Montreal: Hopes are definitely on the high side for two Canadian films selected for official competition in this year’s Montreal World Film Festival.

Manon Briand is presenting her latest, La Turbulence des fluides, the festival’s opening-night presentation. The film stars Pascale Bussieres as a Tokyo-based seismologist who undertakes an investigation into strange oceanic phenomena in a small North Shore village. The young filmmaker appears to have a very promising future and an earlier effort, 2 Secondes, won the Air Canada Award for most popular film at WFF in 1998. Other credits include the MOW Heart: The Marilyn Bell Story and Cosmos.

Prolific Canadian playwright Brad Fraser (www.bradfraser.com) makes his directing debut with Leaving Metropolis, an ensemble story of the romance between a gay and a straight man and how their unexpected relationship impacts the women in their lives.

Leaving Metropolis is based on the play Poor Super Man, which was mounted succesfully in several countries. The film shot over 22 days last summer in Winnipeg.

‘I think [WFF] is a perfect place for the film. We’re all excited,’ says producer Kim Todd of Original Pictures, Winnipeg. Todd, who coproduced alongside Paul Stiles and Ken Mead of realtime films in Edmonton, will attend the Montreal premiere, and hopefully, she adds, in the company of the director/writer and cast.

Principal cast includes Troy Ruptash (The West Wing), Lynda Boyd (Nights Below Station Street), Vincent Corazza (Due South), Cherilee Taylor (Blues Brothers 2000) and Winnipeg stage actor Thom Allison.

Release plan

Todd says the general release plan in discussion with distrib Film Tonic (Canada and world rights) is to go ‘small, but in a targeted way,’ first in larger cities followed by a national rollout as publicity and interest build. ‘We think people who see the film will talk about it and we are counting on that.’

The special modified camera package shipped from Australia for the shoot allowed Montreal DOP Daniel Vincelette to film on 35mm stock using a two-perf pull-down process, which captures twice the images, thus saving 50% on the stock. ‘I highly recommend it as a process for television because you save the stock and go right to video,’ says Todd. ‘But on a feature, with the cost of blowing it up and the special handling of the negative required, ultimately it’s not a huge savings.’

Funding sources on Leaving Metropolis, budgeted at $1.4 million, include Telefilm Canada – Canada Feature Film Fund, Manitoba Film & Sound, the CanWest Western Independent Producers Fund and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Development support came from the National Screen Institute’s Features First program and The Harold Greenberg Fund. Licensees include The Movie Network, Movie Central and Citytv.

Briand’s Turbulence

Briand’s Turbulence opens to eerie circumstances: coastal waters have been stilled, tides no longer rise and fears of a possible earthquake abound. The film’s dense narrative deals with subjects as diverse as love and science, the paranormal and human destiny.

Turbulence also stars rising French actor Julie Gayet, Jean-Nicolas Verreault and Genevieve Bujold. Jean Pierre Ronfard, Gabriel Arcand, Norman Helms and Suzanne Garceau are also featured.

The film was produced on a budget of $6.2 million and is a coproduction of Montreal’s Max Films and Europa Corp. of Paris.

‘The problem with Europe isn’t doing the movie, it’s finding a distributor willing to put in the effort, backing and money. And with [Luc Besson’s] Europa, we know they will take good care of putting the movie on the screen,’ says Max Films producer Roger Frappier.

Frappier says all the European producers who read Briand’s screenplay wanted to coproduce. ‘So for the first time in my life, I had a choice. The others were great producers, but the difference [in addition to the distribution deal] is that I’ve known Pierre-Ange Le Pogram, Luc Besson’s associate, for 10 years.’

Turbulence was shot over 42 days on location in Baie Comeau, Montreal and Toyko (for a week). Filming wrapped late last September.

‘If this experience goes well it will be important for the future of Max Films,’ says Frappier. ‘Our link with Europe is becoming even more important, on the English side also, but on the French side it has always been more difficult, and for us it’s important to open doors and see the future in a different way.’

Turbulence was shot by DOP David Franco (3000 Miles to Graceland, The Whole Nine Yards). Richard Comeau (Maelstrom, 2 Secondes) was the picture editor. Digital visual effects were produced under the supervision of Richard Ostiguy (L’Ange de Goudron) of Voodoo Arts. Covitec/Technicolor handled lab duties. Le Pogram and Luc Vandal of Max Films also produced.

Busy fall slate

Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm is distributing Turbulence in Canada and internationally. A mid-scale Quebec release of about 25 prints is slated for Sept. 6. Europa has France, Switzerland and Belgium. The French European release is set for Nov. 27.