This text is part of the special section Arts and culture in Quebec
To be maintained, the cultural influence of a territory depends on its ability to support artists at the start of their career. In Quebec, where the abundance of cultural offerings puts them under pressure, access to support mechanisms is a godsend that can change many things in career development.
“I don’t know exactly what made this book touch so many people, cross languages and borders, but I welcome it as an incredible gift. » For Éric Chacour, author of the multi-award winning novel What I know about you, the success of his book is like a fairy tale. However, he did not hope to share with more than “two cousins and three friends” this story of thwarted love which follows the journey of a young doctor between Cairo and Montreal at the end of the 20th century.e century. His manuscript was finally accepted by the first publisher to whom he sent it, Alto editions.
Since the release of the book at the beginning of 2023, everything has come together: a translation in progress in a dozen languages and several prestigious prizes, notably in France, where Éric Chacour was awarded the Femina des lycéens and, very recently, the Prix des libraires.
In Quebec, in April, he received the prize from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) – Emerging Work in Montreal. The award, created in 2016 to promote the recognition and careers of artists at the start of their career, went in 2019 to none other than the writer Kevin Lambert, whose career has since experienced phenomenal growth.
“Because it was won by people I admire, this prize has a very special value in my eyes,” underlines Éric Chacour who, beyond the visibility that this award has brought him, says he is grateful for the travel grants he was able to obtain from the organization. A boost to promotion which, according to him, has counted enormously in the influence of books abroad. Particularly in France, where the writer undertook a three-week winter tour to meet the country’s booksellers and readers. “This relationship which was established with the booksellers of France and which sometimes moved me to tears was only possible because I was able to travel, and this, in part, thanks to the support of the CALQ. »
Institutional support for the next generation
The CALQ is one of the public organizations that offer support mechanisms for emerging artists, alongside the Conseil des arts de Montréal, the Société de développement des enterprises culturelle (SODEC) or, at the federal level, the Conseil des arts du Canada.
The CALQ’s support programs include partnerships with Quebec, Montreal and a constellation of regional players for a total investment by the organization which amounted to $185 million for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. Of this sum, part is intended for emerging artists, in particular those wishing to obtain a first grant from the Council.
It was in 2014 that director and screenwriter Ariane Louis-Seize remembers getting her first help from the organization in order to get her first short film off the ground, The wild skin. Winner of the SODEC Cours critique ton court grand prize for the screenplay of this film in 2016, the filmmaker has come a long way since then: eight short films produced as well as Humanist vampire seeking consenting suicidehis first feature film released in September 2023.
This black comedy mixing a fantastic and initiatory story has, since its launch, appealed beyond Quebec: the film notably received the prize for best direction in the Venice Days section of the Venice Film Festival, the grand prize of the national competition of the Festival du Nouveau cinéma and was in competition in 12 categories at the end of May at the Canadian Screen Awards.
Reached by telephone, Ariane Louis-Seize remembers that things “took off” for her when she left the INIS professional audiovisual training center in 2013. “I gave myself three years to try to make a living from my art, then I did Run and write your short. Without this competition, I don’t know what my career would be. It was really a spark for me, which immediately opened the door to institutions for me. »
If the filmmaker says she was able to obtain institutional financing for almost all of her films, the exercise was not a walk in the park. She notes that, for each of the short films she made, she received a first refusal before obtaining a grant. “These requests are quite laborious, because we have to be able to put into words our vision, the essence of the project. For me, who is a fairly instinctive creator, it doesn’t come out the first time. »
An obstacle course that she learned to integrate into her project creation: “this is where I surprise myself by finding new ways of telling the story, clarifying my vision, which makes it easier to share with my collaborators subsequently,” confides the director, emphasizing the collective nature of cinematographic works.
She therefore invites emerging artists to persevere, but also to seek alternative solutions that can allow them to carry out projects with few resources in order to get their hands on while waiting for subsidies. Ariane Louis-Seize shares with Éric Chacour the impression of evolving in a cultural ecosystem, certainly competitive, but which does not lack opportunities for emerging artists.
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