Several Francophone films planned as part of the Kingston Canadian Film Festival (KCFF). Find useful information and links here to make sure you don’t miss anything 🙂
Francophone films programme
Thursday, 29 February*:
7:00 PM Solo @ Screening Room, 120 Princess St, Kingston.
9:30 PM Kanaval @ Screening Room, 120 Princess St, Kingston.
Friday, 1er March:
1:00 PM Solo @ Screening Room, 120 Princess St, Kingston.
7:00 PM Ru @ Isabel Bader, 390 King St W, Kingston.
9:30 PM Kanaval @ Screening Room, 120 Princess St, Kingston.
Saturday, 2 March:
4:00 PM Les jours heureux (Days of Happiness)
@ Screening Room, 120 Princess St, Kingston.
Sunday, 3 March:
1:00 PM Les jours heureux (Days of Happiness)
@ Screening Room, 120 Princess St, Kingston.
Special KCFF French Speaking Meetup
A SPECIAL “KCFF” FRENCH SPEAKING MEETUP/5 à 7 FRANCO is planned for February 29th, so we can meet at The Iron Duke Restaurant (207 Wellington St, Kingston) for a happy hour, before going to the first French-speaking screenings of the festival.
- Fil tickets are to be booked on the festival website Kingcanfilmfest.com.
- Please book your place to the meet up/ 5 à 7 Franco on the usual link, by clicking here, to help us plan the adequate space to welcome you 🙂
We talked about it in our Newsletter – Subscribe to get updates about our events on the “Contact” page !
Francophone Films Presentations
Solo
Director: Sophie Dupuis
Cast: Anne-Marie Cadieux, Félix Maritaud, Théodore Pellerin
Lang.: French with English subtitles
Runtime: 103 minutes
Content advisory: mature themes, coarse language, simulated sexual content
One of Canada’s most exciting young actors since he first began garnering attention in films like LES DEMONS (KCFF16), Théodore Pellerin reaches a whole new level in the latest showcase of his prowess. The winner for the Best Canadian Film at TIFF in September and named one of Canada’s Top Ten films, this electrifying romantic drama stars Pellerin as Simon, a talented performer in Montreal’s drag scene whose sweetness and sensitivity unfortunately make him all too susceptible to the machinations of his increasingly toxic new boyfriend Olivier (Félix Maritaud). The film marks Pellerin’s third and most exciting collaboration with the equally gifted writer-director Sophie Dupuis. Together they’ve created a heart-wrenching melodrama and an impassioned celebration of Montreal’s drag community, which comes complete with dazzling stage performances set to music by ABBA, Perfume Genius and many more.
Ru
Director: Charles-Olivier Michaud
Cast: Chloé Djandji, Chantal Thuy, Jean Bui, Olivier Dinh
Languages: French and Vietnamese with English subtitles
Runtime: 116 minutes
Based on Kim Thúy’s Governor General Award-winning novel about a Vietnamese family’s journey to new lives in Canada after the fall of Saigon, this stunning feature by writer-director Charles-Olivier Michaud captures the pain and disorientation of forced migration with uncommon power and grace. It’s also anchored by the astonishing performance of first-time actor Chloé Djandji as Tinh, a quiet and observant girl who’s just as perceptive about the peculiarities of life in Quebec as she is about the struggles of her parents, who must also adjust to far humbler circumstances than they previously enjoyed as members of Vietnam’s upper class. What goes largely unspoken but becomes increasingly clear is the effect of the horrors Tinh and her family witnessed in Vietnam and during their perilous escape. Though images of these hardships make a strong impact, the film maintains a dreamlike atmosphere that affectingly conveys its young heroine’s state of mind.
Days of Happiness (Les jours heureux)
Director: Chloé Robichaud
Cast: Sophie Desmarais, Sylvain Marcel, Nour Belkhiria, Maude Guérin
Lang: French with English subtitles
Runtime: 118 minutes
Content advisory: themes of emotional abuse; mature themes, sexual content, coarse language
Reuniting with Sophie Desmarais – the star of the filmmaker’s 2013 feature debut Sarah Prefers to Run – writer-director Chloé Robichaud returns with her richest and most satisfying feature to date. Desmarais stars as Emma, a gifted conductor whose rise in the classical-music world seems inevitable – that is, until new pressures compel Emma to challenge the terms of her complex relationship with her father and agent Patrick (Sylvain Marcel). Made with members of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain — whose music director and conductorYannick Nézet-Séguin served as the film’s artistic consultant — Robichaud’s drama feels both deeply embedded in this world and acutely attuned to the welter of emotions that exist within her characters. The latter is especially true of Desmarais as Emma, a woman who struggles to have the same sense of control over her life as she does with a baton in her hand.
Kanaval
Director: Henri Pardo
Cast: Rayan Dieudonné, Penande Estime, Martin Dubreuil, Claire Jacques
Lang.: French and Creole with English subtitles
Runtime: 122 minutes
Content advisory: violence
The traumatic circumstances of his last days before leaving Haiti amid political unrest have a profound impact on a boy’s early experiences of living in rural Quebec in this beautifully realized debut feature by Henri Pardo. Co-written by Pardo and Kim Nguyen – director of such KCFF faves as the Oscar-nominated REBELLE – the film draws on Pardo’s own memories of fleeing his native Haiti in the early ’70s and arriving in a strange new land. While there’s great specificity and nuance in the film’s portrayal of Rico (Rayan Dieudonné) and his mother Erzuile (Penande Estime) as they try to adapt, KANAVAL’s blend of naturalism and magic realism serves to intensify the impact on viewers as past and present pressures come to bear on our young protagonist. The winner of TIFF’s Amplify Voices Award for Best Canadian Film and one of Canada’s Top Ten, Pardo’s first feature heralds the arrival of a major new talent.
Complete Festival Schedule
You can find the festival schedule on : Kingcanfilmfest.com/2024-schedule.
