The 2010 edition of the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma is underway! And things are underway for four short films distributed by Vidéographe being shown there. The films are Sophie Lavoie by Anne Émond, Le Projet Sapporo  by Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre, Praha-Florenc  by Pierre Hébert and Le Rocher by Étienne de Massy.

This group of practised young talents and renowned artists, who have appeared and drawn praise at previous editions of the festival, will again this year strengthen their bond with Montreal audiences at the FNC, Quebec’s film event of the year.

It’s a nicely diverse group of films: fiction, video art and animation.

Receiving its world premiere, Le Rocher by Étienne de Massy - known for his hypnotic series Somnia - is a change of direction for its author, an art video that takes us to both sides of the Atlantic. Places merge to create an imaginary space filmed with refinement; the Percé Rock even makes a dazzling appearance! Playing in the program PAYSAGES (DE CINÉMA) / FNC LAB on October 18, 9:30 p.m. at the Parallèle cinema in Ex-Centris and on October 22 at 4:00 p.m. in the Claude Jutra cinema of the Cinémathèque Québécoise.

Also receiving its world premiere, the new animated film by Pierre Hébert, Praha-Florenc, features the vestiges of socialist realism. At the Prague bus terminal, passers-by go about their business under the gaze of a statue produced by the movement, most of them indifferent to the monument despite its imposing presence. Hébert takes advantage of the opportunity to animate it. Praha-Florenc will be presented in the program L’INSTANT MAGIQUE / INTERNATIONAL SELECTION on October 15 at 1:00 p.m. at the Parallèle cinema in Ex-Centris and on October 17 at 9:45 p.m. at the NFB.

Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre’s Le projet Sapporo continues its cross-country film festival tour with this first stop in Montreal after appearing in Toronto (Toronto International Film Festival), Vancouver (Vancouver International Film Festival) and Halifax (Atlantic Film Festival). This animated film about the creative process of the Japanese calligrapher Gazanbou Higuchi has been a complete success at a number of Canadian and international festivals. It is being presented in the program PAYSAGES (DE CINÉMA) / FNC LAB on October 18 at 9:30 p.m. at the Parallèle cinema in Ex-Centris and on October 22 at 4:00 p.m. in the Claude Jutra cinema of the Cinémathèque Québécoise.

After attracting attention at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, the latest short film by Anne Émond, Sophie Lavoie, will finally be shown for Montreal film buffs at the FNC. Sober and free of concessions, this awe-inspiring medical appointment depicts a situation that many women have anxiously lived through, an STD test. With its calmly-related confidences about one of the most intimate aspects of our lives, this film will leave no one indifferent. It is being shown in the program DESTINS AU FÉMININ / FOCUS QUEBEC/CANADA on October 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the NFB and on October 20 at 5:15 p.m. at the Parallèle cinema in Ex-Centris.

For more information:
http://www.nouveaucinema.ca