Outdoor screenings, an archival film and a new international co-production market
FROM OCTOBER 6 TO 17, 2021
The Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC), the darling of Canadian film festival scene, is delighted to announce that its 50th edition is taking place from October 6 to 17, 2021. To comply with current health standards, this year the FNC is going for a hybrid format and invites festival-goers to celebrate half a century of new cinema online and in theatres. To mark this anniversary edition, a number of special events will be punctuating the festivities, including summer screenings, a Carte Blanche on the festival’s history by filmmaker Luc Bourdon, the digitization and screening of great Canadian classics as well as a brand-new international co-production market.
The summer festival from September 2 to 5
The FNC will present four evenings of outdoor screenings from September 2 to 5, on the recently opened Esplanade Tranquille in the Quartier des spectacles. Free, but by reservation only, these screenings will launch the 50th anniversary festivities in a unifying manner. Three feature films from the FNC’s initial 2020 selection and a program of short films will be presented to allow the public to discover or rediscover the best filmmakers of today and tomorrow. These four evenings will be accompanied with surprises and entertainment (dance, music, food and bar services, etc.).
Cinquante Temps – A Carte Blanche by Luc Bourdon
To underline its jubilee year, the Festival du nouveau cinémainvited Luc Bourdon to rummage through 50 years of Festival archives and put together a short film. A nod to the history of the Festival and the filmmakers who have passed through its programming, the film evokes the spirit of the FNC from the 1970s to today, nourished by Jacques Dufresne’s book LES NOUVEAUX CINÉMAS, personal video archives of Luc Bourdon (FNC Executive director for many years), as well as archives compiled at the Festival over the past decade.
A new international co-production market
At the dawn of a new era, the FNC is helping professionals by creating an online international co-production market from October 7 to 10, 2021 – continuing in presence once the festival returns live in 2022. In partnership with the LuxFilm Fest in Luxembourg, the market, a first in Canada, will present around ten feature films and virtual and augmented reality projects at different stages of production, with the aim of bringing together producers and cinema professionals for international co-productions. The market also helps the FNC consolidate its links with the industry and so affirm its role as an essential conduit for North American contemporary cinema.
Telefilm Canada and FNC in a joint project to restore Canadian films
In addition, as part of the Canadian Cinema – Rekindle the Flame initiative initiated by Telefilm Canada, for its 50th edition, the FNC will project LA MOITIÉ GAUCHE DU FRIGO by Philippe Falardeau (2000) and À L’OUEST DE PLUTON by Henry Bernadet and Myriam Verreault (2008), digitized and restored in 4K, in theatres.
“The Festival du nouveau cinema de Montréal is delighted to participate in a project that enhances our national film heritage and celebrates 50 years of the festival by presenting in theatres these great Canadian classics.” – Nicolas Girard-Deltruc, Executive Director of Festival du nouveau cinema
