The Quebec film Vic et Flo ont vu un ours (Vic and Flo Saw a Bear) by director Denis Côté has begun its international journey by competing at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Côté, who has seen previous work like Curling and Bestiaire pick up awards on the European festival circuit, will compete for the Golden Bear in Berlin against the latest films by Steven Soderbergh, Fredrik Bond and Jafar Panahi.

Vic et Flo, produced by Metafilms, stars Romane Bohringer, Pierrette Robitaille and and Marc-André Grondin in a drama about a woman on prison leave meeting up with a woman she knew on the inside.

The road to fellow Quebec director Kim Nguyen’s upcoming date with the Academy Awards in the best foreign language category with War Witch began in Berlin last year when the film premiered there and won the Silver Bear for actress Rachel Mwanza.

The Berlin co-production market will also next month see Patrick Boivin’s Two Guys who Sold the World participate in the 2013 Berlin talent project market.

The Canadian film is produced by Geordie Sabbagh, and will be among ten projects to be presented to international buyers and financiers.

Two Guys who Sold the World portrays a self-proclaimed small town genius forced to repair the damaged UFO of two not-very advanced aliens so they can stop the arrival of an invasion fleet out to destroy the world.

Update: On Jan. 22 Playback learned Two Guys who Sold the World had been selected as one of three projects chosen to pitch for the market’s VFF Highlight Pitch Award (10,000 Euros).