The prizes awarded by the professional jury include the Grand Prize, the Canadian Grand Prize, the Jury Prize, the Best animation short film, the Best documentary short film.
Eric Piccoli
Director and scriptwriter
Eric Piccoli is an award-winning director and screenwriter known for the dramatic series Temps mort (twice nominated at the International Emmy Awards), Écrivain public (Prix Gémeaux for best director) and Je voudrais qu’on m’efface (winner of four Prix Gémeaux; official selection at Canneseries) produced by Babel Films of which he is the co-founder. Eric aims for a social, sensitive and naturalistic cinema and, in his works, talks of the need for empathy and to live better together. He questions the prison environment and what it can do, championing the people who fall through the cracks. Eric is currently developing several projects, including the series La Canicule des Pauvres, an adaptation of the novel by Jean-Simon DesRochers, L’Équipe (produced by Avenue Productions), and the second season of Je voudrais qu’on m’efface.
Ladj Ly
Director and scriptwriter
Born in 1980, Ladj Ly, was quickly drawn to the camera and joined the renowned Kourtrajmé collective in the mid-1990s, founded by his childhood friends Romain Gavras and Kim Chapiron. Although credited as an actor in the film Sheitan (2005), it is as a documentary filmmaker that the young man made his name. A follower of ‘copwatch’, the practice of filming police interventions, Ladj Ly took his camera around his neighbourhood of Montfermeil and shot 365 days in Clichy Montfermeil, a film addressing riots in the city suburbs.
After co-directing À voix haute - La Force de la parole, a documentary on a public speaking competition at Saint-Denis university, Ladj Ly impressed with his first fiction, Les Misérables, a short film following the difficulties of a member of Montfermeil’s anti-crime squad. A shock work nominated for a César as Best Short Film in 2018, the filmmaker also helped open of a free film school in Paris’s 93 district. Adapting his winning short film to the big screen, he made the Les Misérables and won the Jury Prize at Cannes. It is considered by many to be the new La Haine.
Martine Francke
Actress
A National Theatre School graduate, Martine Francke has made a name for herself in cinema, television and theatre.
On the big screen, we have seen her in Antoine et Marie (Jimmy Larouche), La cicatrice (Jimmy Larouche), La dernière fugue (Léa Pool), Roméo et Juliette (Yves Desgagnés), Idole instantanée (Yves Desgagnés) and Le grand départ (Claude Meunier), amongst others. She has also acted in a number of short films and has won Best Actress award three times for the short film Je finirai en prison, first in 2020 at the Festival Prends ça court and then in 2021 at the Bucharest Festival.
On the small screen, she has several roles under her belt and can be presently seen in 5e Rang, Portrait-Robot and Le monde de Gabrielle Roy. Other series include Ruptures, Fatale-Station, Marche à l’ombre, Le berceau des anges, Mémoires vives, 30 vies, Toute la vérité, Providence, Trauma, Cher Olivier, Histoires de filles, Virginie and Détect inc. She also participated in youth programs such as Cornemuse, playing the character of Ouala, and has also collaborated on Taxi 0-22, Ce soir on joue and Improvissimo.
Theatre occupies an important place in her career. In 2019-2020, Martine performed Recette Infaillible, a play she wrote, directed by Félix Beaulieu Duchesneau.
Mustapha Fahmi
Author and professor of english literature
Mustapha Fahmi is professor of English literature at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi; he was also vice-rector for teaching, research and creation from 2012 to 2017. An internationally renowned writer and specialist in Shakespeare, he has lectured all over the world, including the University of Birmingham’s famous Shakespeare Institute. He is also the author of several books, including The Purpose of Playing (2008), Rosalind's Lesson (2018) and Juliette's Promise (2021). Fahmi has received several prizes and distinctions, including the Literary Distinction Prize (2019), awarded by the SLSJ Book Fair. Since February 1, he has been a regular columnist on Radio Canada’s Plus on est de fous.
Larissa Corriveau
Actress
Larissa Corriveau is a multi-talented artist. Actress, author and director, she distinguished herself on the Montreal theatre scene where she played for Oleg Kisseliov (Emily Dickinson), Alexandre Marine (La Cerisaie), Brigitte Haentjens (Richard III and The Threepenny Opera), Catherine Vidal (Je disparais), Olivier Kemeid (Les manchots), Florent Siaud (Toccate et Fugue), Marie Brassard (La fureur de ce que je pense / Beat Attitude), Alice Ronfard (Candide ou l’Optimisme), Marie-Ève Milot (Chienne(s)), Edith Patenaude (Les Sorcières de Salem) and many others. In 2019, she made a remarkable entrance to world of cinema in Denis Côté’s film Répertoire des villes disparues (official competition, 69th Berlinale). Her interpretation of the fragile and mystical Adèle has been unanimously hailed by critics as the “revelation of the film”, a role for which she was nominated at the 2019 Gala Québec Cinéma. In 2021, she once again impressed moviegoers with her role as Solveig in Denis Côté’s Hygiène Sociale. This year, we will be able to see her in another feature by Côté Un été comme ça, which had its world premiere at the Berlinale in mid-February. In addition, Larissa has made several television appearances in, among others, Plan B, Léo, Marche à l’ombre, Unité 9, and Toute la vie et le 422. Finalist of the Arthur Rimbaud Prize from the Maison de Poésie de Paris (2007 and 2008) and the Radio-Canada Poetry Prize (2011), her poems have been read at numerous events and published in literary publications in Montreal and Paris. Larissa is the founder of the production company La Demeure where she scripts, directs and produces short films and music videos that have been presented in international festivals.
Marco de Blois
Programmer and curator of animated films at the Cinémathèque Québécoise, Artistic director of the Sommets du cinéma d’animation
Programmer and curator of animated films at the Cinémathèque Québécoise, and Artistic Director of the Sommets du cinéma d’animation, Marco de Blois studied film at the University of Montreal. Since 1999, he has been programmer-curator of animated films at the Cinémathèque Québécoise, enriching the collections and artefacts and showcasing them through retrospectives, exhibitions and conferences in Canada and abroad. Since 2002, he has coordinated and signed the artistic direction of the Sommets du cinéma d'animation, the largest festival devoted to animation in Quebec. In addition to having been a member of the editorial board of the magazine 24 images for twenty years, he has published numerous articles on animated cinema. He has taught the history and aesthetics of animation at the Université Laval à Québec (2006 and 2007) and at Concordia University in Montreal (2008 and 2013). In 2022, he received the honorary prize from the PIAFF (Paris International Animation Film Festival) highlighting his contribution to the development of animated cinema as a cultural facilitator.
The AQCC Critics Jury is back for a fourth year in order to award the Quebec Critics Award AQCC to a short film of their choosing amongst international films in the official competition.
Justine Smith
Programmer and editor
Justine Smith is the screen editor at Cult MTL and regularly contributes to sites like Hyperallergic, Roger Ebert and Little White Lies, among others. Justine programs the Underground section at the Fantasia International Film Festival and is on the programming committee at Cinéma Moderne.
Olivier Thibodeau
Film critic and author
A film studies graduate from Concordia University in 2006, Olivier Thibodeau has been a member of the editorial board of Panorama-cinéma magazine since 2014, where he now holds the position of bureau chief for the festival section. A specialist in festival coverage, Olivier has written several hundred reviews for Quebec and European events, including the Berlinale, IFFR, Fantasia, RIDM, FNC, FIFA, Vues d'Afrique, FIFDA in Paris, and Anima in Brussels. He is also the author of essays on genre cinema, published in Quebec and Romanian collective works.
Christina Stojanova
Film critic and professor
Christina Stojanova is a Professor in Media Studies at the Department of Film, University of Regina. She contributes regularly to the specialized and academic print, and online media, and her writings are translated in French, Spanish, Polish and Russian. Co-editor of the critical anthologies «Wittgenstein at the Movies» (2011), «The Legacies of Jean-Luc Godard» (2014), and «The Legacy of German Expressionism» (2019), she is the editor of the highly acclaimed collection «The New Romanian Cinema» (2019). Her book on Canadian animator Caroline Leaf is to be published in 2023 by Bloomsbury Press (US). Member of the Quebec Film Critics Association, Christina regularly sits on national and international film festival juries.
Consisting of three members, this jury will award a film amongst the Canadian shorts in the official competition with the International FIPRESCI critic’s award.
Flavio Lira
Film critic
Born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He has worked as a film critic since 2002, first on the Arte7 website and later collaborating with media such as Freeway, Revista Zur, Lento, and currently writes for Revista Film. Other achievements include being the co-host of the Basuritas podcast, for curator for the Trasnoches (Midnight Movies) cycle from 2013 to 2018 on Cinemateca Uruguay, and the co-programmer for the LGBTQ film festival, Llámale H. He has been a FIPRESCI jury both abroad (Rotterdam, Los Cabos) and in Uruguay (Punta del Este).
Jason Gorber
Film critic
Jason Gorber is a film journalist and member of the Toronto Film Critics Association. He is the Editor in Chief/Chief Critic at ThatShelf.com and regularly contributes to POV Magazine, CBC Radio and RogerEbert.com. His writing has appeared in Esquire, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, Screen Anarchy (aka TwitchFilm), SlashFilm, HighDefDigest, Birth.Movies.Death, IndieWire and more. He has appeared on CTV NewsChannel, CP24, and many other broadcasters. He has been a jury member at the Reykjavik International Film Festival, Calgary Underground Film Festival, RiverRun Film Festival, TIFF Canada's Top 10, Reel Asian and Fantasia's New Flesh Award. Jason has been a Tomatometer-approved critic since its inception.
Sebastiaan Khouw
Journalist adn film critic
Sebastiaan Khouw is a journalist and film reviewer that writes from an intense passion and belief that (cinematic) images can make life better. As a journalist, he believes that these images can take you on a journey through life. He writes from the ideology that (cinematic) images deserve more love and attention. He seeks to inform, amuse and challenge his readers with his view. He wants to convey the joy of his view to others.
He has written for several Dutch and International websites. More than 4 years ago he started his own website called SebKijk. In 2020 Sebastiaan also joined the Kring van Nederlandse Filmjournalisten - a place for the film critics and journalists from the Netherlands. In 2021 he joined the FIPRESCI.
Sebastiaan has covered multiple film festivals in the Netherlands, including the IFFR, the Leiden International Film Festival, Imagine Film Festival and Movies that Matter Film Festival. In October of 2021 he had the chance to visit Germany to jury and cover the German Film festival in Chemnitz (the SCHLiNGEL International Film Festival).
This jury will give the Shoot no Mattter What! Award to one of the shorts of the eponymous program.
Ariane Roy-Poirier
Programming director of Plein(s) Écran(s) Festival
Graduating in film studies at the Université de Montréal, Ariane Roy-Poirier was Young Audience Coordinator and programming assistant for 4 years at the Festival du Film pour Enfants de Montréal (FIFEM). She moved to Québec Cinéma’s RVCQ to programme short films and take responsibility of the Lab. With more than 8 years of experience in festivals, more specifically in audience development, her passion is transmitting her love of cinema to others. Her new position as Plein(s) Ecran(s) programming director allows her to put the audacity and innovative character of the organization at the service of the public and the Quebec short film.
Serge Bordeleau
Documentary filmmaker
Biologist by training, Serge Bordeleau returns to Abitibi-Témiscamingue after a detour in cinema, at UQAM. His first film won Best Newcomer Quebec/Canada prize at RIDM in 2009, Best Student Film at RVCQ in 2010, and several mentions at home and abroad. Founder of the Festival de cinéma des gens d’ici, he initiated the Vues d’ici project to help local filmmakers with some thirty short films. Accompanying filmmaker for Wapikoni mobile, he also created the production company Nadagam films, taking an increasing interest in digital and interactive forms of documentary. In 2020, he won a Numix prize for his documentary series Abitibi360, presented on the web and in virtual reality. He participates in the emergence of the TACIC, with a view to contributing to the territorial diversity of cinema.
Eva Williams
Short Films programmer at Sundance Film Festival
Evá Williams is a member of the Sundance Film Festival’s short film programming team. She's been an active member of screening committees for the Hamptons, Montclair, TIDE, HollyShorts, and Brooklyn Film festivals. She is also on review committees for the HamptonsFilm Screenwriters Lab and Gotham Week. She currently serves as the manager of annual giving at the Sundance Institute, after working at Film at Lincoln Center, MoMA, and MoviePass. She graduated from Harvard cum laude in visual environmental studies (film track). She is a native New Yorker with an undying love for her city. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, listening to music, and laughing with friends.
Karine Gonthier-Hyndman
Actress
Karine Gonthier-Hyndman has distinguished herself in theater in several roles over the past ten years. The plethora of projects in which she has taken part underline her versatility as much as her passion for creation, such as Queue cerise (Olivier Morin) and Tocate et Fugue (Florent Siaud) at the Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui, Le songe d'une nuit d'été (Frédéric Bélanger) at the Théâtre Denise-Pelletier, or Le Roman de Monsieur Molière (Lorraine Pintal) at the TNM theater and presented as a webcast. More recently, she was seen in Limbo (Amélie Dallaire) at the Écuries theater and at Usine C for the play Atteintes à sa vie (Philippe Cyr). On the small screen, she has played a number of roles in various productions such as Toi & Moi II, Les beaux malaises, and Nouvelle Adresse, which revealed her to the general public. Karine was nominated for a Gémeaux award from 2016 to 2018 for her fabulous role as Elizabeth in Les Simone ("Best Supporting Role: Comedy"), from 2016 to 2020 for Like-moi ("Best Performance: Comedy") and in the same category in 2021 for Entre deux draps. She and her teams won the Prix Gémeaux in 2018 and 2020 (Like-moi) and 2021 (Entre deux draps). In 2019, she took on the role of the unforgettable Alexandra in the series Les invisibles, directed by Alexis Durant-Brault, on TVA. Since 2020, she plays Micheline, the wife of Patrice Robitaille, alias Serge, in the grandiose series C'est comme ça que je t'aime from the creators of Série Noire, on Radio-Canada. In 2021, it is in Patrick Sénécal, presented on Club Illico, that we can see her at work. In the cinema, she is part of the cast of Nicolas Monette's film, Trip à trois. She will soon be seen in Falkon Lake, by Charlotte Le Bon. She won the Best Actress award at the Gala Prend ça Court! in 2021 for her role in Frimas, by Marianne Farley. This role also allowed her to participate in the prestigious Oscar race in 2022.
Annie St-Pierre
Director and scriptwriter
Annie St-Pierre directed several medium and feature length documentaries before getting a taste of fiction with 让-马克-瓦雷, a four-minute short film entirely in Mandarin, but winner of the Best French-Language Screenplay Award at REGARD in 2016. Her next short film, Les Grandes Claques, premiered at Sundance, was selected for over 80 festivals and won over 30 awards in addition to being selected for the prestigious Oscars short list and being featured by The New Yorker magazine. Annie is now in production on Le Plein potentiel, a feature documentary that delves into the world of life coaches. Apostle of independent cinema, she also collaborates as a producer, script consultant and casting director with the Montreal film community that inspires her.