As part of the 2e Festival international de cinéma et d’art de Percé, Les Percéides, to be held in August, film buffs from the Gaspé and elsewhere are invited to attend a wide range of screenings, discussions and get-togethers. This year’s theme is arthouse films by young filmmakers from Quebec and abroad, and several directors and film technicians will be attending the festival. Entitled En avant, jeunesse ! Regards sur le jeune cinéma d’auteur, this series of meetings and screenings open to the public will take place in the festival amphitheatre located on Irlande Road in the village of Percé in the Gaspé on August 20, 21, 22 and 23 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The festival will focus on the energy and talent of young filmmakers whose work ranges from fiction to documentaries and experimental cinema, as well as the editors, cinematographers and other technicians who are an integral part of any film project.

The festival is an opportunity for audiences to discover or rediscover both familiar and lesser-known films, and to meet with bold young artists to discuss their work, the challenges they must overcome and their artistic influences. Programming and related activities are being organized by André Habib, a film critic for the Quebec e-zine Hors Champ and a film professor in the department of history and film studies at the University of Montreal.

Quebec filmmakers making their way to Percé will include Stéphane Lafleur (Continental un film sans fusil, best film at the 2008 Jutra Awards), Simon Lavoie (Le déserteur) and Maxime Giroux (Demain), whose fiction makes powerful use of the imagination. A native of the Gaspé region, Jean-François Caissy (La saison des amours), places nature at the forefront of his work. Mélanie Gagné and Guillaume Lévesque (Avant l’hiver, which premièred at the 27th Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois à Montréal in February 2009) will present their documentary films. Ottawa native and INIS graduate Jonathan Durand deals with social and ethnographic issues in his film Action de grâce. Myriam Verreault and Henry Bernadet (À l’ouest de Pluton, presented at the Rotterdam Film Festival in January 2009), will discuss their first feature film and the magical aspects of a piece tinged with youth and poetry. Karl Lemieux (Passage, best Quebec short film, Prends ça court, 2008) bewitches audiences with an experimental film that evokes the murky desires of young people searching for rituals of love. Also present will be Sylvain Corbeil, the founder of the dynamic Montreal production house METAFILMS, who will talk about his work as a film technician and the importance of producing independent arthouse films.

International artists include Lionel Baier (Switzerland), a mischievous filmmaker and talented provocateur, and Valeria Gaia Germanica (Russia), who received a special mention from the Caméra d’or jury at the Cannes Festival in May 2008 for the film Ils mourront tous sauf moi. Many other talented artists from Quebec, Canada, France, Belgium and the United States are expected in Percé this coming August for the festival.

“The theme of the film festival Les Percéides is young filmmakers. We will feature the extraordinary talent of young people from here and abroad, artists who are determining the cinema of the future,” notes the artistic director of the festival François Cormier.

These events in Percé will inaugurate a new educational focus for Les Percéides, whose emphasis is on discovering talented young filmmakers and introducing their work to local and regional audiences.

Screenings, discussions and get-togethers will take place on the main Les Percéides festival site from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 343 Route d’Irlande in Percé.

Limited number of seats. Reservations required.
Tickets are $25.00 (regardless of the number of programs)
($15.00 for students)

The full program of the 2e Festival international de cinéma et d’art de Percé, Les Percéides (August 19-23, 2009) will be announced on August 3 in Percé and Montreal.

Go to the french version to register and to learn more about the program