Vive les Rendez-vous!

by MATTHEW HAYS

When several members of Quebec’s film community decided to launch a festival to help bolster the profile of local cinema, they could not have envisioned where things would end up a quarter century later. Simply put, Quebec’s film scene is a miracle, creating films that are thoughtful auteur meditations (Congorama), popular genre crowd pleasers (Bon Cop, Bad Cop) and a combination of both (C.R.A.Z.Y.), all at once.

The past year has seen the Quebec film milieu become a victim of its own success. As demand for more film funding grew, the feds ducked their responsibility, forcing the Quebec government to step in and fork over millions more dollars for film projects. It was a laudable move on the Liberals’ part, one that will probably win them over a few votes (unlike in the rest of Canada, Quebecers actually want to see films made by other Quebecers). Despite all these successes, some point out that Quebec’s newfound traction at the box office has led to a cinematic identity crisis: will a cinema d’auteur be able to survive amid the more prominent splashy, high-profile, commercial projects?

The great thing about the Rendez-Vous du cinéma québécois (RVCQ) is that it gently reminds us of the fragile diversity of Quebec cinema. Here, the curators have brought together screenings of higher-profile feature projects like Bon Cop, Bad Cop and Un dimanche à Kigali alongside low-budget documentaries such as Julian Samuel’s Atheism and Jason Rodi’s 99 Cent Dreams, all within the same festival. Feature films worth checking out at the event include La Belle bête, Karim Hussain’s adaptation of the notorious Marie-Claire Blais novel; Claude Gagnon’s coming-of-age story Kamataki; Michel Poulette’s epic Quiet Revolutionary tale Histoire de famille; and Sophie Deraspe’s artful mockumentary Rechercher Victor Pellerin.

SMOKED MEAT BEAT

On the documentary front, Garry Beitel delves into the St-Laurent culinary history with Chez Schwartz, his look at the famous smoked-meat eaterie. Jean-Pierre Roy and Jésus Javia Mendez explore the burning question so many in Quebec have been wondering since 2000: who the hell would vote for George W. Bush? They navigate their way through America, asking people why they still support the man, even after the epic catastrophe that is the war in Iraq, in Brainwash?. Adrian Wills offers his feature profile of Quebec’s literary godfather, Entre les mains de Michel Tremblay, while Renald Bellemare profiles Montreal jazzman Vic Vogel in L’Homme de cuivre. Alanis Obomsawin’s exploration of her own community roots, Waban-Aki: peuple du soleil levant, will also screen.

Getting exposure for short films is always a challenge, and one of the RVCQ’s strengths is its ability to draw attention to these often overlooked gems. Joe Balass returns with the story of an ambulance ride in Derniers Mots, Mitch Davis enthrals with God’s Little Girl and Geoffrey Uloth looks at what happens when a man is attacked by his wife with a fork in The Ecstasy Note.

Delightful animated entries include Jonathan Ng’s Asthma Tech, Malcolm Sutherland’s Birdcalls, Steven Woloshen’s Changing Evan and Torill Kove’s Oscar-nominated The Danish Poet. Experimental shorts that will screen are Eduardo Menz’s Fracas and Karl Lemieux’s Western Sunburn.

In the past three years, RVCQ organizers have worked to enhance the possibilities for the public to interact with members of the filmmaking community. This year, the festival will continue to host a series of 5 à 7s, at which wine and cheese will be served at the Cinémathèque québécoise and attendees will be able to mingle with filmmakers Robert Morin, Philippe Falardeau, George Mihalka, Charles Binamé and actors Alexis Martin and Rémy Girard.

On Feb. 15, the RVCQ will host the launch of the special-edition DVD of Jean-Marc Vallée’s C.R.A.Z.Y., and on Feb. 23 they will throw a party celebrating the success of Eric Canuel’s Bon Cop, Bad Cop.

On Feb. 23, a panel called “Made in Quebec” will explore the unique challenges of making English-language movies in la belle province. Panellists include producer Kevin Tierney (Bon Cop, Bad Cop), filmmaker Daniel Cross (The Street) and Concordia film studies professor Dave Douglas.

Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois
runs FROM Feb. 15–25. Info:
(514) 790-1245 or www.rvcq.com