MONTREAL, May 11, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Quebecor is pleased to announce that for the third time, the Cannes Film Festival has selected a film restored by Elephant: The memory of Québec cinema, in its prestigious section Cannes Classics. Thierry Frémaux, the Festival's Delegate General, is proud to confirm that director Denis Villeneuve's first feature film, August 32nd on Earth (1998), starring Pascale Bussières and Alexis Martin, will have a place of honour by being screened on the beach in Cannes on Saturday, May 27, 2017, at 9:30 pm.
"I'm deeply moved by Thierry Frémaux's invitation, which I take as a mark of Cannes's affection for my first film. I also thank Elephant for restoring August 32nd on Earth, shot 20 years ago in Montreal's Mile End and Salt Lake City, enabling the movie to be presented for a second time at the Festival", said director Denis Villeneuve. (The film premiered in Cannes as part of Un certain regard section in 1998.)
It's the third time in four years that a film restored by Elephant is selected at Cannes Classics after Léolo, in 2014, and Les Ordres, in 2015. This new selection is an eloquent testament to the originality of our cinema and the quality of Elephant's restoration work and its importance for the conservation and distribution of our cinema heritage. It's interesting to notice that in August 32nd on Earth, Denis Villeneuve's first feature film, we already find a microcosm of elements that are becoming, over the years, trademarks of his personal style and great sensitivity.
Denis Villeneuve is now in the post-production stage of BLADE RUNNER 2049, with Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, scheduled to be released on October 6. Earlier this year, his film ARRIVAL earned eight Oscar nominations, in particular for Best Director and Best Film categories, winning the award for Best sound editing.
In the past nine years, Elephant's restoration work, directed by Marie-José Raymond and Claude Fournier, has brought international recognition to this philanthropic project financed by Quebecor. Indeed, Elephant films were also presented twice at Lyon's Festival Lumière and New York's Modern Art Museum, in Karlovy Vary, at Taipei's Golden Horse Film Festival, in Buenos Aires, Lisbon, at Montreal's New Cinema Festival, and at the Fantasia Festival.
The extraordinary distribution of Elephant's repertoire has always remained the primary mission of Elephant, an initiative of Mr. Pierre Karl Péladeau, Quebecor's president and chief executive officer. The restored films, some 225 to date, remain available at all times under the banner of Elephant: The memory of Québec cinema, on Videotron's illico VOD, and on iTunes in every country where the official language is either English or French. The revenue from the rental of Elephant films is entirely returned to right-holders. Quebecor does not derive any monetary gain from those operations.
About Elephant: The memory of Québec cinema
Elephant: The memory of Québec cinema is a large-scale project to digitize, restore, preserve and make accessible Québec's heritage of feature films. Since 2007, it has restored close to 225 movies under the supervision of co-directors Claude Fournier and Marie-José Raymond. Those films are now available 24/7 on Videotron's illico video-on-demand service (channel 900), illico.tv and the illico app. The films are also being gradually added, in the original version with subtitles, to iTunes in Canada, the US, France and all other European and African countries where French or English is one of the official languages. The Elephant website at www.elephantcinema.quebec contains the largest existing database and information bank on Québec cinema.
Elephant: The memory of Québec cinema is fully funded by Quebecor. It is a philanthropic enterprise from which Quebecor derives no financial benefit. Aside from a small amount to cover a portion of the platform's operating costs, all revenues from distribution of the movies on illico go to the rights holders and filmmakers.
About Quebecor
Quebecor, a Canadian leader in telecommunications, entertainment, news media and culture, is one of the best-performing integrated communications companies in the industry. Driven by their determination to deliver the best possible customer experience, all of Quebecor's subsidiaries and brands are differentiated by their high-quality, multiplatform, convergent products and services.
Quebecor (TSX: QBR.A, QBR.B) is headquartered in Québec. It holds an 81.07% interest in Quebecor Media, which employs more than 10,000 people in Canada.
A family business founded in 1950, Quebecor is strongly committed to the community. Every year, it actively supports more than 400 organizations working in the vital fields of culture, health, education, the environment and entrepreneurship.
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SOURCE Quebecor
Media contact / Denis Villeneuve: Annie Tremblay, Communications Annie Tremblay, 514 244-8336, [email protected]; Media contact / Elephant: Sylvie Cordeau, Vice President, Philanthropy and Sponsorship, Quebecor Inc., 514 380-1976, [email protected]
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