News

The Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (Sodec), Quebec's cultural sponsor for the film industry, announced the 12 lucky feature films that will be subsidized. Speaking of homegrown films, eight will be in French and one will be in English. The rest of the films are co-productions.

Homegrown films in French:

Bo$$É: Directed by Claude Desrosiers, this film is a satirical comedy about financial scandals seen through the eyes of a corrupt man, Bernard Bossé. The film will be scripted by André Ducharme, Luc Déry and Yves Lapierre. The film is produced by Les productions Équinoxe and will be distributed by Alliance Atlantis.

Décharge: A criminal who found redemption randomly meets a prostitute. However, the meeting, brings back in the criminal things from his past. Written by Benoît Pilon and Pierre Szalowski. Directed by Benoît Pilon (Ce qu'il faut pour vivre). Produced by Forum Films and distributed by Remstar Distribution.

• The closing film of last September's Toronto Film Festival is set for its Canadian theatrical bow (this has yet to be picked up for domestic distribution south of the Canadian border) - we've got your first look at Paolo Barzman's Emotional Arithmetic.Boasting a cast of familiar faces, this is a Canadiana production based on the book by Canadian novelist Matt Cohen and adapted by Jefferson Lewis and Barzman. The film probes the intricate possibilities of love and madness and the shadows the past throws upon the present. Three people who formed a life-long bond in a concentration camp are re-united for the first time forty years later in the bucolic setting of a renovated farm. Sarandon will play Melanie Lansing Winters, a beautiful woman in her 50's who balances her precarious emotional state with an innate sharp, deprecating wit. Byrne will play Christopher Lewis, a British novelist

...

• When your an international film festival showcasing big fall titles and you can close out and open your fest with Canadian films, then you know that the country that usually serves as backdrops for American cities is good at being more than just that. As reported in Screen Daily, Paulo Barzman's Emotional Arithmetic will receive its world preem and close out the fest.The pic that was shot in my neck of the woods during the crispy cold months actually boosts a cast of somebodies. Based on the book by Canadian novelist Matt Cohen and adapted by Jefferson Lewis and Barzman, the film probes the intricate possibilities of love and madness and the shadows the past throws upon the present. Three people who formed a life-long bond in a concentration camp are re-united for the first time forty years later in the bucolic setting of a renovated farm. Sarandon will play Melanie Lansing Winters,

...

This charming Canadian gem, starring the lovely Genevieve Bujold, should prove to be a compatible mate to the art-house crowd. Its simplicity and gentle humor make it one of the few truly heartwarming films out there, almost guaranteeing it a warm reception.

Bujold has never looked more comfortable in a role, nor has she ever looked so naturally beautiful as she appears here. It's not simply that all brides are beautiful, or that director of photography Sylvain Brault's camera is in love with her (which it obviously is). It's that Bujold's inner beauty, and her character's, are in full bloom on the screen.

She plays Claire, a 39-year-old college professor who, though she's in love with her lover, Milosh (Teo Spychalski), is unhappy being just a mistress. She would love to do something with him while ''fully dressed.''

Her inner loneliness sets the stage for her willingness, after initial reluctance, to marry Pablo (Manuel Aranguiz), a Chilean political refugee whose visa has expired. Immigration is after him, but if he is sent back to his home country he is sure to be tortured, imprisoned or worse. His lawyer happens to be Claire's sister, Annie (Dorothee Berryman), whose bright idea it was for this seemingly mismatched pair to get married.

Naturally, there is an overzealous immigration official, Bouchard (Gilbert Sicotte), out to prove that their marriage is a farce, who keeps them under observation 24 hours a day. This necessitates that they live together in order to fool Bouchard. However, they need only stay under one roof for three days until they take the immigration exam, which will determine if the government considers them legally married.

In that time, they slowly reveal themselves to one another, peeling off layer after protective layer. An unspoken bond develops between them. Their emotions speak louder than their words, but each pretends not to hear. Their future, whether together or apart, is as much a mystery to them as it to us.

Again, the plot will sound quite familiar to anyone who saw ''Green Card, '' yet many films with similar plots are quite different in quality and effectiveness. ''A Paper Wedding'' is its own film entirely. There is nothing broad or predictable about it. And there is a natural, believable chemistry between Bujold and Aranguiz that keeps the film in the realm of reality. Director Michel Brault allows the story to build at a necessarily even pace, which enables the viewer to absorb all the dynamics that take place between the different characters.

''A Paper Wedding'' is a tender no comma here julie little ceremony you'll be happy to attend.

A PAPER WEDDING

A Capitol Entertainment Release

Director Michel Brault

Writers Jefferson Lewis, Andree Pelletier

Director of photography Sylvain Brault

Editor Jacques Gagne

Music supervisorMartin Fournier

Color

In French and Spanish with subtitles

Cast:

Claire Genevieve Bujold

Pablo Manuel Aranguiz

Annie Dorothee Berryman

Milosh Teo Spychalski

Gaby Monique Lepage

Bouchard Gilbert Sicotte

Running time - 90 minutes

No MPAA Rating

(c) The Hollywood Reporter...