25th Quebec Cinema Gala | Challenge met for Jay Du Temple

In the first hour of the 25^e Gala Québec Cinéma, broadcast on Sunday on Noovo, the actor Antoine Bertrand, in spirit, came to give advice to the future winners so that they prepare a very digestible “journalist meal” on the stage of Studios Grandé.

Bertrand gently made fun of artists who deliver political messages hoping to contribute to world peace. “Where diplomats have failed, a cinematographer will succeed,” he quipped. Was he listened to? More or less… By going to pick up the prize for best first film for the remarkable Falcon LakeCharlotte Le Bon ignored this advice (“sorry, Antoine!”) and called for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas.

Antoine Bertrand especially advised the finalists to prepare for a possible victory. The memo does not seem to have reached some of the younger winners, understandably overwhelmed by emotion, who expressed thanks to their numerous agents or – one presumes – distant cousins.

What the actor could have added is that a gala must respect a rhythm. There is no point in taking up all your time at the beginning with a pre-recorded sketch that drags on unnecessarily or with forced dialogues from presenters, only to skip other presentations and end up cutting the whistle on one of the winners (the producer Luc Déry, not to name him) of the most important prize of the evening, that of best film, awarded to vikingby Stéphane Lafleur.

Noovo had promised a “revisited” formula for its first broadcast of the Quebec cinema gala. I don’t know to what extent we can really reinvent this kind of wheel. I have covered in one way or another all the Jutra/Iris galas since 1999 (at TVA), and this one was in the general tone of the previous ones, not avoiding the same pitfalls. Starting with this fishtail ending, as if it were of capital importance that the gala lasted 2 hours 21 minutes rather than 2 hours 30 minutes. Suddenly we would miss the start of the American Trapa film rated 5 (average) by Médiafilm.

Finishing in style counts too. However, this 25^e Gala Québec Cinéma was conducted smoothly by its host, clearly comfortable in the role of master of ceremonies, despite a few hiccups. This gala was not boring, which is already a huge quality for a televised awards ceremony.

It’s a good idea to limit award shows to 12 peak categories. Galas are above all TV shows intended for the general public, not ceremonies for industry-savvy audiences.

Noovo of course hopes to rejuvenate the audience of the Gala Québec Cinéma thanks to the former host ofDouble occupationas well as a strategic broadcast right after the Christmas special of Big Brother Celebrities. I must admit to never having watched OD or what we hear in Quebec by BBC. I washed my hair that evening…

We will soon see if the ratings were there. We hope so, given that the gala almost never took place. Remember that Radio-Canada, in an incomprehensible manner, ended its association with this ceremony in October 2022, of which public television had been the official broadcaster for 20 years.

Smiling, teasing, but also benevolent towards Quebec cinema, Jay Du Temple exuded confidence, deadpan, elegant in his black jacket and matching gloves, which must have caused chatter in the cottages. “Are cycling gloves really necessary?” “, asked Patrick Huard, who offered a little populism 101 number in his character of Rogatien.

We felt that the host had rather free rein, which has not always been the case in the history of this gala, which has had 16 hosts (including several duos) over the past 25 years. The Quebec cinema community, fragile and rather sensitive, has difficulty accepting being made fun of.

“You know your gala is in a delicate position when he’s in the same position asAn almost perfect dinner “, said Jay Du Temple in his opening monologue, closer to the tone of Louis-José Houde at the ADISQ gala than to that of Ricky Gervais at the helm of the Golden Globes. He reserved some well-felt and well-deserved barbs at Radio-Canada, made fun of the generic name of the gala he hosted, of the Iris trophy, which looks like a roll of paper towel that has taken on water (c It’s me who says that), and recurring themes of Quebec cinema, such as spreading the ashes of a loved one with the family.

Jay Du Temple is also very self-deprecating. During the opening sketch inspired by The great seduction, a Benoît Brière with colored hair and nails “à la Jay” recalled that the Gala Québec Cinéma, “close to two inches from extinction”, needed a host “like everyone else” so that it could sheds its elitist image. “You owe that to society,” Élise Guilbault told him, after recalling that Jay Du Temple had hosted Double occupation for six years. I laughed.

There was also of course emotion in this anniversary gala. Jean-Michel Blais accompanied the tribute on the piano to the deceased, interspersed with film extracts. Véronique Le Flaguais took out a tissue after rewatching the scene from CRAZY, by Jean-Marc Vallée, where the unforgettable character of Gervais Beaulieu, played by his lover Michel Côté, sings Take meby Charles Aznavour, then performed beautifully on stage by Marie-Eve Janvier.

In the process, Côté’s son, Maxime Le Flaguais, as well as the one who played his son in CRAZY, Marc-André Grondin, announced that the audience prize at the Gala Québec Cinéma had been renamed the Michel-Côté prize, in honor of the great actor who passed away last May. It made sense. Michel Côté was a champion of mainstream film.

Several of the feature films in which he starred enjoyed enormous popular success, Cruising Bar has From father to cop Passing by Piché, between heaven and earth.

“The industry is impatiently awaiting the news that Telefilm Canada’s budget will be maintained. We are not asking for more money, just respect for a promise,” declared distributor Patrick Roy when receiving this first Michel-Côté prize for My mother’s men, by Anik Jean. He echoed some 250 directors, screenwriters, actors, producers and artisans who signed a letter published on Saturday which criticizes the Trudeau government for not keeping a promise made in 2019 to sustain annual aid of 50 million to Telefilm Canada, bringing the proportion of its financing of French-speaking productions at 40%.

“When we see ourselves on screen, we exist,” Jay Du Temple said at the conclusion of his opening monologue. A phrase that was repeated, in multiple variations, during the evening. “Thank you for taking care of our culture,” Stéphane Lafleur declared to the artists in the room, going to collect the Iris prize for best achievement for viking. This brilliant bittersweet comedy-drama about a simulated space mission also won the Iris for best film, best screenplay and best actor in a leading role for the always excellent Steve Laplante. Finalist in 18 categories, a Jutra/Iris record, viking has won 11 in total since the Artisans Gala on Thursday.

It was the host of the first Jutra gala in 1999, Rémy Girard, who on 25^e Gala Québec Cinéma paid tribute on Sunday evening. “It’s as if he was the one who wrote the lines,” said Yves Jacques of Girard’s always fair and credible performance. Several actors, including Dominique Michel, Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc, Michel Charette, Denis Bouchard, as well as filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, highlighted the contribution to Quebec cinema of the greatest actor of his generation.

“I’m happy that we’re here this evening for a party that almost didn’t happen again. A national cinema without a gala, imagine? I don’t know which fly bit which,” said Girard, very moved and elegant in his thanks, emphasizing that “cinema is not an ephemeral art”. He has played in around sixty films, including some of the most notable in our cinematography: Jesus of Montreal, The decline of the American empire, Barbarian invasions, Fires, etc. And he intends to continue. Rémy Girard is like a good wine: it is enjoyed with even more pleasure over time.