Nine Canadian films screening at Palm Springs International Film Festival

Several Canadian talents at Festival, including directors Xavier Dolan (Mommy), Sturla Gunnarsson (Monsoon) and Maxime Giroux (Félix et Meira)

MONTREAL, Dec. 18, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - The new year will begin in impressive style for Canadian cinema as nine films by Canadian directors will be shown at the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF), including, notably, Denys Arcand's Le Règne de la beauté (An Eye for Beauty), Xavier Dolan's Mommy, Sturla Gunnarsson's Monsoon and Stéphane Lafleur's Tu dors Nicole. The PSIFF will run from January 2 to 12, 2015. Also worth noting is that the U.S. feature film Boychoir, by Canadian director François Girard, has been selected as the closing night film at the Festival this year.

Canadian line-up at the 2015 Palm Springs International Film Festival

• Backcountry, Adam MacDonald
• Félix et Meira (Felix and Meira), Maxime Giroux
• Henri Henri, Martin Talbot
• In Her Place, Albert Shin
• Mommy, Xavier Dolan
• Monsoon, Sturla Gunnarsson (Canada/France)
• Le Règne de la beauté (An Eye for Beauty), Denys Arcand
• Some Kind of Love, Thomas Burstyn (Canada/New Zealand)
• Tu dors Nicole, Stéphane Lafleur

Palm Springs is one of the marquee events of the film-festival season and generates significant buzz owing to the fact that its line-up includes several contenders for the Golden Globes and Oscars, two events that take place not long after the Palm Springs Festival. The Festival is very well attended, welcoming more than 135,000 festival-goers every year.

"With Canadian films enjoying a high profile at the Palm Springs International Film Festival so early in the new year, 2015 certainly bodes well for Canadian cinema," said Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada. "The Festival's 2015 edition will showcase a dazzling Canadian program, which includes Xavier Dolan's Mommy, Canada's selection for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the upcoming Academy Awards. We are proud to support Canadian talent at the Festival, an event recognized for producing major promotional spinoffs in the United States."

Added Helen du Toit, PSIFF Artistic Director: "Canadians constitute 0.5% of the world's population, but at the Palm Springs International Film Festival they make up 7 to 10% of our audience! So it is only fitting that we show a disproportionately high number of Canadian films. And with Canada's international wunderkind leading the charge to awards season, this is gearing up to be a very exciting year."

Canadian talent at PSIFF
Several Canadian talents will be on hand to help promote films being screened at the Festival and lay the groundwork for the films' U.S. releases. They include producers Thomas Michael and Melanie Mullen, and executive producer and actor Jeff Roop, for Backcountry; director Maxime Giroux and producer Sylvain Corbeil, for Félix et Meira; director Martin Talbot, for Henri Henri; director Albert Shin and associate producer Niki Shin, for In Her Place; director Xavier Dolan and producer Nancy Grant, for Mommy; director Sturla Gunnarsson and producer Ina Fichman, for Monsoon; actors Éric Bruneau and Melanie Merkosky, for Le Règne de la beauté; director Thomas Burstyn, for Some Kind of Love; and producer Kim McCraw, for Tu dors Nicole.

For more information about the Canadian selection at the 2015 Palm Springs International Film Festival, visit http://www2.telefilm.ca/email/palmspring2015-ebroadcast/.

"Canada, A World of Talent," special events on January 4, 2015
Canadian cinema will be particularly in the spotlight on January 4 at the following three events:

• The day's screenings of Canadian films will include a special showing of Xavier Dolan's Mommy, Canada's selection for the 2015 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar;
• An event gathering together Canadian talents and representatives of the film and media worlds, Canadian as well as foreign;
• An event in support of the Talent Fund, a private donation fund set up by Telefilm in order to stimulate investment in the production and promotion of Canadian films. Canadian philanthropists Carol and Paul Hill will host the event, which will bring together business persons and Canadian and international creative talents. Carol Hill is a member of the Talent Fund's Advisory Committee.

"Palm Springs Speaks French!, January 9, 2015
The Festival, in conjunction with the consulates general of Belgium, France and Switzerland, the Quebec Government Office in Los Angeles, Swiss Films, Telefilm Canada and TV5 Monde, will hold an event to celebrate French-language cinema at Palm Springs.

Close ties between Canada and the Palm Springs International Film Festival
It's worth noting that, in addition to the strong Canadian contingent at the Palm Springs International Film Festival each year, PSIFF Director Darryl Macdonald and Artistic Director Helen du Toit are both Canadian.

About Telefilm Canada 
Telefilm is dedicated to the cultural, commercial and industrial success of Canada's audiovisual industry. Through its various funding and promotion programs, Telefilm supports dynamic companies and creative talent here at home and around the world. Telefilm also administers the programs of the Canada Media Fund. Visit telefilm.ca and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/telefilm_canada and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/telefilmcanada.

SOURCE: Telefilm Canada

Media enquiries: Douglas Chow, Head, Public Relations, Telefilm Canada, [phone], ext. 2225 or 1-800-567-0890, [e-mail]