It is with great enthusiasm that the Festival du cinéma international en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (FCIAT) team is today unveiling its 41st anniversary as well as several key program features. Put on your bowler hats, there will be a wide array of cinematographic works to discover from October 29th to November 3rd, 2022.
Did you find it strange to be asked to put on your bowler hat? Now it all makes sense! This year’s poster is an adaptation of Face to Face, featuring two characters wearing bowler hats, by world-class artist and Swiss film buff Nicolas Party. We are absolutely thrilled to be collaborating with this extremely popular artist.
Having left graffiti art to study film, new media, and visual arts at a school in Basel (Switzerland), Nicolas Party is known for his phantasmagorical, bewitching, and colourful worlds. He is also honoured for sharing one of his works with a festival for the first time.
“Nicolas Party is an artist in great demand at the moment. He has had a meteoric rise as a pastel master internationally. We reached out to him, and we are very happy to have received a positive response from him.” ( Jacques Matte, President.)
Stéphanie Cloutier, graphic designer at LEBLEU Communication humaine, has once again adapted Nicolas Party’s work to design the 41st Festival poster.
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that the world premiere of the film En attendant Raïf, by directors Patricio Henriquez and Luc Côté and produced by Macumba Media and the National Film Board, will be presented during the 41st Festival du cinéma international en Abitibi-Témiscamingue. This poignant human rights film follows the long struggle, led from Canada by his wife Ensaf Haidar and his family, for the release of Raïf Badawi.
Sentenced to 10 years in prison, a $300,000 fine and 1,000 lashes, journalist-blogger Raif Badawi has been the subject of much international attention since 2012. In exile in Canada and waiting, his family has lobbied tirelessly for his release and received a tremendous amount of support from the community. Waiting for Raif explores this high-profile story from the much lesser-known perspective of his family. Rauf, recently released from prison, is still stranded in Saudi Arabia. His family is still awaiting his return.
In presenting this film, we hope to encourage discussion about freedom of expression and to engage the public in the wave of global solidarity that this story has generated. The Festival is always very proud to present strong and moving current event works.
Another announcement! We are fortunate to present the North American premiere of the French comedy ZAÏ ZAÏ ZAÏ ZAÏ by filmmaker François Desagnat, distributed by K-Films Amérique.
In this adaptation of Fabcaro’s comic book of the same name, you will have the pleasure of meeting the character Fabrice, a comedy actor who, after realizing that he didn’t have his loyalty card while shopping, embarks on a merciless run and quickly becomes public enemy number 1. While the media gets hold of the case and the country is in turmoil, the fugitive, torn between remorse and existential questions, finds an unexpected stopping point, somewhere in Lozere.
Director François Desagnat, will be present at the Théâtre du cuivre to present his film during the Festival. Come and meet him!
Finally, we are pleased to announce that this year’s conference brunch will feature the Fournier twins.
Between them, Guy and Claude Fournier represent over 100 years of television and film creation! It’s a great time to look back at the careers of these iconic figures and discuss the evolution and transformation of television and film from the 1960s to today. With impressive track records (Deux femmes en or, Peau de banane, Jamais deux sans toi, etc.), this highly dynamic duo (animation, writing, directing, etc.) will share their experience and interesting anecdotes!
The event will be held at the Rouyn-Noranda Convention Centre on Sunday, October 30 at 11 a.m. and will be hosted by our faithful collaborator, filmmaker Martin Guérin.
Finally, in closing, Tu te souviendras de moi, a magnificent film by Éric Tessier starring, among others, Rémy Girard, France Castel, Karelle Tremblay and Julie Le Breton, will be screened at the opening of the Festival. This film is distributed by Films opale and produced by Christal productions.
Tickets for the opening night and the Brunch-conference and passes will be on sale starting September 16th! Stay tuned to our website and our social networks!
13 September 2023
A Program Preview: Two Premieres Not to Be Missed!
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