Six French-speaking Belgian productions selected at Cinemania 2024!
No fewer than three feature films and three short films from French-speaking Belgium have been selected for the 2024 edition of Cinemania!
CINEMANIA is now considered the most important festival for Francophone films in North America and the oldest in its category. Founded in 1995, it showcases an eclectic selection of around sixty fictional feature films each November, along with documentaries and short films.
A Missing Part by Guillaume Senez is selected for the Compétition Visages de la francophonie. The film had its world premiere at TIFF (Toronto) 2024, produced by Versus Production and distributed internationally by Be For Films.
Every day, Jay travels the length and breadth of Tokyo in his taxi, looking for his daughter Lily. In the 9 years since he has separated from his wife, he has never been able to get custody of his daughter. Having given up hope of ever seeing her again, he is about to move back to France when Lily hops in his cab. But she doesn’t recognize him.
From Abdul to Leila by Leila Albayaty is selected for the Documentary Competition. Produced by Dérives, this film has already screened at several international festivals, including El Gouna and the Thessaloniki Film Festival.
The odyssey of Leila, a French woman of Iraqi origin who, after an accident and years of exile, reconnects with her father, a dissident of Saddam Hussein, by learning Arabic and singing her story, driven by an irrepressible desire to live.
The eighth feature film by Fabrice du Welz, Maldoror, is selected in the festival's Special Screenings section. Having had its world premiere in Venice in 2024, the film has already garnered international selections, including at BFI and, more recently, São Paulo.
When two girls go missing, Paul Chartier, an impulsive young police recruit, is assigned to «Maldoror». This secret unit has been set up to monitor a dangerous sex offender. When the operation fails, fed up with the limits of the legal system, Chartier embarks as a solitary hunt to bring down the culprits.
Three French-speaking Belgian short films have been selected for the International Shorts Competition:
Invincible Summer by Arnaud Dufeys, produced by Dérives and distributed internationally by Hors du Bocal, which had its world premiere in Berlin in 2024.
Alone at home, by the pool and bored to death, Clément (16) swipes through guy's profiles on Grindr. Determined to lose his virginity, he lies about his age, finds Naël (24). The time draws near, and Clément rushes things. But it's through the discovery of a body completely different from Naël's that Clément will grow up.
Un bon garçon by Paul Vincent de Lestrade, produced by Need Productions, previously selected for the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival and Premiers Plans in Angers.
16-year-old Maxime is an advanced swimmer with a promising professional future in the sport. Between training sessions and outings with friends, he leads an average teenage life. But when the police show up to one of his training sessions one afternoon to question his coach, his well-structured life starts falling apart and the image of the good boy he’s always embodied starts to crack.
Lastly, Sol béni, produced by JAK Production & Bleunuit and distributed internationally by Flow, directed by Tristan Feres & Maky Margaridis, which was selected at the Champs-Elysées Film Festival and Tribeca 2024.
Facing the prospect of an imminent farewell, two friends reunite on the soccer field where they grew up. As one is about to leave, the other is immersed in nostalgia for the days gone by. "Sol Béni" captures this delicate moment where a friendship knows it is doomed.
Let’s also highlight the selection of six French-speaking Belgian co-productions: Everybody Loves Touda by Nabil Ayouch (Velvet Film, Les Révélations), La mer au loin by Saïd Hamich Benlarbi (Tarantula, Les Révélations), Sauvages by Claude Barras (Panique!, Un vent de jeunesse), Queens of Drama by Alexis Langlois (Wrong Men, Les Révélations), L’Empire by Bruno Dumont (Novak Prod, Les Essentiels), and Rabia by Mareike Engelhardt (Kwassa Films, Documentary Competition).
Join us in Montreal from November 6 to 17, 2024!
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