Dolan, Falardeau features among those approved for SODEC funding
Xavier Dolan’s next French-language film, Matt et Max, is one of 12 upcoming features to receive support from the Société des entreprises culturelles (SODEC), alongside new movies from Philippe Falardeau, Anne Émond and animator Theodore Ty.
The Quebec film-funding agency has given the green light to Dolan’s project about two childhood friends who come to a crossroads in their relationship after an unexpected kiss. Written and directed by Dolan, Matt et Max follows the filmmaker’s highly anticipated — and much-delayed — Englishlanguage debut The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, which made headlines in February when Dolan announced he was cutting Jessica Chastain’s character from the film.
The rest of the cast includes Kit Harington, Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates and Thandie Newton.
Originally predicted to première at Cannes, the movie is now expected to be unveiled in late summer at either the Venice or Toronto film festivals.
(On a side note, Dolan has been busy on Twitter recently, gushing over two of the week’s biggest viral music videos: Céline Dion’s riotous Deadpool 2 soundtrack highlight Ashes; and Childish Gambino’s This is America.)
Falardeau returns with My Salinger Year, his third film in English (after refugee dramedy The Good Lie and Rocky-inspired boxing romp Chuck). Written by the director and based on the novel by Joanna Rakoff, it’s the story of English literature student Joanna, who is hired by a publisher to answer famous writer J.D. Salinger’s fan mail.
Montreal-born animator Ty gets his first shot at directing with Maria. The Concordia animation graduate spent more than two decades in the U.S. working on blockbusters for Disney and DreamWorks before returning home in 2014 to head the animation team at new Montreal company L’atelier animation.
Owned by French heavyweights Laurent Zeitoun and Yann Zenou (Intouchables), the crew had a hit last year with Ballerina, about a young orphan who dreams of a life in dance. Maria is another story with a strong female lead, this time about a young woman in 1928 New York who dreams of becoming the city’s first female firefighter.
After exploring sex, drugs and death in the expressionistic biopic Nelly (about late prostitute turned - novelist Nelly Arcan), Émond is back with Jeune Juliette, a coming-of-age story following a spunky 14-year-old girl in the eventful last weeks before school lets out for summer.
Veteran director André Forcier gets close to nature in La beauté du monde, an environmentalist fable about a crusade to save agriculture workers from being exploited by a multinational.
Émile Gaudreault isn’t stopping to catch his breath. After the boxoffice smash De père en flic 2, the writer-director is set to begin work on Mytho, about a compulsive liar who wreaks havoc when his tall tales come true.
Louise Archambault won best feature at the 2014 Canadian Screen Awards for her last film, Gabrielle, about a developmentally challenged young woman’s first experiences with love; in a nice touch, the film’s lead, Gabrielle Marion-Rivard (who suffers from Williams syndrome), won best actress.
Archambault returns with Merci pour tout, in which two estranged sisters travel to Les Îles-de-laMadeleine to dispose of the ashes of their late father.
Newcomer Elza Kephart gets the go-ahead for her debut feature Slaxx, a comedy-horror film about a possessed pair of jeans that comes to life to expose the sketchy practices of a clothing manufacturer.