August 14, 2024
8:00 p.m.
Lac-Brome Theater

Anne Émond

French, English subtitles
Feature film
Fiction / In competition
Classification: General
89 minutes

Psychological Thriller. Canada. 2023

Sophie, hunted and traumatized, is looking for an escape. She books a room in a B&B hundreds of miles from where she lives. Upon arrival, she’s welcomed by Martin, who lives on the premises with his aunt Louise. Over the course of a few well-watered evenings, the man and the visitor form a disturbing bond… And what if Sophie’s presence in this remote hamlet wasn’t quite by chance?

A terribly relevant psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Anne Émond

Director and screenwriter Anne Émond lives and works in Montreal. Early on in her career, she wrote and directed seven short films, including Naissances and Sophie Lavoie, both of which won multiple awards on the international festival circuit. Her first feature, Nuit #1 (Night #1), screened in over 25 festivals worldwide, including in Toronto, Busan, Rotterdam and Taipei. The film garnered a number of awards and mentions, including the Genie Award for Best First Feature, and has been sold to some 10 countries, including France and the United States. Les Êtres chers (Our Loved Ones), her second feature, was equally well received and acclaimed (Locarno, TIFF, Le Gala du Cinéma Québécois, Canadian Screen Awards). In 2016, she wrote and directed her third feature, Nelly, liberally adapted from the life and work of Quebec writer Nelly Arcan. The film made a strong start at TIFF and went on to screen at numerous festivals worldwide (FIFF Namur,
Hamburg, Goa, Palm Springs, etc.). Her 2019 film, Jeune Juliette (Young Juliet), was an immediate critical success that also screened widely internationally. The film took the Audience Choice Award at the Calgary International Film Festival and received a Canadian Screen Awards Best Screenplay nomination in addition to six Prix Iris nominations; it has since been distributed in France, to equal success. In 2022–23, Émond shot Lucy Grizzli Sophie, written by Catherine-Anne Toupin, who also plays the lead, alongside Guillaume Cyr, Lise Roy and Marjorie Armstrong. The film is due for release in 2024.

Chadi Bennani

French, Arabic
Documentary
19 minutes

Canada, 2023

At the start of the summer of their 16th birthdays, Adam, Ana and Dahlia turn to family and friends to question their cultural heritages. By juxtaposing the different influences and realities governing the development of the cultural identity of 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants, “D’ici, d’ailleurs” illustrates the shaping of a “new” Quebec identity.

Chadi Bennani

Chadi Bennani graduated in 2022 from the film program at the Université du Québec à Montréal. During his studies, he directed his first short film, Nicole (2023), presented in the Best Short Film competition at Hot Docs 2023. In 2022, he was selected as a recipient of the Bourses de l’Académie pour la relève program awarded by the ACCT. Recipient of the Regard sur Montréal residency in 2023, Chadi directed his next documentary short, D’ici, d’ailleurs (2023), presented as the festival opener at the 26th Rencontres internationales du documentaire à Montréal (RIDM).