Crave original series Bon matin Chuck (ou l’art de réduire les méfaits) and documentary series Lac-Mégantic – ceci n’est pas un accident will have their world premieres in competition at Canneseries in April.

The annual Cannes television festival, now in its sixth year, has announced its 2023 lineup, with a number of Canadian titles selected across the long-form, short-form and documentary series competitions. The festival will run from April 14 to 19.

Bon matin Chuck (pictured) – titled Good Morning Chuck in English – is the sole Canadian series in the Long-Form Competition lineup. The 10 x 45-minute series is produced by St-Laurent TV in collaboration with Connect3 Media, with Cineflix Rights handling international distribution.

The series is created by star Nicolas Pinson, writer Émilie Lemay-Perreault, and directors Mathieu Cyr and Jean-Francois Rivard, and follows a morning show host rocked by scandal. It is set to premiere on Crave later this year.

Making its world premiere in the Documentary Series Competition is Lac-Mégantic – ceci n’est pas un accident (4 x 44 minutes), directed by Philippe Falardeau and co-written with Nancy Guerin. The Vrai series is produced by Trio Orange in collaboration with Quebecor Content, with Trio Orange International handling sales for the title.

The docuseries details the tragic 2013 Lac-Mégantic, Que., train derailment, which led to the deaths of 47 people, and devastated the local community. Annie Sirois produced the series, with Carlos Soldevila serving as executive producer. It was supported by SODEC, the Quebecor Fund, the Rogers Documentary Fund, and the Canada Media Fund.

Lac-Mégantic – ceci n’est pas un accident was also selected for Hot Docs, and will premiere on Vrai on May 2 following its festival run.

Two additional Canadian titles were selected for the Short-Form Competition: Christopher Yip’s Streams Flow From A River and Jean-Christophe Réhel’s L’air d’aller (Thin Air). Both titles will have their international premieres at Canneseries

Streams Flow From A River (6 x 14 minutes) is created and directed by Yip, a Playback 10 to Watch alum. The series is produced by Toronto’s Fae Pictures and will be broadcast on Super Channel Fuse on Saturday (April 1) following its world premiere at the Canadian Film Fest on Tuesday (March 28). The series is set in rural Alberta during a brutal snowstorm and follows a Chinese-Canadian family forced to reckon with the events of the last 10 years.

L’air d’aller (10 x 23 minutes) is created by Réhel and directed by Sarah Pellerin, and premiered on Télé-Québec on March 23. It is produced by Urbania, with Encore Télévision-Distribution handling sales. The off-beat comedy follows a group of friends with cystic fibrosis who try to live life to the fullest in spite of their shared diagnosis.

Outside of the official selections, Citytv’s Hudson & Rex (Shaftesbury) will screen an episode as part of the Rendez-Vous programming, with actor John Reardon and producer Christina Jennings in attendance for a panel discussion that includes the dog Rex himself, Diesel, and trainers Sherri Davis and Victoria Manson.

Image courtesy of Bell Media