Light through grain, stories in two languages

What you will find on this site

The site covers independent cinema in Quebec and Canada: its history, the festivals of Montreal and Toronto, how films reach cinemas, and bilingual film. Each topic has its own guide, and every guide is based on facts you can check.

The guide to the history of Quebec cinema begins with an institution. The National Film Board of Canada was created in 1939 under the National Film Act, and John Grierson became its first commissioner. From there, we turn to the films that brought this cinema to the world's attention. Denys Arcand's Les Invasions barbares won the Oscar for best foreign-language film at the 2004 ceremony. A year earlier at Cannes, its screenplay was honoured and Marie-Josée Croze won the prize for best actress.

Festivals and the road to cinemas

The second guide covers film festivals in Canada. Festival du nouveau cinéma in Montreal began in 1971, the Toronto festival, TIFF, in 1976, and Montreal's Fantasia in 1996. Each has a different character, so we describe them individually and explain how they differ.

The third guide explains how film distribution works. A film does not reach the screen on its own, and independent Canadian cinema makes that journey in a market where two languages coexist. We describe each stage in order, from a festival screening to a theatrical release, without naming companies or making any commercial offers.

Why bilingual film deserves its own guide

Canada has two main film languages, and some productions use both. Bon Cop, Bad Cop, directed by Érik Canuel in 2006, was made in two language versions, French and English. Séraphin: un homme et son péché, directed by Charles Binamé in 2002, is an adaptation of Claude-Henri Grignon's 1933 novel. Together, these two examples show that Quebec cinema can draw on literary tradition as well as a format designed for audiences in both languages. The fourth guide brings such examples together and explains how language shapes both the making of a film and its reception.

How to use the guides

The guides can be read in any order. If you are interested in the past, start with the history of Quebec cinema. If you plan to keep track of screenings, choose the guide to festivals. The remaining two explain how a film reaches its audience and why language can matter as much as direction.