The Société de développement des entreprises culturelle (SODEC) has announced production funding for 10 new feature-length fiction films ranging from drama and comedy, to a children’s tale and a sci-fi romance.

The recipients — eight French-language and two English-language — are largely dramas and include biographical tale Ethel, which has Céleste Parr (Hudson & Rex) attached as the writer, Canadian Screen Award-winning Irish filmmaker Aisling Walsh (Maudie) as director, and Shira Haas (Unorthodox) as the star.

The majority Quebec coproduction is from Montreal’s Go Films L.P.R.S. and Port Ireland’s Port Pictures, with Sphère Films as distributor. The real-life story looks at late Canadian violinist and conductor Ethel Stark’s efforts to form the first all-female symphony orchestra in Montreal.

Ethel is receiving funding under the section for films that are in English and mainly from Quebec, with a total budget equal to or greater than $2.5 million.

The other film in that section is another biographical drama, Out Standing in the Field, which has a screenplay by Martine Pagé and Mélanie Charbonneau, based on the memoir by former Canadian Army officer Sandra Perron. Charbonneau (Fabuleuses) is also attached to direct the majority Quebec coproduction from Longueuil, Que.-based GPA Films and Ontario’s January Films. Sphère Films is the distributor.

Four films in French whose total budget is equal to or greater than $3.5 million are receiving funding, including the comedy Two Golden Women, which has Chloé Robichaud (Sarah Prefers to Run) attached as director. It’s written by Catherine Léger as a modern reinterpretation of the 1970 film Two Women in Gold, penned by Claude Fournier and Marie-Josée Raymond. The Quebec majority coproduction is from Montreal’s Vieille Amérique and Phase 4 Productions of France, with Maison 4:3 as distributor.

Simon Lavoie (Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves) is the writer-director behind the drama Becoming a Monster, which is being adapted from the novel How to Become a Monster by Quebec author Jean Barbe. The story of a Quebec lawyer defending a war criminal is a majority Quebec coproduction from Films du Boulevard and Poland’s Apple Films Production, with Maison 4:3 as distributor.

The Little and the Old is a 1980s-set children’s film from director Patrice Sauvé (Cheech) and writer Sébastien Girard, adapted from the novel La petite et le vieux by Marie-Renée Lavoie. Quebec’s Parallaxes is the producer and TVA Films is attached as distributor of the feature, about a 10-year-old girl who wants to help her father.

Montreal’s micro_scope is the producer for the dramedy Les mondes de Hamdi from writer-director Isabelle Lavigne (La nuit, elles dansent). Les Films Opale is onboard as distributor. The story follows a nine-year-old boy and his relationship with his Egyptian family and pigeons.

Those receiving funding in the category of films in French with a total budget of less than $3.5 million include the drama Kaïros from writer-director Jennifer Alleyn (Impetus). The coproduction from Quebec’s Les Films de Jennie and France’s SaNoSi is about an actor-turned-community radio host. Filmoption International is attached as distributor.

The drama Where do the Souls Go? (Bravo Charlie) is from writer-director Brigitte Poupart (Over My Dead Body) with Axia Films as distibutor. It centres on an 18-year-old who longs to see her half-sisters again before she dies.

Jean-François Leblanc is the director behind the fantasy-comedy Vile et miserable (Vlimeuses Productions), written by Jean-François Leblanc and Samuel Cantin, based on the latter’s graphic novel. Entract Films is onboard as distributor of the film, about a bookseller who is “a misanthropic demon.”

You Are Not Alone is a romantic sci-fi comedy written by Marie-Hélène Viens, who also directs with Philippe Lupien. La Boîte à Fanny is the producer of the feature, which tells the story a pizza delivery man who encounters an alien. Maison 4:3 is the distributor.

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