With the online section finished, the REGARD Festival wraps up its 25th edition with the announcement of the Unis Tv Audience Award and Nutrinor’s Public’s Choice Award. The cinephiles have spoken! The winners are Pharmakon by Jean-Martin Gagnon (Québec) and Joe Buffalo by Amar Chebib (British Columbia), two Canadian movies that won the audiences over from June 7 to 27.

For two weeks, festival-goers had the opportunity to vote online for their favourite film. In the Shoot No Matter What! section (works produced without the financial assistance of public institutions), Pharmakon director Jean-Martin Gagnon came out the big winner, taking Unis TV’s $500 cash prize; $2,500 towards camera equipment rentals; $2,500 in post-production services and $500 from Cinéma Moderne for a private screening. The other big winner named was Amar Chebib for his film, Joe Buffalo, with a $1,000 grant from Nutrinor.

An awards ceremony took place Monday at noon on the Facebook page of the Saguenay International Short Film Festival. Congratulations to them both!

An edition that will not be soon forgotten

After three weeks of celebrating short films, the REGARD team is extremely happy with the outcome of this special, summer edition. Although tourists and day-trippers from outside the province were rare, due to the measures, the local public was there in force.

Here are a few figures in brief:

• Number of drive-in passengers: 2,100

• Number of ticket admissions: 3,500

• Number of online passes: 1,550

• Number of views for Marché activities and online awards ceremony: 5,000

While on the subject: the next edition will take place from March 23 to 27, 2022. In the meantime, the Festival team continues with its year-round activities, including REGARD on Tour, returning from August until next October.