Laurentia (film)

Laurentia
FrenchLaurentie
Directed byMathieu Denis
Simon Lavoie
Written byMathieu Denis
Simon Lavoie
Produced byNancy Grant
Sylvain Corbeil
Pascal Bascaron
StarringEmmanuel Schwartz
Jade Hassouné
CinematographyNicolas Canniccioni
Edited byMathieu Denis
Production
company
Metafilms
Distributed byFunfilm Distribution
Release date
  • July 3, 2011 (2011-07-03) (KVIFF)
Running time
118 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench

Laurentia (French: Laurentie) is a Canadian drama film, directed by Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie and released in 2011.[1] A meditation on Québécois identity which draws its title from the philosophical concept of Laurentie that was an early precursor to the contemporary Quebec sovereignty movement,[2] the film stars Emmanuel Schwartz as Louis Desprès, an audiovisual technician in Montreal who sinks into a malaise of depression and identity crisis as he becomes increasingly distrustful and suspicious of his new anglophone immigrant neighbour Jay Kashyap (Jade Hassouné).[3]

The film's cast also includes Eugénie Beaudry, Guillaume Cyr, Martin Boily and Simon Gfeller.[4]

The film was screened at the 2011 Cannes Film Market as part of Telefilm Canada's annual Perspectives Canada program,[5] and had its public premiere at the 46th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.[6] It had its Canadian premiere at the 2011 Festival du nouveau cinéma.[7]

The film faced some controversy for a scene which featured the lead character masturbating.[1]

  1. ^ a b Léa Clermont-Dion, "LAURENTIE: L’INDICIBLE MALAISE". Voir, November 27, 2012.
  2. ^ Jean-François Hamel, "Solitude amère". Ciné-Bulles, Vol. 29 No. 4 (Fall 2011), p. 57.
  3. ^ T'Cha Dunlevy, "Poetry in slow motion; A number of new Quebec films have drawn notice for their heart of darkness and understated aesthetics". Montreal Gazette, November 12, 2011.
  4. ^ Charles-Henri Ramond, "Laurentie – Film de Mathieu Denis et Simon Lavoie". Films du Québec, October 12, 2011.
  5. ^ "Telefilm Canada set to launch Not Short on Talent, a new initiative, at Cannes Film Market". Canada NewsWire, May 3, 2011.
  6. ^ "Le film quebecois «Laurentie» est selectionne au Festival de Karlovy Vary: Le film «Laurentie» au Festival de Karlovy Vary". Canadian Press, June 17, 2011.
  7. ^ Charles-Henri Ramond, "FNC 2011: la sélection québécoise". Films du Québec, September 29, 2011.