Rendez-Vous French Film Festival launches 30th-anniversary edition, February 24 to March 8

Two-part lineup hosted by Visions Ouest Productions features over 60 titles, including Haitian director Henri Pardo’s partly autobiographical film KANAVAL

SPONSORED POST BY Visions Ouest Productions

Henri Pardo’s KANAVAL (2023).

Visions Ouest Productions presents the 30th annual Rendez-Vous French Film Festival (Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois et francophone) from February 24 to March 8, with a program composed of more than 60 shorts, documentaries, and feature films.

In-person screenings will be held at various locations across the Lower Mainland, including SFU Woodward’s downtown, La Fabrique St-George winery in Mount Pleasant, Cineplex Cinemas Coquitlam, and École des Pionniers-de-Maillardville in Port Coquitlam. All film offerings are presented with English subtitles.

This year’s milestone festival, which features both in-person and online screenings, takes place in two main parts. The first half of the lineup is composed of traditional film screenings at SFU Woodward’s from February 24 to March 3, while the second half from March 4 to 8 includes special events like masterclasses and meet-and-greets alongside screenings.

Guillaume Maidatchevsky’s Kina & Yuk: renards de la banquise (2023).

Opening day kicks off at SFU Woodward’s on February 24 with a matinee family screening of Kina & Yuk: renards de la banquise at 1:10 pm. Director Guillaume Maidatchevsky’s 2023 adventure film follows two Arctic foxes who are preparing to become parents for the first time in a world where global warming is altering the rules for everyone. Admission to the screening is free with registration.

The first part of the festival wraps up on March 3 at 7:15 pm with Henri Pardo’s KANAVAL (2023), a co-presentation with Centre de la francophonie des Amériques in association with the Canadian Haitian Cultural Association of B.C. A 6 pm Q&A with Pardo precedes the screening.

In the early 1970s, a boy and his mother leave Haiti and settle in a rural village in Quebec, where the child relies on his imaginary friend to understand the new world around him. Director of the mini-series Afro Canada (2022), which told the story of Canada from the perspective of Afro-descendants, Pardo presents a highly original, partly autobiographical fiction film. KANAVAL notably stars Quebecois actor Martin Dubreuil—known for his recent role in One Summer—who delivers a moving performance as a surrogate father.

Guests have the option of purchasing a $50 pass that provides access to all online and in-theatre films at the festival, or individual tickets. To view the full lineup of events, visit Visions Ouest Productions.

Post sponsored by Visions Ouest Productions.