From
January 15 to 25, the Plein(s) Écran(s) festival is coming back with a
high-calibre selection of Quebec and France’s best short films. Its concept is
unique to Quebec, with 4 films available each day, for free and for a 24-hour
period, accessible online from all areas via Facebook, the largest social media
in the world. Last year, the festival garnered nearly 3 million views and
enough subscribers to fill Bell Centre to maximum capacity! By simply
SUBSCRIBING to the Plein(s) Écran(s) Facebook page and selecting SEE FIRST, you
will gain access to our full program, a selection of breathtaking, poignant
films to enjoy directly on your viewing devices, wherever you are, whenever you
want!
New
releases
Festival-goers
will be getting a number of new releases this year. The VOIR Magazine,
our new official media partner, signs as a coproducer for a new series of
podcasts in French, Plein(s) Écran(s) – la balado. The Voir and Plein(s)
Écran(s) teams are proud to present you with 19 episodes featuring interviews
with a selection of filmmakers, cast and crew form 19 of the 24 Quebec short
films showcased as part of the festival. Hosted with gusto by Nicolas Krief,
the series will give the audience a chance to deepen their understanding of a
film they liked by hearing about what happened behind the scenes.
This
year’s Carte Blanche is given to RIDM (Rencontres Internationales du
Documentaire de Montréal), Quebec’s most influential documentary festival,
whose Director of Programming Bruno Dequen hand-picked 7 documentary shorts to
be presented on the opening weekend (January 18 and 19). “The festival’s vision
is primarily to democratize the short film format by making it readily
accessible to a large audience. By eschewing physical —and categorial—
constraints, we thought it essential to take a bolder direction and explore the
documentary form, in all its artistry and freedom” explained Catherine
Legaré-Pelletier, Plein(s) Écran(s)’s newly-appointed General Director.
And
let’s not forget she who bears a genuine passion for short films and knows the
Plein(s) Écran(s) initiative more than anyone: Julianne Côté, who is back as
the festival’s spokeperson for the second year in a row.
24
Quebec films & 8 French films of all kinds
We
will be kicking off the festival with Le Prince de Val-Bé,
Jean-François Leblanc’s sixth short film, and a testament to the overall
quality of what is to come in both the Quebec and French competitions. The
intensity of this hilarious yet tragic film is shrewdly carried by its actors,
namely through Éric Robidoux and Irlande Côté’s stellar portrayals. As with
many films in our 2020 selection, Le Prince de Val-Bé looks at the rural world with an eye that is both
hostile and affectionate. Shorts such as Pier-Philippe Chevigny’s Recrue,Sarah Pellerin’s Mon
Boy and Guillaume Fournier, Samuel Matteau and Yannick
Nolin’s
Acadiana all
tell us their own tender, sincere take on this theme. What is more, a few of
these shorts already hit the ground running at TIFF before coming to Plein(s)
Écran(s). The festival will also be screening acclaimed shorts from around the
world, such as Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s insane Pauline
Asservie (selected for the Cannes International Critics’ Week,
in the race for a 2020 César Award) and Meryam Joobeur’s Brotherhood, which is coming back from its festival circuit with
63 awards and its name on the Oscar shortlist! As a world premiere, Alec
Pronovost (Tony Speed, Le Killing TV show)’s Jeep Boys
will be concluding our first day. A mystery film, one that is much anticipated
by Quebec audiences, will be streamable for a meager 3-hour period on the very
last day of the festival, January 25.
A
grand finale!
Lastly,
our gender-equal —let it be said— program, selected by Paul Landriau (Director
of Programming) and TamDan Vu (Programmer, France) will be topped with a
Masterclass given by none other than our special guest filmmaker Chloé
Robichaud, whose two feature films (Sarah Prefers To Run and Boundaries)
have been shown around the world. This free lesson in cinema will take place on
January 25 at Phi Centre, right before the Award Ceremony. Incidentally, the
ceremony will be improved from its usual 4 awards to 5 awards for the Quebec
competition, along with a brand new $1,000 prize for the Audience Award. All in
all, a whopping $36,000 will be awarded to local filmmakers. Robichaud’s
masterclass will be preceded by a retrospective of three of her past creations
(Herd Leader, Maternel and the pilot for the Féminin/Féminin web
series).
Official
launch of this year’s programming will be held at Cinema Moderne on January 14
at 7 p.m. with a festive opening night and a live screening of the festival’s 4
first films. Then, on January 25, a closing party will follow the award
ceremony at Phi Centre for a strong finish.
FESTIVAL PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/pleinsecrans/
