With the release of Ricardo Trogi’s fourth semi-autobiographical film 1995, the Quebec City-born director now has seven films that have broken the $1 million mark in the Quebec box office, a record among Canadian filmmakers.

“I’m grateful for that,” says Trogi in an interview with Playback. “I never knew that there was a prize around being the most popular but, if I am, why not?”

Produced by Sphere Media following its 2018 acquisition of the initial trilogy’s producer Go Films, 1995 hit theatres in Quebec and New Brunswick on July 31 in a run that lasted until Nov. 14. The film has claimed a box office bounty of $2,967,873, according to its distributor Immina Films.

Each of the films in his tetralogy depict a time in the director’s life, who has been portrayed by Jean-Carl Boucher all four times. The series began in the director’s childhood in 1981, followed by his later teenage years in 1987, his trip to Italy in 1991 and his initial dive into filmmaking for the Canadian reality TV competition La Course destination monde in 1995. The Radio-Canada series sent emerging Quebec filmmakers around the world to make short films. Trogi participated in the 1994-95 season.

The international factor meant that the film had to have an expanded scope compared to the previous films. “Because this film is about a race around the world, we weren’t going to shoot the ending in the Laurentian,” says producer Marie-Claude Poulin. “It had to have the scope of what he did in those six months … We were able to achieve that by going to Morocco to shoot the Egyptian part and then finish in Nepal.”

According to Poulin, getting funding for the film was fairly easy, with Radio-Canada coming on board after the script was submitted to them in July 2021. Funding from SODEC and Telefilm Canada was refused with the first submission in January 2022, with Trogi working on the script according to their feedback and resubmitting. Both organizations boarded after the second submission in January 2023, with the Quebecor Fund joining after that.

According to Sphere, Trogi’s track record was a factor in the funding decisions, but the approvals also reflect the quality of the script. When it comes to the continued financial success of the films, Trogi says he believes one of the aspects is adherence to Quebec French, or Québécois.

“[Changing the way I speak French] would take away the colour that I use to do my narration,” says Trogi. “I don’t want to touch that just to please [French audiences].”

Each of the films in the tetralogy feature narration from Trogi speaking to the audience, much like a comedian on stage, according to Trogi.

Along with the use of Québécois, Trogi says developing a fanbase, although younger than he expected, means respecting the audience.

“I don’t put any message or some kind of moral in my movies. 1987 was a film about my criminal years, I was stealing [radios] from cars. Teenagers love when you don’t try to teach them anything and just be yourself,” says Trogi. “So, I have [fans] much younger than I thought I would have.”

When it comes to potential future plans for the series, Trogi says he believes six films could be a good place to end. And, although he is still mulling over when the next film could take place, 1998 or 1999 are strong contenders.

Images courtesy of Sphere Media; top photo by Maxyme G. Delisle; bottom photo by Bertrand Calmeau

This story originally appeared in Playback’s 2024 Winter issue