Quebec producer Denise Robert’s latest labor of love, director Louis Bélanger’s auteur road movie about loss and rebirth, Route 132 , will be released on 25 screens across Quebec Oct. 6th by Alliance Vivafilm.

“Originally they were going to show it on 15 screens but I pushed for 25. Fifteen copies is very limited,” says Robert, who received the Canadian Media Production Association’s Producer Award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and has a reputation for pushing until she gets what she wants.

The challenge of an October launch, says the veteran producer, is that Route 132 is one of a slate of Quebec auteur films out this fall, including Denis Villeneuve’s award-winning Incendies , which has drawn a million at the box office in less than three weeks.

“I’m not an expert in distribution but you never want to compete with a fellow filmmaker,” says Robert, adding that she’s very pleased with the marketing campaign so far.

The film, which is written by Bélanger and Alexis Martin, features the grief stricken Gilles – played by well known Quebec actor François Papineau (Le Confessionnal) – who, after loosing his son, joins up with an old buddy and former partner in crime, Bob. The pair hatch a plan to make some easy cash on their Odyssey down Route 132, which follows the south shore of the St. Lawrence River and is the longest highway in Quebec.

Alliance Vivafilm picked Oct. 6 because people tend to go to the movies on Thanksgiving Weekend says president Patrick Roy. “We distributed Gaz Bar Blues, which Quebecers loved, and this is a return to a similar theme. It is of interest to many ages.”

Although the main character looses his son, the darker aspects of the film are not the focus of the marketing campaign, says Roy. “It’s a film d’auteur, but we aren’t putting the accent on that. We are selling it as a road movie about two men who are on a journey together and who will learn about themselves as a result. It’s amusing, but they will grow. We don’t talk about grief or loss.”

Since its August debut at the Montreal International Film Festival Route 132 has generated good reviews and much buzz.

Although there are no plans to release the film in the rest of Canada, Robert hopes English Canadians will get a chance to see the film. “I am a believer that some of our films can work in English Canada. When we showed Fathers and Guns in New York it was so popular we had to have extra screenings. I think we need to figure out a way to reach an English-speaking audience.”

“It’s a bit early (to think about English Canada),” says Roy. “It’s difficult to launch English Canadian films in English Canada, never mind Quebec films. But we will see what happens with the English subtitled version.”