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Millie (Sophie Desmarais) with Hélène (Irène Jacob) and Aliocha (Aurélia Arandi-Longpré) in Philippe Lesage’s Who By Fire (Comme Le Feu) starting to move to Rock Lobster by the B-52s: “The use of music is very important in my films …”

Philippe Lesage’s striking Who By Fire, shot by Balthazar Lab has in its center a four minute dance scene to Rock Lobster by the B-52s that turns into a conga line. Beautifully choreographed, it unfolds as a well-deserved moment of relaxation for all present at the long intense weekend in the Canadian wilderness, albeit in a comfortable lodge owned by Oscar-winning filmmaker Blake, played mischievously by Arieh Worthalter (who starred opposite Vicky Krieps in Mathieu Amalric’s Hold Me Tight).

Philippe Lesage with Anne-Katrin Titze and Ed Bahlman holding up the B-52s original Rock Lobster/52-Girls record (1978)

We enter the story by car, in the...

Canadian director Philippe Lesage sits somewhere along the spectrum between François Truffaut and Richard Linklater when tracing the process of growing up. Since moving into narrative filmmaking with 2015’s The Demons, Lesage has pulled largely from the same group of young actors and followed their gradual progression from youth toward adulthood. The filmmaker tells me he plans to shoot a follow-up to 2018’s Genesis, following Théodore Pellerin’s Guillaume a decade after the film, but quips, “It’s not a sequel because I don’t expect that many people who have seen the previous films.”

Perhaps more audiences will come to discover Lesage’s filmography after seeing his latest work, Who by Fire. Four out of the film’s 10 actors return from previous collaborations with the director in this clash of generations that plays out in the secluded woods of rural Canada. Fault lines emerge across age, gender, status, professional attainment,...

After his revelatory coming-of-age film Genesis, Quebecois filmmaker Philippe Lesage has expanded his canvas with Who by Fire, a lush, intimate, and psychologically riveting drama following two families on a secluded getaway in a remote cabin as they contend with career and romantic jealousies and entanglements. Following its Berlinale and New York Film Festival premieres, KimStim picked up the stellar drama for a release this spring. Ahead of a March 14 opening beginning at NYC’s Film at Lincoln Center (with Lesage in person for opening week Q&As) and a March 21 opening at LA’s Laemmle Theatres, we’re pleased to exclusively debut the first U.S. trailer.

Here’s the synopsis: “A getaway at a secluded log cabin in the forest becomes the site of escalating, multigenerational tensions and anxieties in this disquieting, impeccably mounted coming-of-age drama from Quebecois filmmaker Philippe Lesage. Ostensibly a merry reunion between well-known film...

Philippe Lesage’s Who by Fire begins with a vision of what could be called stasis in motion. Following a car on a highway as it winds its way deeper into the woods, the opening shot holds for an unnervingly long time, accompanied by droning ambient music, before moving into the car, where the legs and hands of two people sitting side by side can be glimpsed. Only later will it be made clear that the occupants of the car are screenwriter Albert (Paul Ahmarani), his two kids, Aliocha (Aurelia Arandi-Longpré) and Max (Antoine Marchand-Gagnon), and Max’s friend Jeff (Noah Parker), on their way to the cabin of Albert’s former collaborator, Blake (Arieh Worthalter), that’s only accessible by seaplane.

The portentousness of this early journey is laced with a somewhat spiky sense of humor; in one scene, captured in a single long shot, Albert teasingly drives forward several times,...

You’d expect the pivotal music cue in Philippe Lesage’s Who by Fire to be its namesake by Leonard Cohen, a beautiful and plaintive prayer of a song. But instead it’s The B-52s’ infectious slice of bubblegum “Rock Lobster,” initially seeded through a dialogue reference, then heard fully in an eccentric sequence I won’t further detail. The funny, noteworthy quirk of “Rock Lobster,” though, is its structurally well-earned length of just under seven minutes. Who by Fire, running 161 minutes itself, also seems to be up to something, committing to that runtime as such a contained, semi-domestic drama: a provocation through duration.

A rising Québécois filmmaker making his second coproduction with France, Lesage thus far in his career has tinkered around the edges of familiar genres and subject matter, embedding these into his personal sensibility if never quite reinventing them. The camera styles of his two prior...

New films featuring Carey Mulligan, Adam Sandler, Amanda Seyfried, Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough are among 2024 Berlinale Specials lineup, the out-of-competition gala presentations at next year’s Berlin International Film Festival.

Spaceman, a Netflix sci-fi drama from Chernobyl director Johan Renck, starring Sandler, Mulligan, Kunal Nayyar, Isabella Rossellini and Paul Dano, will have its world premiere in the Berlinale Special gala sidebar. Sasquatch Sunset, an adventure comedy from the Zellner brothers which stars Keough, Eisenberg, Nathan Zellner, and Christophe Zajac-Denek, will screen in Berlin after its Sundance debut. Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils, which had its world premiere in Toronto, and stars Seyfried alongside Rebecca Liddiard, Douglas Smith, Ambur Braid, and Michael Kupfer-Radecky, will also have its international premiere in the Berlinale Specials gala section.

Treasure (aka Iron Box), the 90-set English-language feature from German director Julia von Heinz (And Tomorrow The Entire World), which stars Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry...

On the way to the grocery store, “Family First” director Sophie Dupuis got a call that made her wish she wasn’t wearing jeggings. Not only was her first feature film Canada’s official entry into the Oscar foreign film race, but she needed to announcement it live within the hour.

“I was sure it wasn’t going to be us,” the Quebec native told TheWrap’s Steve Pond at a Q&A on Tuesday following a screening of the crime drama.

“Family First” is a 90-minute journey into the dysfunctional world of debt collectors, brothers Jp (Jean-Simon Leduc) and 19-year-old Vincent (Theodore Pellerin). While older brother Jp begins to have doubts about helping the cartel collect their money, a group lead by their uncle Dany (Paul Ahmarani), Vincent’s explosive, care-free personality leads him deeper into Dany’s web. Canadian actress Maude Guerin plays the on-again off-again alcoholic mother...

The title spells out the theme in the crime drama “Family First,” and if that weren’t enough, the title itself is inked out in cursive on one of the main character’s forearms, a reminder to everyone about how the priorities of mob-linked siblings must align. Quebecois director Sophie Dupuis’ debut feature, selected as Canada’s Oscar foreign language submission, tries to make a virtue of simplicity, whittling the trials of a conflicted goon down to an 87-minute pressure cooker, driving its reluctant hero into action. Yet Dupuis isn’t exactly the first to tackle a “just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in” gangland scenario, and the no-frills storytelling mostly works against her, rendering the film’s Verdun, Montreal, underworld disappointingly nondescript.

In this “Animal Kingdom”-like domestic scenario, the mother (Maude Guérin) is too swamped by alcoholism to run the show, so it...

Drama earned three Iris Prizes at recent Gala Québec Cinéma.

Sophie Dupuis’ Chien de garde will represent Canada in the contest for the 2019 best foreign language film Oscar.

The Québecoise filmmaker’s narrative feature directorial debut centres on a man who tries to balance the demands of a needy family, the collections work he does with his brother, and the father figure / uncle who runs a drug cartel.

Jean-Simon Leduc, Théodore Pellerin, Claudel Laberge, Maude Guérin, and Paul Ahmarani star.

Etienne Hansez of Bravo Charlie produced Chien de Garde, which Axia Films distributed in Quebec. Telefilm Canada and others funded the feature,...

Canada has selected Sophie Dupuis' debut feature, Watch Dog (Chien de garde), for the best foreign-language film Oscar.

Quebec stars Jean-Simon Leduc, Theodore Pellerin, Claudel Laberge, Maude Guerin and Paul Ahmarani lead the $1.5 million crime drama's ensemble cast.

Watch Dog follows a young man who lives with his brother, mother and girlfriend in a small apartment in suburban Montreal. Constantly walking a tightrope, he tries to find the right balance between his very needy family, for whom he feels responsible; the collection job he works with his brother; and his involvement in the Montreal drug cartel run by ...

Canada has selected Sophie Dupuis' debut feature, Watch Dog (Chien de garde), for the best foreign-language film Oscar.

Quebec stars Jean-Simon Leduc, Theodore Pellerin, Claudel Laberge, Maude Guerin and Paul Ahmarani lead the $1.5 million crime drama's ensemble cast.

Watch Dog follows a young man who lives with his brother, mother and girlfriend in a small apartment in suburban Montreal. Constantly walking a tightrope, he tries to find the right balance between his very needy family, for whom he feels responsible; the collection job he works with his brother; and his involvement in the Montreal drug cartel run by ...

Filmoption International cuts deals on adventures of a married woman who must face the music.

Canadian Renée Beaulieu’s Tiff premiere Les Salopes Or The Naturally Wanton Pleasure Of Skin has sold to Japan and Germany.

Filmoption International’s Andrew Noble licensed rights to At Entertainment in Japan, and to Atlas Film in Germany.

Les Salopes Or The Naturally Wanton Pleasure centres on a self-assured woman and her sexual adventures. When a scandal threatens to reveal deep secrets, a happily married wife and mother with a promiscuous other life must confront the consequences her choices have for her family and career.

Can skin tell the difference between love and desire? It’s an intriguing question Marie-Claire (Brigitte Poupart) can’t help but want to answer as a dermatology professor and lover of sex if only to supply a reprieve from the usual carcinoma studies her doctorate students tediously gravitate towards. She knows the young woman who presents it (Charlotte Aubin’s Sofia) is up to the challenge scholastically, but unsure experimentally. So Marie-Claire takes it upon herself to collect samples of her own cells before and after masturbating, those from a one-night stand (Paul Ahmarani’s Louis) she met at lunch one day, her husband Adam’s (Vincent Leclerc), and who knows how many others that she sleeps with too. It’s an increase in suitors that inevitably risks her personal and professional lives for science.

Writer/director Renée Beaulieu refuses to let her film Les Salopes or The Naturally Wanton...

“One’s brain needs to dream in order to reboot.”

Mars Et Avril screens March 4th at Schlafly Bottleworks Restaurant and Bar in Maplewood

Danger Diabolik, Tarantula, The Thing With Two Heads – You never know what’s brewing at Webster University’s Strange Brew cult film series. It’s always the first Wednesday evening of every month, and they always come up with some cult classic to show while enjoying some good food and great suds. The fun happens at Schlafly Bottleworks Restaurant and Bar in Maplewood (7260 Southwest Ave.- at Manchester – Maplewood, Mo 63143).

This month (Wednesday March 4th) Strange Brew is offering up something I’ve never heard of….but it sure looks interesting! It’s the 2012 French-Canadian sci-fi mindbender Mars Et Avril

Plot synopsis for Mars Et Avril: As the first human prepares to touch down on Mars, a charismatic Montreal musician enters into a tempestuous love...

The 43rd edition of the Festival du nouveau cinéma showcases the best new films and filmmakers from around the world. The festival which has often been described as ‘ baby-tiff’ – picks up the best from Berlinale, Cannes, Venice, Telluride, Toronto and more – and demonstrates the vibrancy of filmmaking in all its forms and for all audiences. The fest has announced the first wave of films from Quebec and Canada in their lineup. Once again this year, the Festival will be putting local cinema in the limelight by screening some much-awaited works spread out over several programs, including the International Competition – Louve d’or, Focus, Fnc Lab, Panorama and Special Presentation for the features as well as a variety of short film programs.

The Fnc will present the much-awaited Félix and Meira (Félix et Meira), the new film by Maxime Giroux (whose Jo pour Jonathan was shown in 2010), the tale of an...

Our story opens in futuristic Montreal, as mankind embarks on a mission to Mars. Jacob Obus (Jacques Languirand) is a 70something musician who mesmerizes audiences with strange otherworldly music. The instruments he plays are inspired by the bodies of women, designed by his artist friend Arthur (Paul Ahmarani), and manufactured by Arthur's famous cosmologist father Eugène Spaak (holographic head played by Robert Lepage, body played by Jean Asselin.) Into this triangle arrives Avril (Caroline Dhavernas), a long-exposure photographer with breathing problems who is in love with Obus and feigning romantic interest in Arthur to get closer to him. Arthur designs his latest piece after Avril's likeness, and the resulting instrument vaguely corresponds to a natural topographical feature on Mars. However, Obus has trouble playing the new instrument, and as Avril's breathing problems diminish, he develops his own respiratory issues. It's revealed that the old man is a virgin, despite his...

Mars et Avril Trailer. Martin Villeneuve‘s Mars et Avril (2012) movie trailer stars Caroline Dhavernas, Jacques Languirand, Robert Lepage, Jean Asselin, and Paul Ahmarani. Mars et Avril‘s plot synopsis: “Mars et Avril takes place in a Montreal of the future when humanity is ready to move to Mars. But, not everyone is ready to go. Jacob Obus, a charismatic and beloved septuagenarian, leader of the anti-cybernetic movement, takes pride in slowing down time. He plays captivating music on instruments inspired by women’s bodies and designed by his friend, Arthur.

It’s when Jacob and Arthur are smitten by Avril, a young and short-winded photographer, that the true nature of the old sex symbol is revealed. After making love for the first time in his life, Jacob is ready to leave for Mars in search of his muse. In the midst of everything arrives Eugène Spaak, inventor, cosmologist and Arthur’s father,...

The first trailer for Martin - yes, the brother of Denis -  Villeneuve's upcoming Canadian science fiction offering Mars Et Avril is a textbook example of the sort of film that can only exist within an industry driven by government subsidies. Whether this is a good or bad thing is entirely a matter of personal taste.Mars et Avril is quite possibly the first Québécois film set in a Montreal of the future. As Man is about to set foot on Mars, a small community of anticybernetics is busy trying to slow down time. Among them is Jacob Obus (Jacques Languirand), an emblematic and beloved septuagenarian who creates captivating music on instruments inspired by the female body, designed by his friend Arthur (Paul Ahmarani). Once...

Mars et Avril is a striking new Canadian science fiction film, currently in post-production. The feature film about a future where people are emigrating to Mars is based on the graphic novels of the same name and is written, produced and directed by newcomer Martin Villeneuve who was kind enough to pass along some stills from his film and give us an update on where production's at... and if you're wondering why the film looks so visually interesting, it's because Belgian comic book artist François Schuiten, who has worked on film's such as Golden Compass and Mr. Nobody) is on production design duties.

To get the world of Mars et Avril just right, the film was shot almost entirely on green screen and with a budget of $2 million - a decent size for a Canadian production - Villeneuve was actually able to do the technique justice.

Synopsis:

Mars et Avril...

Director Vincent Lannoo's Vampires will screen at Sci-Fi London beginning May 1st (9:30pm). The film follows a documentary crew who films the life and times of a group of vampires living in Belgium. The Belgium government supports this undead family with a steady supply of fodder e.g. illegal immigrants, and handicapped folk. The film itself moves back and forth between horror and comedy. Vampires is one of the highlights of the film festival and for those with an interest in satire there is a trailer below with more details.

A plot summary courtesy of Sci-Fi London:

"The mockumentary format has now taken on the more sophisticated, eloquent branch of the undead, as a camera crew follows a family of vampires. ‘Living’ in Belgium, a place the head of the vampire family refers to as ‘a flat land full of grey people’, they are bored by their immortality.

You want to take a quick trip through cinema history? Not a lot of better places to start that Quebecois film maker Olivier Asselin’s Un Capitalisme Sentimental. The opening night film of the ongoing Festival du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal the film spins through a variety of styles, from classic American noir to German expressionism to the rise of 70s indie cinema and much, much more. The story? Here’s an excerpt from the Fnc description:

Fernande Bouvier (Lucille Fluet) meets Max Bauer (Paul Ahmarani) who introduces her to modern art, and Maria Rozanova (Sylvie Moreau) who teaches her to be wary of men. Meanwhile, in New York’s business circles, three men are also investing in the future: Victor Feldman (Alex Bisping), a stock market speculator, Charles Wilson (Frank Fontaine), a mine operator, and George Buchanan (Harry Standjofski), who works in the porcelain toilet trade. “It’s not the supply that matters,...

MONTREAL -- Congorama, a subdued comedy about a Belgian man discovering his roots in rural Quebec, grabbed top honors Sunday night at the Prix Jutras, Quebec's film awards.

The French-language feature, which closed the Directors' Fortnight at last year's Festival de Cannes, earned Philippe Falardeau the best director and best screenplay trophies, and producers Luc Dery and Kim McCraw the Jutra for best film.

In addition, Congorama's Paul Ahmarani and Olivier Gourmet shared the best actor prize, while co-star Gabriel Arcand grabbed the trophy for best supporting actor.

The other big winner at this year's Jutras was the Rwanda drama Un dimanche a Kigali, which nabbed six trophies, all in craft categories. These included Pierre Mignot earning the best cinematography prize, Jorane getting the prize for best original music, and Michele Hamel earning the Jutra for best costumes.

Robert Favreau's Un dimanche a Kigali also earned a best art direction prize for Andre-Line Beauparlant, the best sound prized shared by Claude La Haye, Hans Peter Strobl, Marie-Claude Gagne, and the prize for best makeup by Marie-Angele Breitner.

Dealing with themes and character types examined by Denys Arcand's far superior "The Barbarian Invasions", Quebec's "Life With My Father" is a tragicomedy mining the oft-tapped topic of errant fathers and strained sibling relationships that brings little in the way of freshness to that shopworn table.

This second film from French Canadian director Sebastien Rose ("How My Mother Gave Birth to Me During Menopause") focuses on a pair of very different brothers -- uptight, driven pharmaceutical exec Patrick David La Haye) and ne'er-do-well struggling writer/part-time drug dealer Paul (Paul Ahmarani) -- who must learn to reconcile their differences when their long-absent bohemian father, Francois (Raymond Bouchard), suddenly re-enters their lives.

A renowned author with one book to his credit, the career philanderer has come home financially and physically a broken man, and when his health further deteriorates, Patrick and Paul are forced to confront their past and present lives.

As the story, by Rose and Stefanie Lasnier, turns darker, so too does a tone that shifts uneasily from a lightly amiable, sitcom-y lilt to more purposeful dramatics, and while the director and his cinematographer, Nicolas Bolduc, find some moments of visual poetry to grace the overtly familiar proceedings, there's a prevailing emotionally artificial, prefabricated feel to the entire enterprise.

Performances from all concerned are effectively rendered, though there are times when they can only do so much with their heavily archetypal characters.

Also lacking in the subtlety department is a not-so-underlying theme of impotence, which seems to be symbolically tied to recurring images of floodwaters and other faulty plumbing.