In a couple of days, a crowd of national and international celebrities will come at Rouyn-Noranda: the 41st Festival du cinema international en Abitibi-Témiscamingue is at our doors !
The comedian Damien Bonnard is traveling from France to Abitibi-Témiscamingue for the projection of his movie Le sixième enfant on Sunday the 30th of October at noon. In addition to winning the Prix Lumière de la révélation masculine 2017 for the movie Rester Vertical and the CinEuphoria Award 2020 for the best collective interpretation for Les Misérables, Damien Bonnard stood out in many big productions like En liberté! and Les tranquilles, for wich he was also in the running for a Cesar for best actor.
The french director, François Desagnat, from whom we owe the movie La Beuze, 15 et demi and Le jeu de la vérité, will also cross the sea to come here and present, Sunday the 30th October, Zaï zaï zaï zaï at the Théâtre du cuivre of Rouyn-Noranda for its premier in North America.
The flemish actor Noa Izaï Tambwe Kabati will also be among us during the projection of the movie Nowhere by Peter Monsaert. In this movie, he plays the role of a young homeless person in search of his identity. This promising young actor is currently studying at the Conservatoir de Gand, in Belgium, and his first role in the industry won’t be unnoticed.
The Belgian actress Esther Archambault is also among our guess this year for the projection of Les pires, pre-selected for the Oscar of 2023. This movie, made by Lise Akoka and Romane Guéret, received the Valois de diamant du meilleur film during the Festival d’Angoulême 2022 and the Grand prix Un certain regard at the Cannes Festival in 2022.
The opening movie for this year’s Festival, Tu te souviendras de moi, will bring big names to our town next weekend, among those big names, we can find Eric Tessier, the director of this movie. After remarkable success with his thrillers like Sur le seuil and 5150, rue des Ormes, the director changed genre with Junior majeur, a movie that he partially filmed here and also had his grand premiere. Eric Tessier also directed the English-Canadian comedies Rumours and Sophie for the television, and the Soap opera O’ for which he won the Gémeaux prize for best realization 3 years in a row. His drama series Sarah has known an enormous success with the Quebecer’s audience, and the same can be said for his other series Fugueuse I and II, which have shaken all of Quebec.
The scriptwriter, François Archambault, playwright, director, and Quebecer lyricist, is known for plays like Cul sec, Si la attendance se maintient et Les gagnants. In 1998, he received the Prix littéraire du Gouverneur général for his play 15 secondes. In 2003, La société des loisirs win the Masque for the best original text and also win the Betty Mitchell Award for the best new Canadian text. In 2014, his play Tu te souviendras de moi knows a massive success, will sell out at the Licorne, and then would run across the country and be represented for a total of 157 times. He also co-wrote its movie adaptation with Éric Tessier, which will be the opening movie during the Festival on the 29th of October.
You might also have the chance to meet the famous Rémy Girard during your visit to the Festival du cinéma international this weekend. A true pioneer of Quebec’s cinema, Rémy Girard as an impressive background. Among us the things we can see him in, we have Incendies (D. Villeneuve), Les invasions barbares (D. Arcand) ou encore Un homme et son péché (C. Binamé) et bien sûr Le déclin de l’empire américain (D. Arcand). It goes without saying, by himself, Rémy Girard incarnates a big part of Quebec’s cinema. Don’t miss the chance to meet him at the Théâtre du cuivre!
For the world premiere of En attendant Raif, the directors Luc Côté and Patricio Henriquez, Raif Dadawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, and their three children, Miriyam, Tirad, and Najwa Badawi, will be there. A tragic story about a family broken by the Saudi monarchy, this documentary, who took 8 years to produce, follows Raif Badawi’s family’s search for freedom. You can also see Ensaf and Patricio on Tout le monde en parle Sunday the 23th of October talking about their movie: https://bit.ly/3DrJIde.
The projection will be followed by a discussion with the two directors. It’s gonna be a unique discussion full of emotions!
The director, Marc-Antoine Lemire, that has presented his short movie Pré-Drink (Canadian winner for the best short movie at the TIFF 2017) will present his long-length movie Mistral spatial. He will also be joined by the actrice Catherine-Audrey Lachapelle, who had the role of Virginie Francoeur in the popular show District 31, and Véronique Lafleur, Samuel Brassard and Alex Trahan.
The director, Martin Villeneuve, will be present for the projection of his long-length movie Les 12 travaux d’Imelda. He will be joined by Marc-François Blondin, which you might have seen in series like Indéfendable, Rupture, and District 31, he will also be joined by Antoine Bertrand, a loved actor who has been acclaimed many times for his role in Louis Cyr : l’homme le plus fort au monde and the popular show Boomerang.
The president of the administration of Téléfilm Canada, Robert Spickler, will also join us for the festival. Scholar of Quebecer’s and Canadian’s cultural gestion, Robert Spickler was the director of the administration of the Théâtre d’aujourd’hui and the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, he was also the general director of Montreal Symphonic Orchestra and the Centre canadien d’architecture. In the past, he was in the Conseil des Arts du Canada as the director of the theatrical services, afterward, he became the director of the art division and associate director.
Finally, we are proud to push Abitibi-Témiscamingue’s creators under the spotlight, like Dominic Leclerc, a filmmaker who’s getting more know nationally as time goes by. His new documentary, Pour nous chez nous, will be free to see during one of our sessions on Saturday the 29th of October at noon. For the occasion, the director of photography, Katerine Giguère, the composer Louis-Philippe Gingras and the narrator Marie-Lyne Joncas will also join us. Dominic Leclerc will also be there for the world premier of his movie.
Let us not forget that many more famous guests and promising artists will be here during the Watch, Espace court, or main event: Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, Guillaume Lambert, Stéphane Lafleur, Rafael Ouellet, Marylin Cooke, Edouard Tremblay, Jean-François Asselin, Dominique Dufour, Samuel Pagé, Karelle Tremblay, Mélanie Pilon, Judith Baribeau and many more!
Join us on the 27th and 28th of October at the PetitThéâtre du Vieux Noranda for Espace court and at the Théâtre du cuivre on the 29th to the 3rd of November for our main event of the Festival.
You haven’t got your tickets already? No worries! You can always get them at www.festivalcinema.ca or the front desk at the Théâtre du cuivre.
13 September 2023
A Program Preview: Two Premieres Not to Be Missed!
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