Close encounters

>> Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois shines a light on homegrown talent

by JOANNE LATIMER

It's that time of year again. The Quebec film and video industry is celebrating itself with a whiz-bang, 10-day retrospective from February 15-25. An impressive 146 films and videos, plus some multimedia and experimental projects, comprise this year's Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois, which will be paying homage to Gilles Carle and Dédé Fortin.

Opening night pairs up an animated short film, La Solitude de Monsieur Turgeon, by Jeanne Crépeau, with Bernard Émond's feature film La Femme qui boit. It's Émond's first dramatic feature after 10 years as a documentarian. The feature stars Luc Picard (Octobre, 15 Février 1839) and Élise Guilbault, a stage-actress regular in Michel Tremblay plays. Guilbault plays an ageing boozehound who looks back over the last 30 years of her life in the same apartment, and tries to muster up a bit of dignity before she dies.

The NFB can always be counted on to present some crowd-pleasers, and this year is no exception. There's Claude Cloutier's hilarious From the Big Bang to Tuesday Morning, and the equally amusing The Boy Who Saw the Iceberg, by Paul Driessen. On a more sombre note, catch Lina B. Moreco's Mourir pour soi for a doc on dying. Discussion panels hosted by specialists follow screenings.

Thrilling panels

Although panel discussions at film festivals are notoriously brain-numbing, this year's Rendez-vous has come up with the most contentious debate that has ever graced the Canadian festival circuit: "Filming in English: Cultural Treason or a Necessity?" Isn't that refreshingly to the point? Chances are pretty good that accusations of treason and "selling out" will be flying around when Denys Arcand, Christian Duguay, Léah Pool and others are there for target practice. Go early for a seat on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 1:30 p.m. at the Cinémathèque québécoise.

If you'd rather avoid the mud-slinging--and I recommend that you don't--you can always catch up on the latest Robert Lepage film, Possible Worlds, Denis Villeneuve's Maelstroem, Coin Low's Moving Pictures, or take in one of the many screenings of Gilles Carle's films--always a good bet. Unbound, the new film by John Zeppetelli, is a sure thing, as is Arto Paragamian's captivating Two Thousand and None.

If you're looking for a fun premiere, there's the debut of 514-50 Hip Hop, by Patricia Chica and Yanick Létourneau. It's a 10-minute documentary about the rap scene in Montreal, featuring locals Yvon Krevé, Sans Pression and J. Kyll from Muzion. Also interviewed are local media personalities, DJ Blast and the breakdancers Tactical Crew.

Closing the festival on Saturday night at the Imperial (invitation only) is a video by Louis Bélanger of Post Mortem fame. Bélanger's new film is Lauzon-Lauzone, an 89-minute colour video on the world of filmmaker Jean-Claude Lauzon. Regular folk are outta luck, since no additional screening times are offered.

One last note: there's a new $5,000 bursary at the Rendez-vous. It's from the Conseil des arts et des letters du Québec, to be allocated to a professional Quebec "créateur en arts médiatiques."

Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois runs until Feb. 25 at the Cinématheque québécoise and the NFB. for info call 252-3021