Quebec’s Strong Film Community Flexes at Fests With Venice Winner ’Humanist Vampire,’ ‘Solo’ ‘Kanaval’
variety.comJennie Punter TORONTO: “Humanist Vampire,” “Solo” Heat Up Market for Toronto’s Quebec Feature Slate By Jennie Punter Toronto has long been a go-to place for Quebec filmmakers to launch new work, connect directly to the U.S.
marketplace and, by extension, propel their careers to the next level — Denis Villeneuve, Phillippe Falardeau and Jean-Marc Vallée, for example, premiered most of their early films here.
Many of this year’s bumper crop of mostly world-premiering Quebec titles explore less familiar corners of society — First Peoples and newcomer stories, the drag scene — and there are also fresh takes on romantic dramedy (Monia Chokri’s “The Nature of Love”), true-story-inspired WWII drama (Louise Archambault’s “Irena’s Vow”) and horror comedy (Ariane Louis-Seize’s “Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person,” which just nabbed Venice Days GdA Director’s Award).
Five of the festival’s eight Quebec features are directed by women. Sophie Dupuis, whose third film, the drag-scene character study “Solo,” told Variety that support from government funding agencies Telefilm and SODEC (Quebec) has improved for women filmmakers in recent years. “When it comes to bigger budgets, we’re getting there.
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