Saguenay international
short film festival

After running the whole gamut of emotions the past nine months, and coming up with hundreds of possibilities for REGARD’s 25th edition, the Saguenay International Short Film Festival team finally unveils today the fruit of their hard work and sweat. In full summer mode, REGARD will be presenting more than 150 short films from more than 30 countries from June 7 to 13 in six screening venues in Saguenay. The fun will continue from June 14 to 27 when the films are made available online, and across Canada. Let the festivities begin!

The first hot date of summer

To improve the chances of seeing films in the flesh and on the big screen, it was announced last October that the next festival would be pushed to summer. Happily, the plan worked and the festival team has chosen six sites across Saguenay and the surrounding area for screenings:

  • Salle François-Brassard (Cégep de Jonquière)
  • Centre d’expérimentation musicale (Chicoutimi-Nord)
  • La Saguenéenne hotel and convention centre (Chicoutimi)
  • The Urbain Drive-In, Centre Georges-Vézina (Chicoutimi)
  • The Domaine de la Florida Drive-In (Saint-Ambroise)
  • Place du Citoyen (Chicoutimi)

The nine official competition programs will be projected a minimum of four times in three indoor theatres and two drive-ins, for a total of seven days, so that as many people as possible can see them. Three parallel competitions (100% Regions, Shoot No Matter What! and Americana) will be presented at the Centre d’expérimentation musicale and the Urbain Drive-In. The outdoor site will also host concerts, in collaboration with the Saguenay Jazz and Blues Festival, La Noce, Homies and CISM 89.3. Performing live will be The Halluci Nation, Saratoga, Clay and Friends, and Barry Paquin Roberge. The atmosphere will be electric!

The conference hall at the La Saguenéenne hotel will host mainly thematic programs, and a few surprises. At Chicoutimi’s downtown Place du Citoyen people will be able to see youth and other programs intended for the general viewing public. Finally, the other side of the Saint-Ambroise municipality, on the evening of June 12, the public can see a performance by the electronic band La Java, along with one of the official competition programs.

“Throughout the process, I have often doubted the decision to postpone the event to June, with all of the risks and false promises it could entail. But I never doubted our passion, motivation and love for the short film format, no matter what, to think the 25th edition would be limited to a few side-show events. Producing a summer edition is an opportunity to live the REGARD experience differently and to push our limits.” - Marie-Élaine Riou, Executive Director

It goes without saying that sanitary measures will be rigorously applied throughout the festival: mask wearing, social distancing, frequent hand-washing and the permitted number of moviegoers in cinemas.

The official competition

The competition in numbers: 55 films in all official competitions, with 24 from Quebec, 3 from the rest of Canada, and 28 from the rest of the world. There will be 13 world premieres. 

Among the films is Frimas, Marianne Farley’s eagerly awaited latest piece, a difficult work on the topical subject of abortion rights. Festival-goers will also be able to witness the stunning performances of Benoît Brière and Théodore Pellerin in Rosa, a film by Jean-Michel Gervais and Gabriel J. Lemay. Les Grandes Claques by Annie St-Pierre, presented at Sundance this winter, is also making its Canadian premiere, as will Donc, Socrate est mortel by Alexandre Isabelle, a film premiered at Aspen. Fifteen short films in total are vying for the official competition’s Canadian Grand Prize, presented by the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi and MTL Grandé.

Parallel competition

This year, the 100% Saguenay program presented by Hydro-Québec officially becomes the 100% Régions program. Given the growing number of filmmakers from the far corners of Québec, the Festival team felt the time had come to better represent these regions on its screens. Thus, the public will be able to see films from Mauricie, Montérégie, Québec, Gaspésie and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. Local director Pierre Néron will present his film Pâté à viande, as will another local filmmaker, Mélanie Saint-Germain, with her animated short Elles. Originally from Lac-Saint-Jean, she studied art at UQAC.  And to everyone’s delight, back again, and growing stronger with every year, is the Shoot No Matter What! program, presented by Unis Tv, and the Americana program, linking the three Americas.

Thematic programs

Different cinematographic worlds can be discovered in three original selections presented at the La Saguenéenne hotel: Body Language, presented by INIS, exploring dance and body language; Sex Education, offered by Rouge FM, a program about sexuality and renewing our feminist commitment; and Films de genre, presented by Énergie 94.5, the annual meeting place for fans of horror and sci-fi. As usual, the festival ends in style, with a selection of the public’s favourites, presented by Nutrinor, projected the evening of June 13 in Jonquière and Chicoutimi.

“We have dreamed of this summer edition for a whole year. In the end, we were able to make the most of the difficult situation and continue honouring the short film format and its creators and celebrate this 25th edition with our loyal public. Through the universal themes of family, friendships, reunions, conflicts and internal struggles, a background of humanity and understanding emanates from the selection.” - Mélissa Bouchard, director of programming

For the younger crowd and their families

Apprentice movie aficionados and their families will find the usual P'tites Vue and Grandes Vue programs, only this time they’ll be watching them outside at the Urban Drive-In. Also for the younger crowd, Kid Kouna will be giving a performing live on Sunday evening, presented by Hydro-Quebec, Mode Choc and Rouge FM. As for teenagers, they get to storm the Place du Citoyen on Friday and Saturday evening with the # 13-17 program, presented by the Cégep de Chicoutimi. This central location will also host three Short & Sweet programs, to be broadcast free of charge, every day to the delight of passers-by.

Ticket office and REGARD online

At midday on May 26, the public will be able to go to the REGARD website to purchase their live screening tickets (don’t dawdle, places are limited!). They will also be able to buy their Access REGARD for the complete program online – from June 14 to 27 – at a cost of $30! We are pushing the boundaries of geography this year and look forward to having our films streamed into living rooms of film buffs across Canada!