2019 Focus Québec: Mon Québec, Mes Amoures

In recent years at Festival du nouveau cinéma, we have had the immense hon­our of screening some of the most exceptional short films from Québec in our Focus Québec/Canada competition. Each film is singular in its own approach to storytelling, all of them influenced by the directors’ various backgrounds combined with their openness to the world surrounding them. Amongst all these differences, one common denominator transpires throughout, the lan­guage of cinéma.

This programme reflects the diversity and creativity of some of our best short film directors to date. Whether it be through experimental, documentary or narrative forms, these films all reflect, in one way or another, a strong cinemato­graphic identity that represents us all on a grander scale. We are proud to pre­sent to you a selection of works influenced by our vast cultural mosaic that is strongly present in Québec. We are privileged to have the liberty to create, and we are privileged to share and have the opportunity to showcase our cinéma to the rest of the world.

Daniel Karolewicz
Head of Short Films at Festival du nouveau cinéma Montréal (FNC)

The Films

THREE ATLAS, Miryam Charles (Experimental/Fiction, Haiti/Canada/Austria, 2018)

A maid is suspected of murdering her former employer. Questioned by the police, she reveals the existence of a supernatural power.

TSCHIUETIN, Caroline Mennet (Documentary, Canada, 2016)

A trip on a First Nation­owned train line in Northern Québec, shot on 16mm in black and white, becomes an eloquent symbol of the pride and dignity that come with autonomy.

TOUT SIMPLEMENT (PLAIN AND SIMPLE), Raphaël Ouellet (Fiction, Canada, 2016)

The film reveals the lives of four different characters who share a sense of loneliness while striving to belong.

VOCES DEL SECUESTRO (VOICES OF KIDNAPPING), Ryan McKenna (Documentary, Columbia/Canada, 2017)

For twenty years, the programme Voices of Kidnapping allowed family members to send radio messages that they hoped would reach their loved ones kidnapped in the Amazon jungle.

L'AIR DE VENT (WHISPERING BREEZE), Jonathan Trembley (Fiction, Canada, 2016)

An exiled woman wrestling with a repressed past finds comfort by the sea. To allay her nostalgia, she writes a letter – as a message in a bottle for the sea.

LUNAR-ORBIT RENDEZVOUS, Mélanie Charbonneau (Fiction, Canada, 2018)

A woman­-tampon joins a man-­astronaut on a road trip to the moon. Daniel is on a mission to scatter his mother’s ashes and Claude is hoping for her period to make a miraculous return.

BROTHERHOOD, Meryam Joobeur (Fiction, Quatar/Canada/Sweden/Tunisia, 2018)

Mohamed is a shepherd living in rural Tunisia with his wife and two sons. Mohamed is deeply shaken when his oldest son Malik returns home after a long journey with a mysterious wife.