Montreal: The Quebec operations office of Telefilm Canada has given the green light to eight French-language feature film projects.

The projects, all evaluated under the selective component of the Canada Feature Film Fund, were filed with Telefilm by Jan. 30, the first CFFF deadline for the 2001/02 fiscal year.

Most of the new films are d’auteur-style projects with budgets ranging from a low of $1.3 million up to $6 million.

Joelle Levie, Telefilm’s director of operations for Quebec, says it was important to stay with the Jan. 30 submission deadline because many of the new projects will begin principal photography this spring and summer.

‘The level of our participation in the selective component takes into account the [potential] envelopes some producers could receive in [their] performance envelopes. To be able to complete the financing of [some of] the eight films, the producers will have to use [their] performance envelopes,’ explains Levie.

Detailed accounts of producer performance component envelopes have yet to be announced.

New feature films

Telefilm’s Quebec operations office invested $4.3 million from the CFFF’s French-language selective component in the eight movie projects, representing approximately 40% of this year’s total selective envelope.

The eight projects, chosen from among 27 production submissions, are:

* Le Chant d’Amaryllis, a combination film d’auteur/thriller from producer Baliverna Films and director Michel Jette (Hochelaga);

* Mademoiselle Charlotte, a family feature from producer Films Vision 4 and director Richard Ciupka (Le Dernier souffle);

* Les Secrets des grands cours d’eau, produced by Christal Films Productions and directed by Stefan Pleszczynski;

* Le Marais from Quebec City region producer Les Productions Thalie and director Kim Nguyen;

* Le Neg’, produced by Les Productions 23 and directed by Robert Morin (Requiem pour un beau sans coeur);

* Quebec-Montreal from producer Go Films and director Ricardo Trogi;

* La Turbulence des fluides from producer Studio Max Films and director Manon Briand (2 Secondes); and

* L’Extraordinaire Destin de Madame Brouette, a minority Canada/Africa project produced Les Productions La Fete and directed by Moussa Sene Absa.

First-time feature film directors include Pleszczynski, Nguyen and Trogi.

‘There’s a good chance that for the second and third [selective component deadlines] no first-time [director] projects will be selected,’ says Levie. ‘We want to keep the level of first film [projects] at approximately 30%.’

The next selective component submission deadlines for English- and French-track feature films are April 30 and Sept. 17. *

-www.telefilm.gc.ca