Édition 2021
Du 30 October au 4 November 2021
Programmation
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ROSELINE LIKE IN THE MOVIES
Roseline is a renowned actress with an impressive career. After a lifetime on camera, she gets ready to play the greatest role of her life. Fiction and reality blur together, surfacing a deeply buried secret, then: lights, camera, action!
REBEL
2022. Quebec sees an unprecedented influx of illegal migrants. Growing dissatisfied with their government’s mishandling of the crisis, citizens get organized. The illegal patrols his father leads with his right-wing militia are just more opportunities for Alex, six years old, to go play in the woods.
THE GENTLE ART OF VIOLENCE
In the intimacy of a confessional, a priest is unusually coerced into confessing to a mysterious woman. Their true nature will be revealed as the situation spirals out of control.
REGRET
À la suite de la mort de son père, un homme doit combattre les manifestations de ses démons internes au long d’une nuit tourmentée.
FOUND ME
In the foggy, twilight, arctic, dead of winter of Quebec City, Mitch’s life takes a turn after unwittingly stumbling upon the world of underground wrestling.
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CITIZEN PATROL
After a supposed malicious act perpetrated on his daughter, a man decides to organize vigilance patrols in his neighbourhood, an initiative that degenerates quickly and opens the door to amalgam and to the primary racism of some fellow citizens... At the same time, Blaise, a young man born of immigrant parents, moves into his new apartment…
FOUNDATIONS
Katie invites friends to help out with renovations in the basement, but her boyfriend Benjamin seems strangely determined to push back the work at all costs.
JEEP BOYS
Simon manages to take time off from his job to visit his girlfriend in Toronto. The only condition: giving a lift to JP, a deeply annoying employee. Their journey is in full swing until a cataclysmic revelation plunges them into a quest for revenge. All of that with a soundtrack of country music.
LANDGRAVES
A young music journalist goes into a deep woods cabin to interview the heavy-metal duo LANDGRAVES, who record an album for the first time since murder imprisonment.
Remise de doctorats Honoris causa de l'UQAT
Remise de doctorats Honoris causa
ENTRÉE GRATUITE, BILLETS OBLIGATOIRES
Madame Manon Barbeau et les trois cofondateurs du Festival du cinéma international en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, messieurs Jacques Matte, Louis Dallaire et Guy Parent, recevront un doctorat honoris causa, décerné par l’Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, sous l’égide de l’Université du Québec.
Jacques Matte, Louis Dallaire et Guy Parent ainsi que Manon Barbeau seront ainsi honorés de la plus haute distinction universitaire. Pour les cofondateurs du Festival, cela souligne le travail considérable des trois acolytes depuis la création du Festival, qui a saupoudré de multiples retombées sur les milieux culturel, économique, touristique et social de la région. Pour Manon Barbeau, cette récompense démontre l’importance de sa contribution auprès des jeunes des Premières Nations du Québec, entre autres par la création de la Wapikoni mobile, qui permet à des jeunes Autochtones de se réapproprier leur culture et de l’exprimer par le médium du 7e art.
Bloc 1 - Soirée d'ouverture - 17 h
Imelda 3: Simone
Imelda finds Simone again, the other grandmother, after a life of rivalries, to make peace before the end. The two women confront their realities where no one is entirely right, nor totally wrong.
LE CLUB VINLAND
Eastern Quebec, end of the 1940s. Vinland is the story of an outstanding professor, idolized by his students while angering his congregation. Frère Jean, a charismatic progressist, dreams of heightening his students' motivation and to avoid that Emile drops-out of school. He leads an archeological expedition to prove this theory about the Vikings ever landing on the coast of the St-Laurent.
Bloc 1 - Soirée d'ouverture - 21 h
Imelda 3: Simone
Imelda finds Simone again, the other grandmother, after a life of rivalries, to make peace before the end. The two women confront their realities where no one is entirely right, nor totally wrong.
LE CLUB VINLAND
Eastern Quebec, end of the 1940s. Vinland is the story of an outstanding professor, idolized by his students while angering his congregation. Frère Jean, a charismatic progressist, dreams of heightening his students' motivation and to avoid that Emile drops-out of school. He leads an archeological expedition to prove this theory about the Vikings ever landing on the coast of the St-Laurent.
Bloc 2
I, BARNABÉ
Confronted with doubt and feelings of emptiness, drunk with unhappiness and seeking to drown his sorrow, Barnabé experiences a curious metaphysical visitation; lightning strikes the spire of his church and a mysterious bird appears, forcing him to reconsider his life.
NIGHT SLICE
Depressed by his humdrum, Pierre decides to exchange the sweat of the factory for air conditioning at the hotel. Locked-up with three roommates in a suite where windows only let a glimpse of light, he will experiment sterile idleness until of this suffocating greyness, is born an idea…
My Salinger Year
In the late 90s, Joanna is a young aspiring writer who lands a day job as an assistant at J.D. Salinger’s literary agency in New York City. While her eccentric, old-fashioned boss Margaret assigns her to answer Salinger’s voluminous fan mail, Joanna struggles to find her voice.
Bloc 3
ÉTHÉRÉ – KA TATISHTIPATAKANIT
After having spread rumours about a local elder a man will be put to the test to be forgiven. Ka tatishtipatakanit (Ethereal) is a poetic lesson about respect.
IMELDA 2: THE NOTARY
Second film of a brilliant trilogy, unfolds the first one by 11 years, taking place in the Fall of 2001. Martin Villeneuve resumes his role as Imelda, his 90-year-old grandmother, whereas Robert Lepage plays the notary, Imelda’s son. Inspired by real insult letters that Imelda used to pen to her son, the filmmaker re-invents a conversation.
LES VIEUX CHUMS
Pierrot returns to St-Hyacinthe, his hometown, to meet again with the people and to the places he loves, even when he lived far away. He comes to close the books and loop the loop. Serene, Pierrot isn’t scared of this early death coming his way. He asks for his childhood friend’s help, Jacques, to end his days the way he wants. This peculiar approach will lead the two friends to peaceful tranquillity.
Bloc 4 : Soirée LEBLEU
AND YET WE ARE NOT SUPERHEROES
When you’re a child, there’s this fragile moment where the boundary between fantasy and reality is shattered. This is the testimony of these children between two worlds, to whom the floor was given freely.
THE ROTATION
There will be a war between two nations living on two sides of a mountain, in order to seize the sun.
TRAP
In an unknown and timeless place, war has occurred. A young soldier rapes a teenage girl in a house where all her people have been killed. After a while, she turns to a hard-hearted girl who tries to take their revenge on soldiers by killing the wounded and makes necklaces with their teeth, then sells them to the other soldiers.
SHOOTING STAR
On a family trip to observe shooting stars, Chloé, a withdrawn teenager, discovers a dazzling attraction for her mother’s new boyfriend.
THE ROSEMAKER
Eve Vernet has been the most famous rose maker. Today, she is on the verge of bankruptcy, about to be bought out by a powerful competitor. Her loyal receptionist, Vera, might have the solution: hire three outcasts with absolutely no gardening skills. With nothing in common, the four protagonists come up with the craziest plan to save the little artisanal workshop.
Bloc 5 : Matinée Desjardins
ONE RINK FOR TWO
Flamingos are rehearsing their figure skating number when the rink is invaded by a troop of elephant hockey players.
ARCHIPAPER
Creating a leisurely, surrealist story in a world built solely out of paper elements, a house has been transformed into an image that teems with life. Oneiric, these images attempt at finding new means of expression in describing architecture.
THE ROLE – Роль
On the verge of life and death, casting aside her fears and complexes, an actress goes to audition for a famous director to get the role that she has dreamed of all her life.
L’ÉTANG, LA NUIT
Returning to the pond of their childhood, two sisters abandon themselves to a game they used to play. In the heart of the forest and alongside the aquatic life of the pond, their reunion will lead to a disturbing confession.
DETOURS
Simon must bring his baby back to his ex-wife who has threatened to withdraw custody if he’s late again. In the rush, he smashes the side-view mirror of a parked car. He decides to flee. As the baby drifts off to sleep in the morning traffic, Simon realizes he’s being followed.
ALL THIS VICTORY
Lebanon, July 2006. War is raging between Hezbollah and Israel. During a 24 hour ceasefire, Marwan heads out in search of his father, who refused to depart his village, leaving his wife alone to plan their immigration to Canada. Marwan finds no trace of his father, but the ceasefire abruptly ends, forcing him to take shelter at his father's friend, Najib. Marwan finds himself trapped under a rain of bombs with Najib and a few friends. The tension rises inside and out of the house. The next three days see the situation spiral out of control.
Bloc 6 : Après-midi Desjardins
TEMPS MORT
Caught in a hold-up, a man loses himself in his troubled past, confronted with his own death.
L’APOCALYPSE CONFORTABLE
Three young friends talk without delusions about the climate catastrophe that awaits us.
Drought
In the close future where natural disasters have happened, a significant part of the planet has dried-out. Flora is dead. Sand seeps everywhere. The only remains of human structures are imposing and destroyed. Sarah feels like she is the only one to be worried about the future of her world and she is thirsty…
THE NEIGHBOUR
This is your neighbour’s story. One being in constant confrontation. In his world, the other is the enemy. Who really is your neighbour?
STILL FEEL YOU WITH ME
Short dance film recounting a collective experience dancing workshop, led by Béatriz Mediavilla at the Portland dance film festival. Shot in October 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
PASSAGE
Gabrielle and Yoan are 18 years old. Even though they both grew up in Temiscamingue, their aspirations are the opposite. While Yoan wants to flee the area to break away from his loneliness and explore his homosexuality, Gabrielle is torn at the thought of going away from home to carry on with her studies. Passage paints a poetic portrait of those two protagonists in the transition to adulthood, trying to blossom and trace their life path.
Bloc 7 : Soirée Desjardins
THE PERFUMER
As we leave our hometown to study, we inevitably neglect our family bonds. When we flashback to the past, we realize how the time we spent together with our families was so valuable.
VALLEY OF SOULS
In 2002, on the banks of Magdalena Medio, José returned home at dawn to discover that paramilitary forces had killed his two sons, Dionisio and Rafael and threw their bodies into the river. To prevent their tormented souls from being stuck in this world, he begins a lonely journey to retrieve them and provide a proper burial. Aboard his canoe, José discovers the magic of a country torn into pieces.
Bloc 8 : Matinée Fonderie Horne
400 MPH
On the Bonneville salt flats, the sound of roaring engines can be heard in the distance. At the wheel is Icarus, a chimpanzee hell-bent on transcending the limits of speed. Aboard iconic and increasingly powerful vehicles, Icarus will attempt to reach the ultimate speed of 400 miles per hour, thought to be impossible. Will he prevail or be consumed by his self-destructive quest?
WHAT EVENTUALLY SAVED ROBERT
In a town full of chicken, the Sun needs to be awakened by the king of chicken, Robert. One day, Robert can no longer produce this effective crow. His work performance is bad, and his wife leaves him. How will Robert get his voice back and bring back the Sun?
ZOO
A misunderstanding between three young delinquents and a troubled man escalates to a point of no return.
Secreto
Maude is a 19-year-old woman who after 6 months of absence, returns to visit her grandparents in Anjou. During her visit to her childhood neighbourhood, she will find the opportunity to free herself from what has always been shamefull.
ROSE SCALE
Rose is convinced to be a mermaid but life decided otherwise. With Sébastien next to her, on the shore of Léman lake where she celebrates her 18th birthday, her dreams seem to become reality...
CAKE DAY
On the day of his five-year sobriety cake day, Cameron wakes up badly. He is forced to compromise with the task of admitting his relapse from yesterday. He spends the day emotionally deteriorating as he contemplates the consequences of his honesty.
Supernova
Three men, one place and one event that will change the life of each one of them. A universal tale, kept in a realistic style, tells the story of a few hours in the life of a rural community. The film takes a look at the condition of a man in a borderline situation and raises questions about the essence of chance and destiny. A bloody story, oscillating on the edge of drama, thriller and disaster cinema.
Bloc 9 : Après-midi Fonderie Horne
THE ARTIFICIAL CONDITION
CAIN, artificial intelligence is on a task, carrying a mysterious object through a world ruled by giant earth-shattering machines.
TO THE END
At his best friend's burial, Daniel decides to dig Paul out and bring him home for one last night...
L’OPÉRA D’OR
The pizza delivery guy and his wife, Feu Catharsis, share a passionate love story punctuated with music. In a profoundly wild ghetto where misfits and rivalries mingle, attempts to leave their past behind will run out when the delivery guy crashes into a mutant girl.
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Raôul Duguay is a famous poet and singer of the 70s. In Quebec, most people know his song “La Bittt à Tibi”, but very few of this generation know how important his multidisciplinary work has been to the evolution of the art in Quebec. This film, directed by one of his best friends, introduces all the aspects of this great artist, still very active for an 81 years old artist.
Bloc 10 : Soirée Fonderie Horne
AS LONG AS OUR HEARTS CAN BEAT
Two women on the run in the desert, a canyon as the only way out, and finally, death awaiting. An opportunity for them to live their last moment, intensely.
Going On Stage
Betel nut beauties are definitely one of the traditions in Taiwan. They impress most people by wearing fewer clothes so as to make more sales. Combining the cartoon of western superheroes and special tradition in Taiwan, the film tells a story about family relationships.
THE FALL
Inspired by ‘The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters’, an etching by Francisco Goya, The Fall is a powerful short film that invites its audience to project their preoccupations and interpretations.
#nofilter
A couple goes into a photo booth to take pictures they will join their wedding thank you cards. Once inside the booth, nothing goes as planned…
Los Lobos
In a quest for a better life, Max, Léo and their mother Lucia crossed the border from Mexico into the United States. While waiting for Lucia to return from work, the kids build an imaginary universe with their drawings and think about mom's promise about going to Disneyland, the land of dreams. Director Samuel Kishi Leopo inspires himself from his childhood souvenirs to tell a story about immigration with explosive preciseness.
Bloc 11 : Matinée Bell Média
ATHLETICUS : SLED
It is the end of the day for the bobsleigh managers, time to party and stuff themselves with fish.
METRO6
Today is an important day for Zak, but nothing goes as he planned. When his car won’t start, he has no choice but to use public transportation. During his 8-minute bus ride, Zak comes to realize the true value of human interaction.
THE LORD'S DAY
To get over his Sunday boredom, a young Atikamekw spends time with friends, reminiscing about his dogs.
ACTING OUT
In a school for young actors, in Shanghai, auditions take place. Who are they and why do they want to act? Through their aspirations, a role is created and a film is given.
DELETE HISTORY
In a provincial house estate, three neighbours are facing problems with new technologies and social media. There is Marie, a victim of blackmail because of a sex tape, Bertrand, whose daughter is harassed in school, and Christine, a VTC driver depressed because her customers’ appreciations don’t lift. Together, they go to war against Internet giants. The fight is already lost, although...
Bloc 12 : Après-midi Canal D
Nobody hear
This is an animated music video describing how a young man in the workplace feels doubtful of himself and anxious for the future.
WE_SOUNDS
As human beings, we can't seem to be able to get over our differences. But, are we really all that different? We_sounds; we’re all but the same.
Mutts
In a stray-dog refuge in Agadir, Morocco, more than 750 animals find help and protection while awaiting adoption. Halima Ouardiri observes the rhythm of the animals’ lives, their suspended existence paralleling the far more tragic waiting endured by millions of human beings in search of a new home.
QUAND L’AMOUR NE SUFFIT PAS
Melanie Tardif is a horse lover. Started to work in the equestrian world in 2010, she quickly understands how humans often abuse animals. She paints a personal portrait of her reformed racehorse. A heartrending documentary about the sad reality of racehorses in Quebec.
IRVIN BLAIS, LA VOIX DU PEUPLE
After a career as a construction worker in Northern Quebec, Irvin Blais leaves it all to dedicate himself to become a country singer. Always snubbed by the mainstream and the artistic intelligentsia, Irvin Blais is one of the five best francophone album sellers in the province of Québec. On YouTube, his fans posted tons of videos that have as many views as Marie-Mai or Eric Lapointe’s videos. All of that without any agent or record label, never being played on the radios or television.
Bloc 13 : Soirée Bell Média
BLACK LEAD
The car goes fast. The atmosphere is tense. There is no one outside. Taken by her father, the young Zheina seeks her mother who is still in the hospital taking care of the wounded. She discovers a city emptied of its population and whose buildings debris announce a significant danger.
TRUMPET
Chioki, a Japanese trumpet player, is on a cultural pilgrimage to discover New York City jazz. After being lost in Brooklyn, he experiences a night paced with unexpected and hectic encounters, changing him forever.
HEROIC LOSERS
In times of the infamous Argentinian Corralito in 2001, the financial crisis hits. After figuring out that their bank manager and a corrupt lawyer have stolen their money, a few neighbours from a little town trace a plan to recover the money they lost by acquiring abandoned silos. Nothing goes as planned.
Bloc 14 : Matinée Ville de Rouyn-Noranda
SKYVISION
Viktor is smoking a cigarette on a building's rooftop. As his cigarette burns and goes off, he watches the city swarming below.
THE LIFEGUARD
An old man returns to the beach where he spent his childhood. The wind rises, a storm approaches and submerges him little by little into his memories.
TADPOLE
I was small, but I remember it very well. Mom and Dad suspected nothing, but I knew straight away. The thing in the cot was not my little brother. It was you! You already had that strange face and you stank... Right, Tadpole?
Somebody you say you love
Barbara is waiting at an airport, about to catch a flight. From the other side of the glass, her boyfriend calls her. For the first time, the couple speaks without touching each other. For the first time, Barbara can say everything she has always wanted to say.
THE TRAP
Away from prying eyes, a young unmarried couple retreats to the depth of a desolate run-down Egyptian seaside resort, to make love. The power dynamic between them is tested when the girl reveals she wants their relationship to end.
WILDLAND – Kød og Blod
Ida is 17 years old when her mother accidentally dies, she is placed by social services to go live with her aunt. Since her mother didn’t speak with her sister, Ida discovers a fusional family, filled with affection. She also discovers that her cousins run a violent criminal organization, all led by their mother. As she tries to find her own place, love and violence become impossible to part. Little by little, she gains consciousness of what her mother tried to escape...
Bloc 15 : Après-midi Ville de Rouyn-Noranda
THE GREAT MALAISE
A young woman describes herself in glowing terms, but the visual narrative tells a different story: with heart-rending power it illustrates the heavy burden of anxiety carried by this worried overachiever.
CINETIC
A man falls asleep on the train on the way home. When he wakes up, every other passenger has disappeared. The man decides to search the train seeking answers.
WICHITA
Sara is in bed with her lover when her husband calls. When he asks her to get something in his sock drawer, she has to run home, stalling for time, asking endless questions about Wichita, Kansas.
FAULT LINE
Nahal breaks her arm in a fight at school. Later, a man claims to the school principal that Nahal has hit someone while riding a motorcycle and fled the scene. Nahal refuses to take the blame and she asserts that the surveillance tapes prove what really happened.
A BIRTHDAY
On her birthday, a single mom tries to bring light to the lives of her two young children by inventing a game where they conquer the hidden corners of their village.
IL ÉTAIT UNE FOIS DANS L’EST
The chronicles of a couple having an affair, in Troubtchevsk, in contemporary Russian country.
Bloc 16 : Soirée de clôture Ville de Rouyn-Noranda - 18 h
THE WALK
Women of all ages emerge from the shadows and together, walk toward a lighting source. Guided by their instincts, they will face and transcend their own limits.
DANCING IN THE RAIN
"Living with cancer inside is an uphill battle." Rachelle filmed the first images of her film just a few days after hearing the diagnosis of breast cancer. She opens the door to her secret garden and talks without censorship and restrains about the hardships and trials she has to fight to overcome the illness. At first, she speaks on her emotions, shares and explains the results of the spate of necessary tests. There are days when she gets discouraged and breaks down in tears, and days when she reclaims her spirit laughs and regains hope. Rachelle is the leading actress of her own path of healing.
Bloc 16 : Soirée de clôture Ville de Rouyn-Noranda - 21 h
THE WALK
Women of all ages emerge from the shadows and together, walk toward a lighting source. Guided by their instincts, they will face and transcend their own limits.
DANCING IN THE RAIN
"Living with cancer inside is an uphill battle." Rachelle filmed the first images of her film just a few days after hearing the diagnosis of breast cancer. She opens the door to her secret garden and talks without censorship and restrains about the hardships and trials she has to fight to overcome the illness. At first, she speaks on her emotions, shares and explains the results of the spate of necessary tests. There are days when she gets discouraged and breaks down in tears, and days when she reclaims her spirit laughs and regains hope. Rachelle is the leading actress of her own path of healing.
