Concordia grad’s film picked at Cannes
Sarah préfère la course to screen in Un Certain Regard section
Like Xavier Dolan before her, Chloé Robichaud is taking her first feature to the Cannes Film Festival.
The 25-year-old Concordia graduate received confirmation Thursday morning that her film Sarah préfère la course has been chosen as part of the official selection in the fest’s Un Certain Regard section.
“It’s the biggest festival in the world,” Robichaud exclaimed, sitting in the offices of distributor Seville. “This is the dream of a little girl who wanted to make films since the age of three.”
“Cannes is like the Oscars,” added Fanny-Laure Malo, the movie’s producer.
“It’s something everyone aspires to. Many are called, few are chosen. It’s a huge gift that we received this morning.”
It is the second consecutive trip to the festival for the pair, who began working together at Concordia and brought Robichaud’s short film Chef de meute to Cannes last year. The experience prepared them for what to expect this time. The Cannes Film Festival takes place May 15 to 26. Sarah préfère
la course will be released in Quebec on June 7.
“It helps,” Malo said. “It’s more nerve-racking (to attend with a feature), but we saw the machine last year; we know what it involves.”
“I feel lucky to have experienced the competition with a short film,” Robichaud said.
“I lived the Cannes buzz. Arriving with a feature in official selection, I feel more ready for the attention surrounding the film. I’m sure there will be many surprises, and maybe I don’t realize how big it will be, but (so far) I’m able to see what’s hap- pening and stay calm.”
Sarah préfère la course tells the story of a young woman (Sophie Desmarais) who moves from rural Quebec to Montreal with her boyfriend to run on the McGill track team. But big-city life and her passion for the sport put pressure on their relationship.
“It’s about making a choice … the passage to adulthood and the consequences of a dream,” Robichaud said.
She is most proud about having a strong female lead at the centre of her film.
“It’s a big role for women,” she said. “It’s completely different from what we usually see. She’s introverted, and kind of masculine — which I don’t like to say, but she’s not like what we know of femininity in cinema.”
Despite having attended the festival already, making it back there was the last thing on Robichaud’s mind during the shoot.
“I didn’t make it to please Cannes,” she said. “At one point, I said to Fanny: ‘I want to make the film that’s in my head. If people don’t like it, at least I did it my way.’
“If I had tried to make a film that Cannes liked, I don’t think I would be going to Cannes today. It wouldn’t have the same authenticity — I think that’s what they appreciated.”