They were almost embarrassed that I had thought of them. “We shouldn’t forget all our friends! We love them! » Sarah Mannering, Fanny Drew and Geneviève Dulude-De Celles founded the production company Colonelle Films in 2012, with the aim of making new voices of Quebec cinema heard and discovered.
The producers are part of a cohort of young millennial women who are now leading companies in an industry that has long been, and still is, dominated by men. Things change. We could almost speak of a paradigm shift when seeing all the films directed and produced by millennials who are hitting the screens these days, shining in international festivals and offering so many new perspectives on our society.
By meeting the trio in their offices in Little Italy, I noticed that this “quiet revolution” was taking place through collegiality, emulation and collaboration. Like the community spirit of their generation, which has often been described as individualistic.
There are really a lot of young companies run by women. If we talk about millennials, I think it’s more difficult to identify producers than female producers. There are plenty ! We are very close to our peers. There really is a kind of sisterhood.
Sarah Mannering
When a colleague has a problem, it is not uncommon for her to call Colonelle, notes Fanny Drew. And vice versa. “A strong point of our generation is that there is really a great feeling of mutual assistance,” she says. There is no notion of competition. We are allies, even if we all work for the same piece of pie. »
– Would it be a cliché to say that it is a more feminine trait to not be in competition?
They start laughing. “We’ll let you say it!” », remarks Geneviève Dulude-De Celles. The filmmaker ofA colony and Daysa documentary about a young woman with breast cancer who has just been released, studied cinema with Sarah Mannering, who is a high school friend of Fanny Drew (they now live in the same building, with the sister of Sarah, Émilie, who is a filmmaker).
The lack of competition between young production companies run by millennials is such that several share a common administrator and do not fear opening their books for each other.
Filmmakers also move from one house to another, “in shared custody”. Ariane Louis-Seize, whose excellent Humanist vampire seeking consenting suicidein theaters next Friday and produced by Art et Essay – another company run by young women – has a feature film project in development at Colonelle Films.
“When we started 10 years ago, there were fewer women directors,” recalls Sarah Mannering. We experienced this turning point. At the beginning, when we started to get grants, we were told that it was because we were women and that there were specific programs that encouraged that. Now, we are starting to feel the benefits of these programs. »
Programs that were initially criticized by some… particularly by baby boomer or Generation X men who feared losing what they had acquired.
“There are directors who have established themselves thanks to these open doors,” adds Sarah Mannering. This made it possible to readjust things a little, but we see that the big budgets still go to men. »
According to the most recent annual report from the Cultural Enterprise Development Corporation (SODEC), 15 of the 21 films that received a budget contribution of more than $1 million were produced by men.
“We still favor, perhaps through an unconscious bias, male producers,” notes Fanny Drew. I can’t wait until we can turn the tide. And I hope our generation will! How many films will we have to make to get a budget of 2 million? We produced five feature films at Colonelle Films. It’s still a barrier to overcome. »
How do they think films produced by millennials differ from those produced by previous generations?
“We are not too afraid of taboos and subjects that can shock,” believes Fanny Drew.
It is in the approach that it is different for our generation. There are reflections on how to approach difficult subjects, in a nuanced way, with a certain delicacy. In our generation, we tend to think about the consequences of our speaking out. Makes you wonder what impact they will have.
Fanny Drew
She gives the example of Leave the night by Delphine Girard, which deals in an anything but Manichean manner with sexual assault. Colonelle Films co-produced this subtle and impactful work which won the Audience Award in the Giornate degli autori section of the Venice Film Festival last month.
Their generation does not say “ Fuck off ! Consultations are for the unions”, as the venerable filmmaker of Decline ? They laugh… There is no controversy in their generation around “sensitive readers”?
“We reread the scripts a lot,” confirms Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, laughing. The producer and filmmaker cites the approach of Pier-Philippe Chevigny for his recent film as an example. Richelieu, which won the Bayard Prize for best first feature film at the Namur Festival in Belgium on Friday. “He is a white man who is aware of his privilege and who asks himself: who is telling? to do it well. »
“There is a desire to listen among men too,” says Geneviève Dulude-De Celles about Chevigny and Pascal Plante (The red rooms). “They are the very sensitive masculine type. These are not big machos who claim power! »
Richelieu was produced by Le Foyer Films, a company founded by Geneviève Gosselin-G. The red rooms was produced by Dominique Dussault, president of Nemesis Films. Both have in common that they are millennials…
“At the moment at the Beaubien cinema, there are only Quebec films showing. The genres are very diverse and it is more engaging for the audience. There are not only realistic dramas,” remarks Geneviève Dulude-De Celles.
“There’s something really inspiring happening right now. I left the screenings of Richelieu and Red rooms and I was so energized! It makes you want to go to the cinema and introduce people to Quebec cinema. And I’m not saying that because these are films produced by our friends! »