CINEMANIA
November 3 - 13, 2016
CINEMANIA’s 22nd edition of French
films with English subtitles ended on Sunday evening, November 13, 2016.
And the winners are:
GRAND PRIX MEL HOPPENHEIM
(The main CINEMANIA prize that has been awarded since 1998)
A KID | LE FILS DE JEAN
Filmed in Quebec, LE FILS DE JEAN
by Philippe Lioret received the GRAND PRIX MEL HOPPENHEIM, the top CINEMANIA
prize awarded since 1998. The winning film, a North American premiere, is a
France-Quebec co-production starring Quebec actors Gabriel Arcand, Marie-Therese
Fortin, Catherine De Lean, Pierre-Yves Cardinal and Patrick Hivon. The film
follows the story of Mathieu (Pierre Deladonchamps), a 33-year-old Parisian who
never knew his father. One morning in Paris
he receives a surprising phone call that his birth father, a Quebecois, has
just passed away. He also discovers that he has two half-brothers and he
quickly decides to depart for Montreal
to meet them, and attend his father’s funeral. Upon arrival, Mathieu begins to
realize that they never knew he existed and what’s more, don’t care to get to
know him! And, to complicate matters, his father’s oldest friend, a taciturn
old guy, throws a further monkey-wrench into the works.
LE FILS DE JEAN formed part of the program that
CINEMANIA co-sponsored and co-hosted in welcoming the RCF conference
(Rencontres de Coproductions Francophone), held for the first time in Montreal simultaneously
with CINEMANIA. Over 200 film industry professionals attended the 13th annual
RCF conference at workshops and meetings at the Hotel Sofitel Golden Mile and
at La Cinematheque Quebecoise from Novenber 8-11. Attendees had the opportunity
to screen the premiere of the Quebec-France coproduction LE FILS DE JEAN (by
Philippe Lioret and Marielle Duigou of Fin Aout Productions from France, and Marie-Claude Poulin and Pierre Even
of Even de Item 7 from Quebec).
You can read more about this film here.
TFO Prix du Public for the Best First Feature Film
THE DANCER | LA DANSEUSE
There were 8
debut feature films eligible for the TFO Prize, with THE DANCER audience
favourite by popular vote.
THE DANCER, an historical biopic, was presented in its North American premiere
at CINEMANIA – based on a true story that recounts the life of the American
creative visionary, dancer/choreographer/lighting pioneer Loie Fuller at the
turn of the 19th century at the Folies Bergere where she mixed with such
luminaries as Toulouse-Lautrec, Rodin, and Isadora Duncan. Talented actress
SOKO plays Loie Fuller, a dancer who truly influenced the artistic and then
emerging world of modern dance. Lily-Rose Depp (daughter of Johnny Depp and
Vanessa Paradis) portrays the legendary Isadora Duncan, lover of Loie Fuller.
