With the support of Telefilm Canada, REGARD is proud to present an ambitious Short Film Market for its twenty-first edition. From next March 16th to March 18th, about twenty professional activities will take place at Hôtel Chicoutimi. As the person in charge Dan Karo underlines, "The Market is a unique meeting point in North America and it is always made in a sharing spirit through the proposed activities. This year, the activities will go from virtual reality to a cinema lesson or discussions about related jobs. The discussions will be relevant for cinephiles and professionals from here and elsewhere."

As part of the new Market directions, many opportunities will also be created to offer, as an added value for the professionals, possibilities of marketing and networking. It will also continue to be a space for emulation and dissemination of expertise about cinema professions and its short format. Pro Access holders will be able to take part in many exclusive activities, including Pro meetings with guest distributors and programmers or a think tank about distribution with prestigious international guests from countries including Korea, Colombia, Italy, Ukraine, Austria, France or United States.

What is new this year is an Audition Workshop, which will take place on Thursday, March 16th. The workshop will offer an audition simulation with the casting directors or artist managers Nathalie Boutie, Mona Portelance, Pierre Pageau and Daniel Poisson. On March 17th, 3 pm, a Lesson in Cinema with Karl Lemieux will feature a discussion hosted by Philippe Gajan with the director who has recently been selected at the Venice Mostra with his first feature film Maudite poutine. For a second year, a Telefilm Canada Micro Budget Pitch Session session will take place at UQAC on Friday, March 17th, at 1 pm, so that the francophone finalists of the program can talk about their project during a pitch session in front of a jury and an audience of Festival’s professionals.

On Saturday, March 18th, at 10 am, the Conference: from Shorts to Feature, sponsored by ARRQ and INIS, and hosted by Paul Landriau with the filmmakers Sophie Goyette, Geneviève Dulude-Decelles and Guillaume Lambert will provide us with thoughts and accounts around this regularly raised question of the relation between short and full-length film. Then, starting at 1 pm, a Lesson in Cinema with the documentary filmmaker with an atypical background Momoko Seto will take place. The activity will be hosted by Philippe Gajan and is presented thanks to the support of UniFrance. The last activity of the Market, presented thanks to the support of UDA is In Conversation with Marc-André Grondin, hosted by Manon Dumais. Starting at 3 pm, the activity will present an intimate discussion about the path and views of the actor who is beloved by Quebeckers and established across the Atlantic.

Marc-André Grondin

Momoko Seto

New media for the Festival, an installation entitled FNC eXPlore VR Experience, located at the Moulin à Cie on Racine Street in Chicoutimi from March 16th to March 18th, will offer an immersive experience with six virtual experiences. A presentation of FNC eXPlore, a new selection of our partners from the Festival du nouveau cinéma. On Saturday, March 18th at 3 pm, the VR Workshop NAD School will take place at the Moulin à Cie, thanks to the support of UQAC and École Nad. It will provide to curious people an overview of the practices and possibilities of virtual reality.