2004 QUEBEC FOCUS

The success of Denys Arcand ’s Les invasions barbares has given Quebec cinema a much needed shot in the arm but the industry still exists on a precarious balance.This year the French Film Festival UK throws a special spotlight on Quebec cinema in collaboration with the Québec Government Office in London and the Societé de developpement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC)in Paris.

20H17 rue Darling

An unemployed crime reporter and recovering alcoholic,Gérard has ?nally come back to Hochelaga,the working class Montreal neighbourhood where he grew up.Through a series of minor mishaps,he arrives home one night,just minutes after his apartment building has been torn apart by an explosion that claims six lives..

CQ2 / Seek you too

Carole Laure ’s seductive drama is a woman ’s picture in the very best sense of that term.Only a female director could tell this story of adolescent torment in such a powerfully intimate and sensuous way,and do it with a con ?dence that invites men in too.

La grande séduction / Seducing Mr Lewis

This rollicking story describes in witty detail how a ragtag community on a small island in Quebec attempts to snare a young doctor from the big city who craves cosmopolitan cuisine and foreign sporting activity. Reminiscent of the glorious Ealing comedies like the classic Whisky Galore or even more contemporary shenanigans such as The Full Monty or Waking Ned ,Jean-François Pouliot's beguiling and sophisticated debut feature proves that with pluck and imagination, anything can be made irresistible.

Québec / Montréal

An innovative twist on the Canadian “road movie ” tradition, Quebec-Montreal follows four different cars as they travel down Highway 20 from Quebec City to Montreal.