Montreal: The opening-night film for this year’s 12th edition of the Rendez-vous du cinema quebecois is Lea Pool’s Mouvements du desir, a tale of chance encounter and passion shot on a Montreal train bound for b.c.

One of the high points in the Quebec film year, the annual retrospective of Quebec film and video production runs Feb. 3-12 with screenings at the Cinematheque Quebecoise and Cinema nfb.

Of the 28 feature-length films eligible for this year’s Prix L.E. Ouimet Molson, awarded to the best Quebec film released in theaters in 1993, four productions have made it to the short list:

– Jean-Claude Labrecque’s Andre Mathieu, musicien, a disturbing portrait of an internationally-recognized child musical genius who was shunned at home;

– Micheline Lanctot’s Deux Actrices, an artful exploration of two young actresses whose rehearsals counterpoint fiction and reality;

– Tachani Rached’s Medecins de coeur, a social examination of aids and what the disease reveals about society;

– Francois Bouvier’s Les Pots Casses, a story with a twist about an obsessive pulp writer who suspects her husband of leading a double life.

Mouvements du desir, Pool’s sixth feature, is a Canada/ Switzerland coproduction starring Valerie Kaprisky, Jolianne L’Allier-Matteau and Jean-Francois Pichette. Kaprisky is expected to attend the Feb. 3 premiere. The film was shot last summer and coproduced by Cinemaginaire’s Denise Robert in association with the National Film Board. It will be released in Quebec theaters by Alliance Vivafilm immediately following the premiere. The film’s music was composed by Zbigniew Preisner (Bleu, Decalogue). Pierre Mignot was the cinematographer.

The 1994 Rendez-vous lineup consists of 81 films – 22 feature-length (including 13 dramatic features), 14 medium-length productions (including 10 documentaries), and 45 short films (including eight documentaries). The program also includes 36 video works and seven tv movies.

The finalists, and the winning feature-length film, are voted on by the 50-plus member Quebec film critics association, l’Association Quebecoise des Critiques de Cinema.

Other Quebec productions to premier at this year’s Rendez-vous include Michel Brault’s Mon amie Max, to be screened at a closing-night gala Feb. 12, Daniel Morin’s Tendre guerre, Pierre Perrault’s Cornouailles, Jean-Louis Frund’s De ma fenetre, Jacques Fournier’s Le Passage, Jean-Daniel Lafond’s Tropique Nord and Marie Cadieux’s A double tour, an nfb production about women in prison.

Highlights this year include a tribute to late director Francis Mankiewicz, winner of the 1993 Prix Albert-Tessier; a photography exhibit of the works of cinematographer Pierre Mignot, sponsored by Kodak Canada; and the lively Rendez-vous debate series, which includes a round-table assessment of the overall Quebec production scene in 1993. The latter event takes place Friday, Feb. 11 beginning at 8 p.m. at the Cinematheque Quebecoise.

This year’s Rendez-vous program will travel throughout Quebec, beginning with Quebec City (the Musee de la Civilisation, Feb. 15-20), then on to Hull (Feb. 23-25), Rimouski (March 5-7), Victoriaville (March 11-13), and for the first time ever, to Vancouver, where the program will be screened at the Pacific Cinematheque, Feb. 26 to March 1.

At a press conference, Rendez-vous director Michel Coulombe noted fewer films will be screened this year. He said the ongoing recession resulted in a 20% drop in production in 1993, when 101 films were showcased at the event. Denys Arcand is Rendez-vous president.

The Quebec film awards will be presented Feb. 12 at the closing-night gala.