The seedy world of Internet pornography plays in nearly 90 theaters throughout Quebec on Friday as the French-language thriller Ma fille, mon ange makes its domestic debut via Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm.

Its wide release follows a hefty marketing push by AAV, which turned out the teaser six months ago, followed by a trailer, posters and billboards in main cities including Quebec City, Gatineau, Montreal and some smaller markets.

AAV president Patrick Roy says the distrib has high expectations for Ma fille, noting, ‘With a campaign like that, we really believe in the film.’

Ma fille stars Karine Vanasse (Sans Elle) as a young college student set to appear in a live Internet sex show to the horror of her father, played by Michel Côté (C.R.A.Z.Y.), who learns about her plans while surfing the web, and begins a frantic search for his daughter.

It is directed by DOP-turned-helmer Alexis Durand-Brault and produced by Montreal’s Remstar Productions.

Roy says it’s important for the Quebec box office to get off to a strong start in ’07, and he believes Ma fille will take the lead.

Last year ‘was a difficult year for Quebec movies. Thanks to Bon Cop, Bad Cop it was not a disaster, but the total box office went down,’ he says, adding that the buzz around Ma fille is growing because of its topical storyline.

However, the film may lose some of its younger audience because of its NC-16 rating, which bars anyone under 16.

The rating is a disappointment, says Roy, explaining, ‘The film is not graphic and there was a message that we wanted to get out to teenagers about the business of pornography.’

Ma fille will face off against new Hollywood releases including the action fantasy Ghost Rider, Drew Barrymore’s romantic comedy Music and Lyrics, the Disney release Bridge to Terabithia and the FBI thriller Breach, starring Ryan Phillippe.

Meanwhile, Sarah Polley’s Away from Her is ramping up for its May 4 release in Canada via Capri Releasing, and in the U.S. via Lionsgate, following strong festival debuts at Toronto, Sundance and Berlin.

The companies are taking time to build a strong release, says Ron McCluskey of Capri Releasing, who adds that Lionsgate has had good luck with May 4 releases in the past.

‘Crash was released on that date, and so I think they didn’t mind replicating that experience because they saw similarities with the release strategy,’ he says.