The feature film Incendies by Denis Villeneuve, Adrien Morot (Barney’s Version) and Dean Deblois (How to Train your Dragon) received nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards.
Québec cinema was in the limelight from January 27 to February 6 during the 26th Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF), one of the major film festivals in the United States.
The relation between the Québec Government Office in Los Angeles and Hollywood reached a new level on January 26th of this year while the Delegation became a member of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
VFX and animation house Mokko Studio celebrates its nomination in the category of ‘Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries Movie or Special’ by the Visual Effects Society (VES) for “Last Day of the Dinosaurs”.
Guy Laliberté, founder and owner of Cirque du Soleil, has now his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His star shines on Hollywood Boulevard, right in front of the Kodak Theatre, host site of the Oscars and soon-to-be home base for the $50-million Cirque show IRIS.
A special screening of Xavier Dolan’s latest movie was held on November 7th at the AFI Fest 2010 in Hollywood, California. Heartbeats, the second movie of the 21 years old Québec director, actor and screenwriter was shown in front of an enthusiastic and sold out audience at the Mann 6 Chinese Theatre.
Cavalia is a one-of-a-kind show that blends equestrian arts, dance, acrobatics, live music and dramatic visual effects. Created by Normand Latourelle in 2001, the show undeniably raises the bar for spectacular entertainment in the 21st century. Cavalia features 59 horses and 35 artists, and has been presented in 36 cities for more than 1 500 representations, which means that over 2.5 millions people have seen it!
The long-awaited Cirque du Soleil new production is named IRIS: A Journey Through the World of Cinema and will take up residence next summer at the mythical Kodak Theatre, the home of the Academy Awards ceremony.
Incendies, written and directed by Denis Villeneuve, was adapted from the stage play of internationally acclaimed Québec playwright Wajdi Mouawad. Garnering great acclaim at both the Venice Mostra and Telluride, winner of the Best Canadian Film at the Toronto International Film Festival and now heading to Pusan, Incendies has enjoyed an impressive run on the film festival circuit.
Montreal conductor Jean-Michaël Lavoie was selected by Gustavo Dudamel and the artistic staff of the Los Angeles Philharmonic to be one of the "Dudamel Fellow” for season 2010-2011.
Mokko Studio from Montréal and Tremblay Bros. Studios from Los Angeles, have announce their partnership for the opening of Odyssée Animation in Québec. Odyssée Animation will become Montreal’s very first, full-fledged animation studio providing long-format animation services for character driven feature film, animated series and video games.
The Québec Government Office in Los Angeles in collaboration with Invest Quebec, and the Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade hosted a reception on June 15 in Los Angeles to highlight the implementation of three new animation and electronic games studios in Québec. The event took place during the Electronic Entertainment Exposition (E3), the biggest trade show of its kind in the world gathering more than 45 000 people this year.
Hearthbeats, Xavier Dolan’s lastest film, won the Regards Jeunes prize in Cannes, which is awarded by a European jury of seven young cinephiles. Last year, he won for his debut feature, J’ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother), which he also wrote, directed and starred in.
In association with the estate of the late Michael Jackson, Cirque du Soleil will be presenting a brand-new permanent show in Las Vegas dedicated to the King of Pop and featuring dance and new technologies such as 3D and holograms. The show is expected to debut in late 2012 and will be Cirque’s eighth permanent show in Las Vegas.
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is one of four major filmfests in the Los Angeles area. Each year, it zeroes in on cinema from a specific nation via its “Focus On...” section. For its 25th-anniversary edition, held from February 4 to 14, the SBIFF introduced film buffs to Québec’s high-quality cinema.