MONTRÉAL, Sept. 27, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - Quebecor is proud to present the Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC) for the 8th consecutive year. From October 5 to 16, movie buffs of all stripes will gather for the 45th annual FNC film festival to share their passion for cinema. Quebecor is equally devoted to film. That is why it supports the FNC with a financial contribution and a large-scale promotional campaign in all its media outlets. In this anniversary year, Éléphant: The memory of Québec cinema will also be at the festival, paying tribute to two great Québec directors by presenting free screenings of four restored feature films.
"Supporting Québec cinematic talent and bringing it to a wide audience is our mission and the reason we back this major festival," said Pierre Dion, President and CEO of Quebecor. "Québec movies have always spoken to our hearts and our sense of wonder. So too does the FNC. I tip my hat to the organizers and wish them every success with this year's festival."
Quebecor is honoured to present the prestigious Louve d'Or award for best film in the International Competition. The winner is chosen by a jury of movie professionals. It is accompanied by a cash prize from Quebecor to support the director's future work. Several Quebecor subsidiaries are also supporting the FNC, including MAtv, which is presenting the Prix Créativité in the Focus section (short films) and TVA Films, which is screening the film A Quiet Passion.
Éléphant screenings
Éléphant is proud to honour the memory of filmmaker, author and actor André Melançon by presenting the Canadian-Argentine co-production Fierro... l'été des secrets (1989), a magnificent film that tells the story of three children spending a summer on a ranch with their grandfather and the ever-present horses. Fierro transports the viewer into the untamed beauty of the Argentine pampas while remaining focused on the children and their adventures with their grandfather.
Fierro will be shown at the Pavillon Judith-Jasmin Annexe (Salle Jean-Claude Lauzon) on Sunday, October 16 at 5 p.m.
The second tribute will be to Jean-Pierre Lefebvre, a director who always stayed clear of the cinematic beaten path. The Abel trilogy starring Marcel Sabourin, a key part of Lefebvre's impressive filmography, will be shown.
The first film in the trilogy, Il ne faut pas mourir pour ça (1967), is a sensitive portrayal of a man at a turning point in his life, a film about death and disillusion. The central character's situation and his worries are bound up with the complexities of his country, Canada, and the things about it he wants to change.
Il ne faut pas mourir pour ça will be shown at the Cinémathèque québécoise on Friday, October 14 at 7 p.m.
The second instalment in the trilogy, Le vieux pays où Rimbaud est mort (1977), is one of Lefebvre's most accessible works. The Quebecer Abel travels to the country of his ancestors and discovers two lands, the France of the clichés and the France of human relationships.
Le vieux pays où Rimbaud est mort will be shown at the Cinémathèque québécoise on Saturday, October 15 at 5 p.m.
Finally, in Aujourd'hui ou jamais (1998), Abel, once a passionate aviator, has not flown since the death of his co-pilot and best friend. Fifteen years later, now in his 50s, he gets into the cockpit again. But things do not go exactly as planned.
Aujourd'hui ou jamais will be shown at the Pavillon Judith-Jasmin Annexe (Salle Jean-Claude Lauzon) on Sunday, October 16 at 7 p.m.
About Éléphant: The memory of Québec cinema
Éléphant: The memory of Québec cinema was launched in 2007 as a large-scale project to digitize, restore and preserve all the fictional feature films in Québec's cinematic heritage and make them readily accessible. It is led by co-directors Claude Fournier and Marie-José Raymond. To date, 225 movies have been restored. They are 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 U.S., France and all other European and African countries where French or English is one of the official languages. The Éléphant website at www.elephantcinema.quebec contains the largest existing database and bank of information on Québec cinema.
The films restored by Éléphant can now be viewed on the big screen at two major cultural institutions. Thanks to recently formed partnerships, the public has been able to experience these important feature films at the Cinémathèque québécoise and at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.
Éléphant: 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 goes 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 close to 11,000 people in Canada.
A family business founded in 1950, Quebecor is strongly committed to the community. Every year, it actively supports people working with more than 400 organizations in the vital fields of culture, health, education, the environment and entrepreneurship.
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SOURCE Quebecor
Martin Tremblay, Vice President, Public Affairs, Quebecor Media, 514-380-1985, [email protected]
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