Rendez-vous celebration of Quebec and francophone cinema launches online on February 4 at 4 pm

International standouts, strong Quebec documentaries, and a spotlight on Acadia

POST SPONSORED BY VISIONS OUEST

Lambert Wilson in De Gaulle; the award-winning animated film Josep; and Live Story, Chronique d’un couple,

The Rendez-vous festival of Quebec and francophone cinema has unveiled the more than 60 films it will screen in an online edition from February 4 to 14.

The 27th annual celebration put on by Visions Ouest Productions goes live on February 4 at 4 pm with programming for audiences throughout BC, Alberta, and the Yukon, with more than half of the films available online across Canada via a new Eventive platform.

International premieres this year include De Gaulle, starring Lambert Wilson as the historic French president (February 4 to 11, 2021); Miss, Rubens Alves’s story of a boy’s dream to become Miss France (February 5 to 12); and Aurel’s award-winning animated film Josep, following the Retirada, the painful exodus to France in 1939 of anti-Franco Spaniards (February 6 to 13). The fest also features the world premiere of Live Story, Chronique d’un couple, by Jean-Sébastien Lozeau, starring Sébastien Ricard and Marilyn Bastien.

Opening day, look for Lida Moser, Photographer by Joyce Borenstein. It chronicles the young New York Vogue photographer who took thousands of images as she travelled across Quebec in the summer of 1950. And closing the fest from February 12 to 14 is the stirring Errance sans retour, Mélanie Carrier and Olivier Higgins’ stirring portrait of the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh. where more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslim people fled to from Myanmar.

The event also shines a spotlight on stories from Acadia, including three masterworks by Montreal Acadian director Phil Comeau, who has just received the Léger-Comeau medal awarded by the Société nationale de l'Acadie, and Renée Blanchard's shattering documentary Le Silence, which was recently awarded at the Festival international de cinéma de l'Acadie 2020. Elsewhere, look for Une façon d’être ensemble, Pour mieux t’aimer, and the NFB's Franchir La Line and Le Bonheur de Lucien.

Rendez-vous also features a retrospective of adventurer Thierry Damilano's films, alongside one by his mountaineer brother François Damilano. And expect a strong contingent of cinema from Quebec, including Les Rose, a family portrait that unravels what led the brothers Paul and Jacques Rose to commit acts that led to the death of Pierre Laporte.

There will be Les Grands Rencontres Zoom talks and much more. See www.rendez-vousvancouver.com for more information and a full schedule of Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois et francophone.

This post was sponsored by Visions Ouest Productions