Dramas from director Léa Pool and writer-director Luc Picard are among the 22 French-language feature films receiving funding in the latest round of Telefilm Canada’s Production Program.

The selected films, six of which are coproductions, will share a total of $21.6 million in production funding. Telefilm received a total of 89 applications in funding requests in this round, according to a news release.

Pool’s Canada/Luxembourg copro L’habit du Héros is produced by Lyla Films. It is written by Michel Marc Bouchard, with Les Films Opale attached as distributor. Les Films Opale is also distributing Picard’s drama Violences, which is produced by Christal Films Productions.

Nine other dramas were selected this round, including Où vont les âmes (Bravo Charlie), written and directed by Brigitte Poupart, with Axia Films distributing; Canada-Belgium-France copro Melvile (Productions l’unité centrale), which is co-directed by Romain Renard and Fursy Teyssier and written by Olivier Tollet, Renard and Anne-Laure Guégan; and Pétrole (Corporation de développement et de production ACPAV), directed by Frédérick Pelletier and co-written by Pelletier and Simon Lavoie. Maison 4:3 is distributing Melvile and Pétrole.

K-Films Amérique is attached as distributor on three films: writer-director Myriam Guimond’s Paquet de trouble (Pourquoi Production); Comme si de rien n’était (Karaman Productions), written and directed by Samer Najari; and Caroline Deruas’ Canada-France copro Immortelles (Possibles Média), co-written by Victoria Kaario and Deruas.

The dramas also include writer-director Rodrigue Jean’s Labrador or the Anatomy of Silence (Transmar Films) and writer-director Marianne Métivier’s Canada-France-Philippines copro Une splendeur de vivre (Le Foyer Films). Studios H264 is distributing both films.

Rounding out the list of dramas is the Canada-Belgium-Bulgaria copro Petite Rose (Colonelle films), written and directed by Geneviève Dulude-DeCelles, with Entract Films distributing.

Comedies make up seven of the selected titles, including Menteuse (Amalga Créations Médias), directed by Émile Gaudreault and written by Éric K. Boulianne, Gaudreault and Sébastien Savary; director Mélanie Charbonneau’s Furies (Echo Media), written by Gabrielle Côté; and writer-director Anne Émond’s Adam (Metafilms). Immina Films is distributing all three titles.

Rounding out the comedies are Eva Kabuya’s La professeure (Metafilms), written by Judith Brès and Kabuya, with VVS Films distributing; writer-director Phil Comeau’s Le trésor des héritiers, with Bellefeuille Production producing and distributing; director Guillaume Lambert’s Denise sans Denis (Wookey Films, Chasseurs Films), written by Paul Ruban, with Entract Films distributing; and director Benoit Godbout’s Canada-Spain-Belgium copro Les Bottanïx (Carpediem), written by Marie-France Landry and Anastasia Michailidis, with Maison 4:3 distributing.

Two sci-fi fantasy films are also in the lineup, including writer-director Jérémy Comte’s Éléo et Nova (Max Films), and The Shiatsung Project (Embuscade Films) which is co-directed by Eva Cvijanovic and Brigitte Archambault and written by Archambault. Éléo et Nova is distributed by Les Films Opale, while the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is distributing The Shiatsung Project.

Director Yan England’s action-adventure Fanny Cloutier and writer-director Sarianne Cormier’s musical Au revoir pluton complete the list of selected titles.

Fanny Cloutier is written by Stéphanie Lapointe, with Téléfiction producing and distributing. Au revoir pluton is produced by Voyelles Films and distributed by Maison 4:3.

Telefilm will announce additional funding decisions, including projects from the English market, in the coming weeks.

The projects are assessed by a committee of external and internal representatives, which makes recommendations to Telefilm.

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