Montreal: It has been a whirlwind, wonderful kind of year for Cinemaginaire producer Denise Robert and life partner, filmmaker Denys Arcand. So good, in fact, that the couple shares the honor of 2003 Playback Person of the Year.

Robert and Cinemaginaire partner Daniel Louis produced two of the top Canadian-produced theatrical releases this year, Arcand’s Les Invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions), coproduced with Pyramide Productions of Paris, and the hit comedy Mambo Italiano, directed by Emile Gaudreault.

Taken together, the Canadian and international box office for The Barbarian Invasions and Mambo Italiano, to date, is approximately $24 million, with many territories still to be exploited, including English Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. In the case of Invasions, it was released by Odeon Films in English Canada, and by Miramax Films in the U.S., on Nov. 21.

Mambo and Invasions lead a crop of Quebec releases this year that are breaking box-office records and have established Quebec as the undisputed leader in the production of feature films in Canada.

At the Cannes Film Festival in May, Arcand won the award for best screenplay and Marie-Josee Croze won the prize for best actress for their work on Invasions. The film was voted best Canadian film at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival, and is Canada’s entry in the best foreign-language film category at the upcoming 76th Academy Awards. It has also been nominated for a European Film Award, in the international category.

On the road to Palm Springs

Interviewed from somewhere along the road between Los Angeles and Palm Springs, Robert and Arcand were headed to a special screening of Invasions for the board of directors of the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Many Hollywood luminaries reside in the rich desert community, as do many of the older, and important, voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the governing body for the Oscars.

In Canada, Invasions was the opening-night film at both the Toronto and Vancouver festivals; it closed the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax, and also screened at festivals in Winnipeg and Sudbury.

Internationally, the film screened in Paris at a prestigious fundraiser attended by President Jacques Chirac, in Moscow, Siberia and in St. Petersburg. In the U.S., Invasions has screened at the Telluride Film Festival, at the Mill Valley Film Festival, at the Chicago International Film Festival, where it was presented by lead Remy Girard, and at the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival, earlier this month.

In addition to Invasions, Robert produced Arcand’s 1996 TV movie Joyeux Calvaire and his 2000 feature Stardom, the closing-night film at the 53rd Cannes Film Festival, produced with Robert Lantos of Toronto’s Serendipity Point Films and France’s Cine B.

Arcand says the popular reception accorded Barbarian Invasions is a source of renewed energy.

‘It gives you the will to do it again,’ he says. ‘I know when I was shooting this film, very often I used to say to the people who work with me – but half joking mind you – ‘You know, this might be my last film.’ I was getting old, getting tired and stuff like that. I half believed it. It could have happened. It could have been the last one if I had bombed miserably.’

While he won’t provide specifics, Arcand has some very early ideas for a new project, and ‘has started taking notes and filing ideas in a drawer somewhere. And I started reading a little bit, maybe one or two books that are related to this new subject.’

Arcand, whose classical film heroes include Luis Bunuel and Roberto Rossellini, says he is open to a range of potential film projects.

‘I have never closed any doors for myself,’ he says. ‘I have listened to [all] propositions. If I were to be as lucky as Stephen Frears was when he was offered Dangerous Liaisons, of course I would jump on it. The thing is I was never offered a really great novel… or I was offered some stuff [for which] I wasn’t the best person.’

Arcand makes the point that film is a collaborative endeavour and he says the contributions on Invasions by cinematographer Guy Dufaux, production designer Francois Seguin and others ‘were wonderful.’

In Quebec, Invasions earned just under $5.9 million at the box office after opening on a record 136 screens May 9. The film will be rereleased Jan. 26, 2004 in line with the Oscars (Feb. 29), and the Prix Jutra film awards (Feb. 22), says Guy Gagnon, president of distrib Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm.

Gagnon says much of the credit for Invasions’ success must go to Robert, a tireless and unflinchingly focused producer. ‘[Robert] is a very informed businesswoman,’ he says. ‘When she decides to fight for something she never, never gives up. Her films are [delivered] without any over-budgeting and she always works closely with us as the distributor. And when it comes time for the release, Denise is involved in all aspects.

‘I have great respect for her.’

In France, distrib Pyramide reports Invasions has surpassed the 1.1 million admissions mark, representing approximately $9.5 million in receipts after opening on an unprecedented 455 screens on Sept. 24. Into its seventh week (mid-November), Invasions was playing on 143 screens, says Pyramide managing director Eric Lagesse.

‘We do expect more admissions,’ he says. ‘There is a good chance it will reach 1.2 million [admissions] and after we’ll see. Among independent films in France, it really should be among the [year’s] top five.’

Sold worldwide

Lagesse says Pyramide International has sold the film ‘everywhere in the world’ as well as to established distribs in various major markets, including Prokino in Germany, BIM in Italy, Artificial Eye in the U.K. and Comstock in Japan.

Invasions opened with exclusive engagements in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa Nov. 21, with additional runs in all major keys scheduled for Dec. 19. Odeon Films president Bryan Gliserman projects the film’s ‘top of run’ print total in English Canada to likely be in the 40 to 50 range, and possibly higher. ‘Quite literally, we’ll be responding to the demand and awareness,’ he says.

Hollywood powerhouse and perennial Oscar winner Miramax Films has high hopes for the Arcand film in the U.S., as well.

According to Mirmax co-chair Harvey Weinstein, Invasions ‘stood out high above the rest of the films’ at Cannes this year.

‘Denys Arcand is a great filmmaker,’ he says. ‘[Invasions] is full of humanity and shows a fascinating perspective on friendship and family. We are pleased to be in business with Denys, Denise and Daniel [Louis].’

If Arcand’s film scores an Oscar nomination, it will mark the third time Canada has been in the running for the prestigious award. The previous two were Arcand films as well, Le Declin de l’empire americain (1986) and Jesus de Montreal (1989).

Canada, one of 87 countries invited by the Academy to submit their top films for consideration, has never won the foreign-language Oscar.

According to Richard Stursberg, Telefilm Canada’s executive director and chair of the Canadian preselection committee, Invasions was the logical choice for 2003. ‘Denys Arcand is one of Canada’s greatest filmmakers, masterfully marrying touching observations on humanity with a spirited sense of entertainment,’ he says.

The breakaway Canadian hit Mambo Italiano, released in Canada and sold worldwide by Equinoxe Films, has earned approximately $6.5 million at the North American box office. Equinoxe made its name as Canadian distributor of the hit feature My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which, like Mambo, celebrates an ethnic community in North America.

As of the Nov. 10 weekend, Mambo had $5.1 million in theatrical receipts in Canada (including approximately $2 million from the French-dubbed release in Quebec) and an additional US$1.1 million since the Samuel Goldwyn release on 50 U.S. screens Sept 19. After opening in Australia (distributor Icon Pictures) on 113 screens Oct. 23, Mambo has already passed the A$1-million mark.

Mambo has also been sold to Icon Pictures in the U.K. (for a February release), along with Australia and New Zealand; to Splendide in Germany and to Lola Films for the rights to Spain and Italy.

Call it synchronicity, or razor-sharp commercial intelligence, but, according to Equinoxe president Michael Mosca, within a matter of minutes of his first screening of Wedding in Santa Monica in February 2002, he received a call out of the blue from producer Robert.

In a recent interview from London, Mosca relates how he was standing on the sidewalk outside the theater discussing what price to pay for the Canadian rights to Wedding when Robert called to say she had an English project that needed national distribution. ‘I said, ‘Send me the script,’ and she flew it down to my hotel the following day. I read it and called her a day later and said, ‘We’re in!”

Equinoxe and Mosca were so keen on the project they advanced an undisclosed amount of ‘star breakage’ fees to pay actor Paul Sorvino’s salary, beyond the amount budgeted by Cinemaginaire.

The original P&A commitment for Mambo was $1.5 million, but the final marketing tally in Canada is closer to $3 million, he adds.

‘Needless to say we recouped all our money and Denise Robert is also going to get some overages,’ says Mosca. ‘There is a risk on any picture you do, but I have to admit, because of the people behind [Mambo], I was pretty comfortable. You’re looking at a Denise Robert whose past five films have all done $2-million-plus box office.’

And now she’s done two features that have each earned more than $5 million in Canada in less than 12 months, one of them written and directed by her life partner. That’s a good year by any measure.