Competitions 9 & 10
Host: Marc-Olivier Blackburn, Welcome Aboard

We’re going all out with a final hard-hitting Q&A, bringing together none other than Jean-François Leblanc (Une brèche) and Alexandre Dostie (BOA), alongside a new voice on the cinematic landscape, writer and now director Thomas Dufour (Les grandes roues). At the crossroads of genre cinema, their films, as surprising as they are disorienting, draw from fantasy, noir, and mythic storytelling, featuring protagonists driven by powerful saviour instincts.

At the heart of the bodybuilding brotherhood of the Boa Gym, BOA follows a man who rediscovers the strength of his body in an attempt to save his religious community from its own failings. In the thriller Une brèche, a detective’s instincts pull us into a tense investigation that holds us captive until the very last minute. Meanwhile, in the “poetic-silly dramedy” Les grandes roues, Arthur never imagines that his mother’s final words would be delivered by a complete stranger, someone he let into the family home out of pity.

Alexandre is a self-taught writer, musician, and filmmaker who made his mark with Mutants (2016) and Je finirai en prison (2019). Both of these works have been acclaimed at festivals around the world. Following the success of his feature film Vil et misérable (2024), Jean-François presents his eighth short film here, continuing a prolific career in which he has explored a wide range of genres. Originally from Lac-Saint-Jean, Thomas stood out in 2024 by winning the Grand Prize at Cours écrire ton court (CÉTC) for his screenplay Garage double. Les grandes roues marks his notable entry into the great REGARD family.