Hosted by PhareOuest, the event served as a platform for female film makers from around the world and for the local population to check out their latest works.

The event showcased over a dozen projects by movie-makers from all over the world, including from Lebanon, Brazil and France with some of the directors on hand to watch the films in person.

Opening the festival on Friday night was the screening of Capharnaum, an Arabic movie subtitled in French and made in 2018. The story is about a young boy named Zain and his upbringing in the rugged streets of Beirut, Lebanon.

Raised by relatively absent parents with somewhat reckless tendencies, he only finds comfort and happiness is when he’s with his sister Zahar. But when Zahar gets offered in an arranged marriage, Zain is completely distraught and leaves his family behind only to run into a series of challenges under hard times.

On Saturday morning, a group of volunteers teamed up in the kitchen inside the Golden Age hall to take part in the Cannes Festival.

Paying homage to the famous French film festival, it consisted of using a variety of vegetables to make delicious tomato sauce, which was then sold off to the public at $4 a pop.

Following a full slate of movies on Saturday afternoon, the evening comprised of a movie night under the stars which displayed short films and the feature film was Une Colonie by Canadian film director Genevieve Dulude De Celles.

Volunteers served little bags of popcorn and a campfire burned all night long to keep the folks warm throughout the flick.

On Sunday, folks were invited to sip some joe while watching a few independent morning movies, including Tout ce qu’il me reste de la revolution directed by French movie-maker Judith Davis.

Plus, a group of four local youth participated in a short film-making workshop over the weekend headed by Emilie Baillargeon. Production took two and a half days and the film showcased at the beginning of the outdoor movie session on Saturday night.

The flick consisted of the youngsters reciting a poetic script over a rhythmic melody – making it look somewhat like a long rap video.

Filmed at different spots in Fort Coulonge, the experience provided the kids with an accurate perspective of what it takes to make high-quality flicks, according to the event’s founder Suzanne Vallières-Nollet.

“They set the scenes, they planned it, they filmed it, they managed their lights, just like pros,” she said.

“It’s oriented to offer them something unique,” she added. “Something special. It’s a learning experience that is difficult to live in the region.”

For Gabriela de Andrade, a Brazilian director based in Montreal, the best part about attending the event was meeting all sorts of new people and discovering a place she didn’t know existed.

“What I find interesting is the people,” she said. “My daughter helping out the kitchen staff for the Cannes Festival, learning about the town and knowing a little more about what goes on inside Quebec.”

“It’s an opportunity for us to explore a part of Quebec that we didn’t know, full of small towns and all that,” she added. “So, I brought my whole family because it’s not only a festival. It’s also a way of sharing something with the people.”

Foreign to the event, de Andrade heard about the festival from a friend who’s also a film-maker in the region. When she heard how the festival was put together and the incentive behind it, she was all in on submitting her work and making the trip to Fort Coulonge to experience the event.

“I found it very nice that the festival is a community initiative in a small town,” she said.

Her project entitled Premier Juillet is a made-for-tv documentary in Portuguese, subtitled in French, about moving day in Quebec – the first of July.

The story follows a family of Brazilian immigrants (de Andrade’s family) living in Montreal. The movie is intended to represent the big changes happening in the family member’s respective lives, especially with the recent arrival of a new-born baby.

The event is a great way of introducing unknown artistic elements to the region, while hopefully intriguing locals in learning more about it, Vallières-Nollet said.

“It’s really rare that you can watch a foreign film that’s so touching, in a small town in the Pontiac,” she said. “I think that bringing the art of cinema to people where they live, I think that’s our mission. We want to offer a festival with lineup diverse enough to attract not only those who are curious about it but also those who are either hesitant or think that it’s not for them.”

Register or subscribe to read this content

Thanks for stopping by! This article is available to readers who have created a free account or who subscribe to The Equity.

When you register for free with your email, you get access to a limited number of stories at no cost. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to everything we publish—and directly support quality local journalism here in the Pontiac.

Register or Subscribe Today!