MONTREAL — In Un capitalisme sentimental, his fantasy film about the heady days before the 1929 stock market crash, filmmaker Olivier Asselin offers an alternative explanation for Black Tuesday, the fateful day when world financial markets collapsed.

‘It’s the fault of an artist with no talent whose name is overvalued on the stock market,’ says Asselin (La Liberté d’une statue), who is also a professor of film at l’Université de Montréal.

The story, which takes place in 1920s Paris and New York, revolves around the life of a struggling artist, Fernande Bouvier (Lucille Fluet) and the financiers who exploit her. She is taken to America and transformed into a successful brand, despite her lack of talent. ‘I’m playing on the idea that often we give monetary value to things that aren’t worth much,’ says Asselin.

The film, which started shooting in mid-March, wraps April 13 and should be ready for the fall festival season, according to the director. He is also its cowriter and producer.

Shot in Montreal, the film also stars Paul Ahmarani (Congorama) and Sylvie Moreau (Camping sauvage), as well as Alexandre Bisping, Frank Fontaine and Harry Standjofski.

Un capitalisme sentimental, with a budget of $1.2 million, is financed by SODEC and Telefilm Canada. As is often the case with low-budget Quebec films, the cast and crew have deferred 20% of their salaries — which works out to about $250,000 — so the project could be completed, says Asselin. ‘The team has contributed to making this film happen. If they hadn’t deferred their salaries, it would have been impossible.’

Shooting a feature film in Montreal that’s set in Paris and New York in just 20 days is a challenge. ‘We are under lots of pressure. We have quite a big cast of characters and we don’t have lots of time. It’s not like it’s just four people in an apartment,’ he says. The film is distributed by K-Films Amérique.