Renée Girard

Maria Chapdelaine

A young woman, living with her parents and siblings on a remote farm in harsh, picturesque northern Québec, has three suitors: a steady and unimaginative farmer, Eutrope, the Americanized and wealthy Lorenzo, who has sought his fortune in Boston, and François Paradis, a rough and virile logger who captures her heart despite the warnings of her parents and the village priest. For a year, marked by seasonal change in an atmosphere charged with the strangeness of Indians and the demons of the woods, we see Maria at work and prayer, struggling with decisions, choosing to stay in Canada, in love with François, seeking to change his rough behaviors, and dealing with extraordinary loss.

How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired

A warm summer in Montreal. Two black men, Man and Bouba, share an apartment. Man is an ambitious author, writing on The Great Novel. Bouba is a lazy amateur philosopher who quotes the Koran. Man's habit of picking up young white women makes many young white men jealous...

Suzanne

An unhappy married woman has an affair with a violent criminal. She gets pregnant with his baby, but he gets arrested and goes to prison. Now what?

Normande

Normande St-Onge works as a clerk in a pharmacy and takes dance classes with the dream of being a cabaret dancer. Her mother, Berthe, has been confined to a mental institution by Normande's uncle, the wealthy lawyer Jean-Paul. But Normande, who does not believe her mother is insane, kidnaps her from the institution and brings her home. Also living with them is Normande's sister Pierette, who has asthma and a drug addiction, Normande's boyfriend Bouliane, who is unemployed and in no hurry to find a job, and a strange young gay magician named Carol she took in after he was kicked out of his home. All of these people depend on Normande in various ways and exploit her; Normande, desperate to be loved, is driven mad by the demands of her parasite family. When she receives an eviction notice stating that the building will be demolished and rebuilt into a restaurant, it all becomes too much for Normande and her mind retreats into fantasy to protect her from the harsh realities.

Hold-up

Dressed as a clown, the clever rascal Grimm holds up the most secure bank of Montreal and takes 30 hostages. While confusing and ridiculing the police with his strange behavior, he calmly manages to rid the bank of a fortune. But then an unsatisfied companion arouses trouble...

Bye, See You Monday

Lucie the Quebecker and Nicole the Frenchwoman with the "funny accent" are both twenty-six, single and share their Montreal apartment as they share their joys and sorrows. The first works in radio, the second in an airline company, and both have a married lover who, every Friday evening, rushes off to a home that has been forsaken for a while, saying: "Bye, see you Monday"...

Les grands enfants

Les Grands Enfants does not tell a story in the traditional sense. Instead, it offers an honest image of people's dreams of change : people often unemployed, dissatisfied in some way with their work, or caught up in complicated social relationships. The film is set in Montreal.

Cathy's Curse

A young girl is possessed by the spirit of her dead aunt, who died in a car accident. Soon members of her family begin to mysteriously die off.

The Uncanny

Wilbur Gray, a horror writer, has stumbled upon a terrible secret, that cats are supernatural creatures who really call the shots. In a desperate attempt to get others to believe him, Wilbur spews three tales of feline horror.

Shades of Love: Echoes in Crimson

Anne, an art historian, takes a job in a prestigious big-city gallery. Soon Grant, a former lover, turns up and tries to win her back. But Anne still harbors a strong distrust of him and decides to devote herself totally to her work. At the gallery, she manages to uncover the mystery behind a murder and a smuggling plot by her boss. Grant appears in the nick of time to save her from harm's way. He also becomes her latest find and a celebrated new artist. At a showing of his work at the gallery, Grant surprises Anne with his latest work...a neon sculpture of Grouch Marx saying "I Love You". Anne gets the love she lost so many years ago and a new career as gallery manager.

The Machine Age

A young police officer goes through Abitibi to take a train with a young convict who escaped from her orphanage.

Cruising Bar 2

Fifteen years later, the heroes from Cruising Bar may hardly have changed but the world around them most certainly has! For the Bull, reality is brutal. His wife of 30 years, sick of his infidelity, decides to show him the door. But the Bull, who has a positive outlook on life, isn't so easily defeated and fights for his survival. The Lion too faces a break-up when his girlfriend leaves. All alone, he's force to relearn the art of seduction. The Peacock, on the other hand, is trying to figure out his sexual identity with the help of a psychologist. As for the Earthworm, his long wait for a soulmate will, at last, be requited.

Le grand jour

A day in the life of two Québec families reunited for their children's wedding.

Varian's War

Varian Fry rescues more than 2,000 artists from Nazi persecution during World War II.

Shabbot Shalom!

The mayor of a suburban town must try to deal with cultural clashes with the local hassidic jewish community, while trying to mend his relation to his emotionally-distant son.

Café Olé

Malcolm's (28) new love, Alicia (25), an illegal Chilean refugee, will be short-lived if he does not make the right choice.

Lucien Brouillard

Solitary anarchist, Lucien Brouillard ceaselessly fights for his rights and those of his societal peers. His subversive whistleblower activities will bring him endless troubles, and he will begin a real descent into Hell after his former childhood friend, and now judge, Jacque Martineau.

No Vacation for Idols

A film between reality and fiction about a popular singer, played by Joël Denis, idol of that time. He is surrounded by a host of great actors and real and famous characters from the 60s.