Serge Bonin

A man finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnesses a crime scene committed by two teenage brothers. He is immediately kidnapped by the boys who have gotten themselves into a big trouble. This launches the bizarre trio on a crazy journey that reveals each person’s true character. Linked by a common destiny, these three fragile individuals must overcome their prejudices and work together to survive. And when their journey is coming to an end, the man has to make a biggest decision in his life. Richard Angers’ first feature A Pact Among Angels is a road movie with a heartwarming story about strangers who have nobody else but each other. Richard Angers’ very detailed direction and the fine performances of Émile Schneider, Marc Messier, and Lenni-Kim make A Pact Among Angels one of the outstanding Canadian independent films this year.

Five years after an economic catastrophe, the government and banks have collapsed. At a fortified village in rural Quebec, three individuals with very different pasts see their destinies unwillingly intertwined. Léon is part of a band of honest scavengers. Following a murderous attack, Léon has a falling out with the surviving members of his gang. Marianne, survivor of a brutal assault and the last living member of her family, is travelling to the village to find her aunt — and is soon to find that her attackers are there too. Old Bob has only one goal, to reconnect and make peace with his brother, since years estranged. During his journey, he encounters Josée, a teen with attitude who sees a father figure in him. After a bloody altercation at a bar, Bob has no choice but to tolerate Joe’s company.

In 1952, an Inuit hunter named Tivii with tuberculosis leaves his northern home and family to go recuperate at a sanatorium in Quebec City. Uprooted, far from his loved ones, unable to speak French and faced with a completely alien world, he becomes despondent. When he refuses to eat and expresses a wish to die, his nurse, Carole, comes to the realization that Tivii's illness is not the most serious threat to his well-being. She arranges to have a young orphan, Kaki, transferred to the institution. The boy is also sick, but has experience with both worlds and speaks both languages. By sharing his culture with Kaki and opening it up to others, Tivii rediscovers his pride and energy. Ultimately he also rediscovers hope through a plan to adopt Kaki, bring him home and make him part of his family

In the late 1930s, a young machinist named Maurice Richard distinguished himself as a ice hockey player of preternatural talent. Although that was enough to get him into the Montreal Canadiens, his frequent injuries cost him the confidence of his team and the fans. In the face of these doubts, Richard eventually shows the kind of aggressive and skillful play that would make him one of the greatest players of all time as "The Rocket." However for all his success, Richard and his fellow French Canadians face constant discrimination in a league dominated by the English speaking. Although a man of few words, Richard begins to speak his own mind about the injustice which creates a organizational conflict that would culminate in his infamous 1955 season suspension that sparks an ethnic riot in protest. In the face of these challenges, Richard must decide who exactly is he playing for.

In a style evocative of Fellini at his most surreal, this bizarre French Canadian fantasy follows the romance between a young filmmaker and a bearded lady from a local circus during the 1960s. The story begins in a contemporary theater where a projectionist describes, to movie director Rex Prince, the ghostly spirit that seems to be haunting his film. The story then races backward to the 1960s when a half-mad, idealistic Rex was busily making his first film, a Marxist tract depicting poverty in Montreal. Edouard Dore, a well-connected editor works with him and it is he who takes Rex to a carnival late one night to meet the performers in a freakshow. The first person Rex meets is Le Grand Zenon, a hulking one-eyed fellow with the amazing ability to use his eye to project movie images on a screen with neither a projector nor film.