» 09 août 2010

While aiming at making the ‘cinéma d’auteur’ better known in regional Québec, LES PERCÉIDES INTERNATIONAL ARTS AND FILM FESTIVAL OF PERCÉ is pleased to announce its second summer festival from August 19th to August 21st 2010 on the Gaspé Coast. The Festival’s rich and powerful program is filled with recent discoveries, particularly of the new ‘cinéma d’auteur’ from here and from afar. Also, its official selection will offer daring and stimulating pictures by well-established filmmakers. Over twenty movies will premiere at this Gaspesian feature and short-film event. Films will be presented at the former Wildlife Interpretation Center of Percé to both local and visiting film enthusiasts.   

RED CARPET TREATMENT IN PERCÉ FOR ‘À L’OUEST DE PLUTON’
Québec film À L’OUEST DE PLUTON (2008) by Henry Bernadet and Myriam Verreault, will launch the festival on opening night Thursday August 19th 2010 at 7 pm. This mainstream half-fiction and half-documentary film explores the social issues of today’s younger generation. After more than 40 screenings at different festivals, Percé is happy to present this particularly insightful picture as well as its director Henry Bernadet and nine members of the cast, all first-time visitors to Les Percéides Festival. This movie also highlights a first fundraiser evening of the festival with several attending donors and officials.

THE FESTIVAL’S INTERNATIONAL OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Les Percéides presents AJAMI (Germany/Israel, 2009, ‘Caméra d'or’ at the Cannes Film Festival) by young directors Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani. This committed and humanistic film is shown in its original Arabic and Hebrew version with French sub-titles. A running nominee at the 2010 Oscars for best foreign-language movie, AJAMI tells the relationship between an Israeli Jew and an Israeli Palestinian. This feature-fiction movie and its amazingly talented cast propel the viewer into the Ajami district of Jaffa near Tel-Aviv, where Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities live together. AJAMI was recently awarded the ‘Ophir du cinéma’ (Academy of Israeli Cinema) for best picture, best script and best directors. 
Another movie premiering at the Gaspesian festival is LES PLAGES D’AGNÈS by French director Agnès Varda who celebrated her 80th birthday with this movie that was awarded the ‘César’ for best picture in France. Distinguished director of Sans toi ni loi, whose directorial roots stem from the New-Wave generation, Varda puts forward in this autobiography an imaginary outlook on the beach and the sea as she recounts her own passionate life. In a sensitive, imaginative, nippy and poetic manner, Varda-the-seductress touches the viewer’s heart as her film takes us along the beaches of Belgium, Corsica, the Côte d’Azur and California. According to Varda, “it’s a rather strange idea to direct oneself and to film an auto-portrait almost at the age of 80!” LES PLAGES D’AGNÈS was officially selected at the 65th Venice Mostra in Italy.

A completely different film, officially selected in the 2009 Cannes Film Festival category ‘Un Certain Regard’, is AIR DOLL by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-Eda, to be presented in Percé in its original Japanese version with French subtitles. This film of the fantastic genre is set in Tokyo and tells the story of love and submission between an inflated silicone doll and a solitary 40 year-old man living in a sordid apartment. AIR DOLL, a beautifully shot movie in Japan’s blue capital, takes the viewer onto a disturbing and fascinating journey through the realms of passion and resembles at times a fairy tale as much as a story of initiation. The movie’s success is not due only to a clearly gifted director but also to the erotic talent of Korean actress Bae Doona.

XAVIER DOLAN CONTINUES HIS DIRECTORIAL ASCENSION
Another film greatly anticipated at the festival is LES AMOURS IMAGINAIRES by young Québec director Xavier Dolan. After the success of his first film ‘J’ai tué ma mère’, Dolan’s new feature film was officially selected last May to compete at the Cannes Film Festival’s in ‘Un Certain Regard’ category and awarded the ‘Prix Regards jeunes’, thus confirming the youth’s directorial talent. This film premiering on the Gaspé Coast gives a very poetic and modern view of the mutual desire and sexual attraction between three young friends connected by a rather improbable fate. In an extremely magnificent way, Dolan explores the many facets of love and sexual fantasies. 

GASPESIAN CINEMA: JEAN-FRANÇOIS CAISSY FROM BERLIN TO PERCÉ
Les Percéides presents for the first time on the Gaspé Peninsula the documentary-feature film
LA BELLE VISITE by Jean-François Cassy, a young director from Maria in the Chaleurs Bay. Selected last February at the prestigious ‘Berlinale’ of the Berlin Film Festival, the film is set in the Gaspesian countryside between a regional road and a cliff leading straight down to the sea to an abandoned motel turned into a seniors’ home. There, time seems to have come to an end as the director manages to draw a touching picture of each senior citizen. Festival-attendee Cassy will meet with viewers at the end of the screening.

A FILM ABOUT THE ‘JARDINS DE MÉTIS’, ONE OF THE GASPÉ’S FLOWERY GEMS
Les Percéides includes another Gaspesian documentary-film premiere, IL ÉTAIT DEUX FOIS UN JARDIN by Québec director Philippe Baylaucq. Recently awarded the Audience Award at the 2010 Montreal International Art Film Festival, this documentary shows the spectacular gardens of worldwide renown created in 1920 by Elsie Reford and currently enhanced by the vision of her great-grandson, Alexander Reford. The film shows the unique aspects of the Métis gardens under a variety of weather conditions including winter blizzards, rainstorms, quiet evenings and summer sunsets. Each year, thousands of visitors flock to the gardens that have continuously evolved during 90 years, also providing for the past decade with their flowery landscape, the International Contemporary Garden Festival. Philippe Baylaucq and Alexander Reford will be attending the projection in Percé.

RAFAËL OUELLET, A PROMISING FILMMAKER
DERRIÈRE MOI, by young Québec director Rafaël Ouellet will be shown at the Percéides on Friday August 20th at 2 pm. This feature film was presented last year at the Toronto International Film Festival, the ‘Festival du nouveau cinéma de Montréal’ and in San Sebastian, Spain. It is a second movie for Ouellet who was born in Dégelis near Lake Témiscouata. Often shooting in his hometown, Ouellet explores the bleak challenges that young people in regional Québec have to face. DERRIÈRE MOI is a down-to-earth picture filled with surprising realism and, while delving into the world of female friendship, it shows Ouellet’s undeniable talent as a director. After the screening, Daniel Racine will lead a discussion panel between director and audience.

‘CINÉMA DES PROFONDEURS’: A NEW INTENSE GENRE AT THE FESTIVAL
This year’s festival boasts a new film genre ‘Cinéma des profondeurs’, where a few ‘deep’ and intricate films question our relationship with the world, in fact, with our own human condition. Launching this new genre is the feature film IRRÉVERSIBLE by Gaspar Noé - French director originally from Argentina - starring Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel. This 2002 movie caused a great sensation at the Cannes Film Festival as it displays both violence and beauty intermingling on an edgy steel wire. Condemned by some yet adored by others, the film shows bold and dizzying sequence shots which force the viewer to reflect upon today’s world of violence and existential demise.

SHORT FILMS FROM NORTHERN COUNTRIES
As the mission of Les Percéides Festival is to encourage all film genres, short films will once again be in the festival’s limelight this year. Featuring in this category is the Icelandic film DEUX OISEAUX by Rúnar Rúnarsson. This short film won over 50 international film awards including the ‘Grand Prix du Festival de Bruxelles’ and was selected to officially compete at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. It deals with the loss of innocence and early adulthood in a world filled with fragile vulnerability. DEUX OISEAUX is powerful, timid and baffling with a script and visuals that have undeniably earned its success.
Also, the Norwegian animated movie ANGRY MAN by director Anita Killi, will also premiere in Percé. It tells the story of a mother-fish who dies and whose son finds in his own imagination the strength to move on. Last June, the film was awarded the Grand Prize at the world-renowned and prestigious Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
Last but not least is L’HISTOIRE DE L’AVIATION by Hungarian director Balint Kenyeres. Considered another masterpiece of contemporary cinema, this short movie was filmed in Normandy with long sequence shots of a group of well-dressed up bourgeois leaving for home after a Sunday at the beach: A final group photo is be taken but someone is missing. This film and its sublime camera movements was a revelation at the ‘Quinzaine des Réalisateurs de Cannes’ and won in March 2010 the award for best international film at the Saguenay short-film festival ‘Regards sur le court métrage’.    

CARTE BLANCHE FOR DANNY LENNON
Militant and fervent supporter of short films for the past decade, Les Percéides is giving complete carte blanche to Montreal programming expert Danny Lennon, who also directed ‘Prends ça court!’ - a guideline-film dealing with short-film distribution -, created by Lennon in 2000. Worldwide-reputed programmer, Lennon is currently involved in over 20 festivals and events in Québec and also collaborates with over 60 festivals in 24 countries including the Short Film Corner of the Cannes Film Festival.

THE PROVINCETOWN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: A GUEST AT LES PERCÉIDES
The Provincetown International Film Festival is held each year in June at the sea-resort town of Provincetown, USA. Andrew Peterson, programming director of this independent U.S. film festival, will attend Les Percéides Film Festival and present a special production before meeting with Gaspesian viewers.

A FIRST ‘KABARET KINO’ AT LES PERCÉIDES IN PERCÉ
At the festival, a Gaspesian Kino movement called ‘Kino 132’ lead by Gaspesian film director Julien Leblanc, will allow amateur filmmakers to join the ‘Kabaret Kino Percéides’. ‘Kabaret Kino’ is a unique workshop where participants have 48 hours to write the script of an original short film and then shoot, edit and present it. The workshop will kick-off Thursday August 19th at festival opening and all short films will premiere on closing night, Saturday August 21st. Both ‘Kino 132’ and Télé-Québec Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine will give their technical support to participants.

DANIEL RACINE, EMCEES THE PERCÉIDES FESTIVAL
This year, Les Percéides is offering a great meeting opportunity for all attendees as well an attractive program dedicated particularly to the young ‘cinéma d’auteur’ from here and from afar. We therefore wish to bring to the forefront the young filmmakers of tomorrow’s cinema. Film critic Daniel Racine will emcee debates and meetings throughout Les Percéides Film Festival. Since 1996, Racine has hosted hundreds of film workshops for the National Film Board (NFB). He is also the host and director of CINÉFIX program on CIBL FM 101.5 radio in Montréal and a critic, blogger and speaker specialized in ‘Québecois’ films.

A FIRST COLLABORATION BETWEEN LES PERCÉIDES AND THE GASPÉ CEGEP
On Friday August 20th at cocktail hour, there will be a public meeting open to all for discussions with Jean-François Aubé and François Saint-Laurent, professors at the ‘Arts lettres et médias’ department of the CEGEP in Gaspé. This pre-university Stage and Cinema Arts Program trains students in the fields of theater, song and film also offering them classes in visual arts, history of art, music and literature.
 
Upon closing, we would like to note that Les Percéides Film Festival also promotes ‘La Nuit du Cinéma à Percé’ - a winter night of films projected onto the Charles Robin historic building in Percé -, which is at its third edition since 2008.    

Les Percéides Film Festival is also happy to be associated with the SÉPAQ as its headquarters are located for a second year at the former Wildlife Interpretation Center in an exceptional setting of contemporary architecture and natural beauty. 
We wish to remind everyone that the very first fundraising campaign for Les Percéides Film Festival that began July 5th 2010, will continue until August 19th at 7 pm. We encourage all film enthusiasts to support the one and only ‘cinema d’auteur’ film festival held in the lower Saint Lawrence and Gaspésie.

Source: François Cormier – Artistic and Programming Director
François Cormier –Les Percéides Festival
Press Relations:
Judith Dubeau / IXION COMMUNICATIONS
Phone : 514-495-8176 - info@ixioncommunications.com
The official site of Les Percéides Film Festival and the projection theater are at 343 route d’Irlande, in Percé. 
Tickets for each film of the official selection: $ 7.00
Friday and Saturday films shown at 2 pm and meeting with filmmakers at cocktail hour: no charge.
Information for Les Percéides Film Festival: Phone: 418-782-1495 - info@perceides.ca - www.perceides.ca
During the festival, our on-site terrace-bar opens daily from noon to midnight.