The 41e Festival du cinéma international en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (FCIAT) kicks off Saturday with the long-awaited premiere of the film adaptation of the play you will remember me, directed by Éric Tessier. This dramatic comedy is in the image of the entire program of the festival, that is to say “general public, but of quality”, according to Jacques Matte, president and co-founder of the event.
“This opening film has all the ingredients for a great success,” said Mr. Matte. “We talk about Alzheimer’s disease, aging, forgetting, in an approach similar to that of Denys Arcand, with the sociological view of a professor on the world. The film makes you laugh and cry at the same time”, he adds.
Film adaptation of the eponymous play by François Archambault, you will remember me, by Éric Tessier, was to be released two years ago, but its release had been postponed due to the pandemic. “It’s an extraordinary story,” says the director. We were supposed to release the film on March 20. [2020], a week before the great confinement. »
Today, Éric Tessier welcomes the decision of its distributors, who preferred to wait in order to obtain a theatrical release. “It was the right decision to make. We didn’t want to release the film online. It was difficult at first, because we had started promoting. We were supposed to have a premiere in Quebec and we had to cancel it. We didn’t know what was in store for us, but we took it one step at a time,” he said.
Issues “all the more current”
you will remember me depicts the memory loss of Édouard, a retired teacher (Rémy Girard) struggling with Alzheimer’s disease. He forgets everything, except his notions of history, which he taught all his life at university, as well as his memories of youth, in particular the beginnings of his relationship with his ex-wife (France Castel), the mother of her children, or the trauma related to the suicide of her youngest daughter, who died at 19.
Bérénice (Karelle Tremblay), a rebellious teenager in search of herself, comes to take care of him. She reminds him of his daughter who died years earlier. The meeting turns out to be transformative for the two characters, while it brings him serenity and humility, and, him, a sense of responsibility as well as a social conscience fueled by his great general knowledge.
“The film deals with Alzheimer’s disease, but the disease becomes a pretext to address many other subjects, in particular the preservation of French”, maintains Éric Tessier. Indeed, the character of Édouard, pessimistic and haughty, is increasingly critical of youth culture, particularly regarding their relationship to history, their mastery of French and their use of social networks.
According to Éric Tessier, his film deals with issues “all the more relevant today”. Himself, as a father, says he was challenged by the socio-political remarks of the story: “When I think of my two boys, I tell myself that we must bring them a sensitivity towards French and worry about what they will remember from our story. These themes were discussed a lot during the election campaign and I think people are more and more aware of them. »
Accessible cinema, without compromise
Jacques Matte does not hide his satisfaction at being able to present you will remember me world premiere in Rouyn-Noranda. “I think this film will be very successful in theaters, and we are extremely happy to present it at home,” he said.
“This year, our films deal with necessary subjects, but remain accessible, without compromise”, adds the man who co-founded the event more than forty years ago and who is still responsible, with two other people, for its programming.
Among his vast selection of films with a political content, he says he is particularly proud to present, also as a world premiere, Waiting for Raif, a documentary by Luc Côté and Patricio Henriquez. Shot over eight years, the film chronicles Ensaf Haidar’s long struggle to free her husband, political prisoner Raïf Badawi, a blogger who was detained for ten years in Saudi Arabia and who is still banned from leaving the country. country for the next ten years.
The FCIAT bears its name well, also displaying an abundant selection of international titles. Among the most anticipated are Boy from Heaven by Tarik Saleh, who won the screenplay prize at Cannes in 2022, or even The Civil by Teodora Ana Mihai, Audacity Prize in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes 2021.
The Abitibi festival also features a good number of Quebec films, animated films for the youngest—including the latest Michel Ocelot, The pharaoh, the savage and the princess —, as well as short films.
Jacques Matte is “very eager” to present this first edition without social distancing measures since the pandemic. After 41 years, he maintains that he “will never stop” working to expand his audience, “always faithful and curious, for all these years”.