MONTREAL, May 11, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Quebecor is
pleased to announce that for the third time, the Cannes Film Festival has selected a film
restored by Elephant: The memory of Québec cinema, in its
prestigious section Cannes Classics. Thierry Frémaux, the
Festival's Delegate General, is proud to confirm that director
Denis Villeneuve's first feature
film, August 32nd on Earth (1998), starring Pascale
Bussières and Alexis Martin, will
have a place of honour by being screened on the beach in
Cannes on Saturday, May 27, 2017, at 9:30 pm.
"I'm deeply moved by Thierry Frémaux's invitation, which I
take as a mark of Cannes's
affection for my first film. I also thank Elephant for
restoring August 32nd on Earth, shot 20 years ago in
Montreal's Mile End and Salt Lake
City, enabling the movie to be presented for a second time
at the Festival", said director Denis
Villeneuve. (The film premiered in Cannes as part of Un certain regard
section in 1998.)
It's the third time in four years that a film restored by
Elephant is selected at Cannes Classics after Léolo,
in 2014, and Les Ordres, in 2015. This new selection is an
eloquent testament to the originality of our cinema and the quality
of Elephant's restoration work and its importance for the
conservation and distribution of our cinema heritage. It's
interesting to notice that in August 32nd on
Earth, Denis Villeneuve's first
feature film, we already find a microcosm of elements that are
becoming, over the years, trademarks of his personal style and
great sensitivity.
Denis Villeneuve is now in the
post-production stage of BLADE RUNNER 2049, with
Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, scheduled to be released on
October 6. Earlier this year, his
film ARRIVAL earned eight Oscar nominations, in particular
for Best Director and Best Film categories, winning the award for
Best sound editing.
In the past nine years, Elephant's restoration work,
directed by Marie-José Raymond and Claude
Fournier, has brought international recognition to this
philanthropic project financed by Quebecor. Indeed, Elephant
films were also presented twice at Lyon's Festival Lumière and New York's Modern Art Museum, in Karlovy Vary,
at Taipei's Golden Horse Film
Festival, in Buenos Aires,
Lisbon, at Montreal's New Cinema Festival, and at the
Fantasia Festival.
The extraordinary distribution of Elephant's repertoire has
always remained the primary mission of Elephant, an
initiative of Mr. Pierre Karl Péladeau, Quebecor's president and
chief executive officer. The restored films, some 225 to date,
remain available at all times under the banner of Elephant: The
memory of Québec cinema, on Videotron's illico VOD, and on
iTunes in every country where the official language is either
English or French. The revenue from the rental of Elephant
films is entirely returned to right-holders. Quebecor does not
derive any monetary gain from those operations.
About Elephant: The memory of Québec
cinema
Elephant: The memory of Québec cinema is a
large-scale project to digitize, restore, preserve and make
accessible Québec's heritage of feature films. Since 2007, it has
restored close to 225 movies under the supervision of co-directors
Claude Fournier and Marie-José
Raymond. Those films are now available 24/7 on Videotron's illico
video-on-demand service (channel 900), illico.tv and the illico
app. The films are also being gradually added, in the original
version with subtitles, to iTunes in Canada, the US, France and all other European and African
countries where French or English is one of the official languages.
The Elephant website at www.elephantcinema.quebec contains
the largest existing database and information bank on Québec
cinema.
Elephant: The memory of Québec cinema is fully funded by
Quebecor. It is a philanthropic enterprise from which Quebecor
derives no financial benefit. Aside from a small amount to cover a
portion of the platform's operating costs, all revenues from
distribution of the movies on illico go to the rights holders and
filmmakers.
About Quebecor
Quebecor, a Canadian leader in
telecommunications, entertainment, news media and culture, is one
of the best-performing integrated communications companies in the
industry. Driven by their determination to deliver the best
possible customer experience, all of Quebecor's subsidiaries and
brands are differentiated by their high-quality, multiplatform,
convergent products and services.
Quebecor (TSX: QBR.A, QBR.B) is headquartered in Québec. It
holds an 81.07% interest in Quebecor Media, which employs more than
10,000 people in Canada.
A family business founded in 1950, Quebecor is strongly
committed to the community. Every year, it actively supports more
than 400 organizations working in the vital fields of culture,
health, education, the environment and entrepreneurship.
Visit our website: www.quebecor.com
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/Quebecor
SOURCE Quebecor