Posted at 5:00 p.m.
“We decided not to do anything virtually,” explains its general manager, Nicolas Girard Deltruc, in an interview. “It doubled the work and it was not easy in terms of human resources… We look at public health statistics, announcements from the World Health Organization and we are in prevention with the rapid tests that the we will give to our foreign guests. »
The last two editions, partially or totally isolated, have pushed the festival to put even more emphasis on the collective experience.
“We realize with the pandemic that what we particularly missed during previous editions was to see the public, to share, confides the one who has been running the festival since 2006. It is these exchanges that really feed us. »
PHOTO FRED GERVAIS, PROVIDED BY SPHERE FILMS
Joseph Engel and Sara Montpetit in Falcon Lake, film by Charlotte LeBon
The films shown are still just as important, whether Falcon Lake by Charlotte Le Bon, which will open the festivities on October 5, the short film III by Salomé Villeneuve which has just been shown in Venice or the restored version of the masterpiece The mother and the whore by Jean Eustache which will delight film buffs.
But special attention has been paid to encourage meetings. As much by developing an international co-production market as by multiplying the events that bring people together, including this night of “fire drivers” at the Imperial Cinema where we can see Drive by Nicolas Winding Refn and Baby Driver by Edgar Wright.
“There is something magical in the theaters, an incredible energy that you cannot find when watching a movie at home on Netflix”, assures Nicolas Girard Deltruc.
Offer a vision of the world
The program this year is also very rich. Between the presence of the latest opuses by the great masters of the seventh art (Park Chan-wook, the Dardenne brothers, Jafar Panahi, Hong Sang-soo, etc.), a Louve d’or awarded to filmmaker Walter Hill (The Warriors) who will be in Montreal to give a masterclass and the retrospective given to the enfant terrible Bruce LaBruce, there will be no dull moment.
National cinema is well represented, in particular with 2012/In the heart by Rodrigue Jean and Arnaud Valade who celebrates the 10e anniversary of student protests, Phi 1618which is Theodore Ushev’s first live-action feature film, and two episodes of Paradise Motelfirst series by Sophie Deraspe.
“It’s very difficult to find themes or commonalities between the films, admits the general manager. What we are presenting is a summary of everything that has happened in the last two, three years…”
Our philosophy is to present singular works and to show a current state of production and creation. To offer the public a vision of the world and to have new titles that are anchored with the evolution of society.
Nicolas Girard Deltruc, Managing Director of the FNC
Even though he is in his 51e edition and remains the oldest film festival in Canada, the FNC is still trying to reinvent itself, come hell or high water.
“It’s a continuous work in progress, admits Nicolas Girard Deltruc. We try to move forward with the times, to adapt to an industry that is constantly changing. While keeping our original editorial line: to be in discovery, not to be afraid of what we program, not to censor ourselves, to program films which are not necessarily favourites, but which are important to present. »
This may explain the presence of the film Sparta by the Austrian Ulrich Seidl, which deals with pedophilia, and which was to be presented at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was eventually de-scheduled after criticism of mistreatment during filming.
“For the moment, we present it, maintains its general manager. […] There are no charges or convictions. We start from the principle of the presumption of innocence. Today, we are going very, very fast. How should we separate the work from the artist? It’s quite a debate. »
“I think it’s important, to debate, to have all the elements in hand, concludes Nicolas Girard Deltruc. It is important, rather than censoring, to present the work so that we can judge, talk about it. I think a festival should be made for that. We can allow ourselves to present works that are a little more difficult. These are things that move society forward. »