Moving Pictures Film Festival. Questions of identity and sexuality - hot-button social issues in today's world - are broached by many of this year's films. Collectively, these works help raise public awareness about life in several communities. Films in this vein include the world premiere of the comedy Is Your Teen a Homosexual? by Tamara Scherbak; Sweet Affliction by Jess Lee, winner of the audience award at the most recent Image+Nation festival; Couleur du moment by Jeremy Sandor; and Mahalia Melts in the Rain by Emilie Mannering and Carmine Pierre-Dufour. Two films explore liberated youth: Amour is Love by Joanna Chevalier and Harold Junior Julmice and Skies Are Not Just Blue by Lysandre Cosse-Tremblay, a film that follows several Muslims as they make a place for themselves in the LGBTQ+ community. The public will have the opportunity to meet these filmmakers to learn more about their vision. The short-film section is presented by Royal Photo.

The English-language films in this year's festival will be shown in the original English, with French subtitles. The 37thannual Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma takes place from February 20 to March 2, 2019. Tickets are now on sale. The full program can be found at quebeccinema.ca.

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