SAGUENAY, Sunday, March 17, 2019 – After long deliberation and lively debate, the juries for the 23rd REGARD Festival named the winners of the festival’s awards at the Hôtel Chicoutimi this Sunday, March 17. Twelve awards and four special mentions were announced during a festive ceremony attended by REGARD’s distinguished guests.
Professional Jury
The Professional Jury, composed of five well-known film-industry figures – Jeremy Comte, Emmanuel Schwartz, Nicholas O’Neill, Geneviève Dulude-De Celles and Tizian Büchi – was charged with selecting the winners of five awards from among the 66 films in the official competition.
The Grand Prize, including a $10,000 cash prize courtesy of the Cégep de Chicoutimi, went to the French film Riviera, by Jonas Schloesing. The Canadian Grand Prize, with a $5,000 cash prize presented by the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi and $25,000 in creative services courtesy of MTL Grandé, was awarded to Juste moi et toi, by Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers.
Meanwhile, the Jury Prize, including a $2,000 cash prize presented by the Caisse de la culture, went to the Belgian film Une soeur, by Delphine Girard. The jury also awarded a special mention to the Quebec-made short Brotherhood, by Meryam Joobeur.
The award for Best Animated Film went to the French film Riviera, by Jonas Schloesing, the film’s second award at REGARD. The award includes a $1,000 cash prize courtesy of Rodeo FX. Lastly, the five members of the professional jury declared the documentary Suspension d’audience, by Nina Marissiaux, this year’s Best Documentary, with a $1,000 cash prize presented by Canal D; the film will also be shown on the specialty channel. Swatted, by Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis, earned a special mention.
FIPRESCI and AQCC juries
The FIPRESCI International Critics’ Prize, for best Canadian short in the official competition, was awarded to La couleur de tes lèvres, directed by Annick Blanc. This award includes a $1,000 cash prize courtesy of L’Gros Luxe and $2,500 in services from SLA Location. The jury, made up of members of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), included Canada’s James Slotek, Mexico’s Ernesto Diez-Martínez Guzman and France’s Valérie Ganne. The jury also chose to award a special mention to Forêt noire, directed by local talents Jean-Marc E. Roy and Philippe David Gagné.
The AQCC (Quebec critics) jury, composed of André Roy, Benjamin Pelletier and Claire-Amélie Martinant, awarded the AQCC Quebec Critics’ Award, with a cash prize of $1,000 presented by the AQCC and Lussier & Khouzam, to Le Champ de maïs by Sandhya Suri.
Shoot No Matter What! and Audience juries
Honouring an independent film made without financial assistance, this year’s Shoot No Matter What! Prize went to Le déménagement, directed by Gabriel Vilandré. A $5,000 cash production grant and purchase of the director’s next short film were presented by Unis TV, along with $15,000 in equipment rentals courtesy of SPIRA. In addition, the Consul General of France in Quebec, in collaboration with the Off-Courts Festival in Trouville, France, awarded the director full participation in Off-Courts. The Shoot No Matter What! jury was composed of programmers Niels Putman, Takashi Homma and New Brunswick’s Dominique Léger.
For its part, the audience jury was composed of three cinephiles from the Saguenay region: Éric Lamarre, Marceli Fleming and Johanne Cormier. The Audience Award, including a $1,000 cash prize courtesy of Énergie, went to Nursery Rhymes by Tom Noakes. The members of the jury also singled out Brotherhood by Meryam Joobeur for a special mention. The Bourse à la création régionale (grant for regional creators), including a $1,000 cash prize presented by MAtv and Hydro-Québec, as well as $15,000 in creative services courtesy of La Bande Sonimage, went to À l’aube, by Anaë Bilodeau and Louis-Pierre Cossette. Simultaneously, the films of the competition Shoot No Matter What! were available during the whole Festival on Unis TV website and the Internet users have been invited to vote for their Coups de coeur : the winner of the Unis Tv public choice awards, coming with $500 given by Unis TV is Foyer by Sophie B. Jacques.
Youth Jury award
First presented in 2016, the award for Best Youth Short Film went to Irony by Radheya Jegatheva. The director received a $1,000 cash prize presented by Hydro-Québec. Three students from Charles-Gravel high school, Olivier Morissette, Daphnée McKenna and Joey Lessard, had the exciting mission of naming the year’s best youth film.
REGARD – Saguenay International Short Film Festival is a production of Caravane Films Productions. The event is made possible by the support of numerous private and public partners: the Ville de Saguenay, Super Écran, Télé-Québec, Hydro-Québec, Desjardins, Rio Tinto and Cégep de Jonquière, in collaboration with the Canada Council for the Arts, Telefilm Canada, the Talent Fund, Canadian Heritage, the government of Québec and the Conseil des arts de Saguenay.