NADIA, BUTTERFLY
Directed and scripted by Pascal Plante
In OFFICIAL SELECTION
at the 73rd Cannes Film Festival 2020
Maison 4:3, Nemesis Films and WaZabi Films are extremely proud to announce that Pascal Plante’s second feature film, NADIA, BUTTERFLY, has been selected at the 73rd Cannes Film Festival in the Official Selection category. The announcement was made by Thierry Frémaux and Pierre Lescure. In this particular year of pandemic, it was important for Festival leaders to continue to support cinema and creators. The Cannes Film Festival will take place in a different way. A selection at this prestigious film event remains a huge privilege.
“As the cinema planet slowly begins to turn again in these uncertain times, it seems completely surreal to receive this immense news. It is therefore with humility that I realize the magnitude of this privilege. I share this selection with my dedicated team, without whom none of this would have been possible. We are incredibly excited for the sequel, and we are very, very much looking forward to sharing the film with you. -director Pascal Plante.
We are honored and so happy! It is an incredible privilege to be the only Canadian film in the 73rd official selection of the Cannes Film Festival. We can’t wait for Canadian moviegoers to see this film in theaters this fall. » adds Chantale Pagé, from Maison 4:3
Produced by Dominique Dussault of Nemesis Films, distributed by Maison 4:3, scripted and directed by Pascal Plante, NADIA, BUTTERFLY features for the first time on the big screen the swimmer and medallist at the Rio Games Katerine Savard in the title role, as well as swimmer Ariane Mainville, also an Olympic medallist. The world of swimming has been mobilized across Canada for this feature film, including the participation of another former Olympic medallist, Hilary Caldwell of Vancouver. We also find in the cast actor Pierre-Yves Cardinal (Tom à la Ferme, L’échappée).
Shot in the summer of 2019 in Montreal and Tokyo, NADIA, BUTTERFLY is a feature-length drama about the challenges of retirement from sport.
Synopsis
Nadia, 23, is swimming for Canada at the Olympics, but, affected by her life of sacrifice, this prestigious competition will be her last. At the end of her final ordeal, Nadia slips into a pattern of nights of excess punctuated by doubt and confusion. This momentary lapse, however, cannot obscure her real inner quest; this search for his identity outside the swimming world.
For his second feature film, Pascal Plante, having himself a history as a top swimmer, wants to offer us an authentic foray into the world of performance sport; a nuanced portrait of the top level athlete. Making this film with real Olympians, NADIA, BUTTERFLY, will put forward as much as possible their sporting prowess.
Pascal Plante made a name for himself with Les faux tatouages, his first feature film, winner of the Focus Québec/Canada Grand Prize at FNC 2017 and selected at the 2018 Berlinale. After graduating from Concordia University in Montreal in 2011, Pascal was quick to write and direct many short films, including Blonde aux yeux bleus (Best Canadian Short Film, VIFF 2015), Nonna (Slamdance 2017) and BLAST BEAT (Slamdance 2019). Pascal describes himself as a film buff turned fiction filmmaker with a documentary-savvy background.