Sunday evening, Jay Du Temple, elegant, funny and insolent, hosted the 25th edition of the Gala Québec Cinéma, presented for the first time on Noovo and noovo.ca, live from Grandé studios, in Pointe-Saint-Charles. During the evening where 12 Iris prizes were awarded, Viking, a remarkable science fiction tragicomedy with offbeat humor by Stéphane Lafleur, stood out four times.
In addition to being crowned Best Film, Viking allowed Stéphane Lafleur to walk away with the Iris for Best Director and to share the Best Screenplay prize with Eric K. Boulianne. “As it is a screenplay award, I would like to thank Sophie Leblond, who edited the film. I would also like to thank this boy next to me, I love you,” said the man who won these last two awards in 2008 for Continental, a film without a gun, his first feature film.
“I would like to congratulate those who were nominated, but not the other Eric K. Boulianne, who is kidding me,” joked the screenwriter. Seen in Viking and The Diver, the prolific and versatile artist was also the headliner and one of the authors of Farador, a tasty and hilarious fantasy comedy by Édouard Albernhe Tremblay, nominated for Best First Film and winner of Best makeup (Iris attributed to Lyne Tremblay, Faustina De Sousa, François Gauthier and Michael Loncin).
For his part, Steve Laplante, who brilliantly plays David, alias John, in Viking, won the Iris for Best Male Performance in a Leading Role. “Stéphane Lafleur, when I knew that I would work with you, I knew that I would work with a great director, but I did not know that the man that you are was going to approach him,” said the actor.
Nominated 18 times, the film by the director of Tu Dors Nicole won seven awards at the Artisans Gala, hosted Thursday evening at Studio D by Fabiola Nyrva Aladin, the Janet from Viking, in the running for the Iris Revelation of the Year.
Revealed in The Goddess of Fire Flies (2020), by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, Kelly Depeault received the prize for Best Female Performance in a Leading Role for Noémie dit oui, by Geneviève Albert, which competed in four categories, including that of Best First Film. “Let us be love with light and joy,” said the young actress, who masterfully plays a teenager trapped by a pimp.
Irresistible in the role of the truculent and touching cook Bébert, Charles-Aubey Houde received the Iris for Best Male Performance in a Supporting Role in The Diver. A brilliant adaptation of Stéphane Larue’s novel, Francis Leclerc’s feature film, written with Viking co-writer Eric K. Boulianne, appeared in 12 categories.
Nominated 13 times, The Red Rooms, a chilling and anxiety-provoking thriller by Pascal Plante (Lesfalse Tatouages, Nadia, Butterfly), stood out twice during the evening. In fact, the talented Laurie Babin and Juliette Gariépy, who play the naive Clémentine and the enigmatic Kelly-Anne, were respectively recognized with awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Revelation of the Year.
An essential figure in Quebec cinema, host of the first and tenth galas, favorite actor of the great Denys Arcand, Rémy Girard received the Iris tribute from the hands of his friend Louise Portal, last year’s winner. Yves Jacques, Michel Charette, Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc, Denis Bouchard, Dominique Michel and Denis Villeneuve saluted the actor who, although with 59 films under his belt, received his first Iris prize.
“I’m never happier in my job than on set. When I left the Conservatory, I didn’t think that my career would be mainly on the big screen,” said Rémy Girard.
10 years ago, the unforgettable Michel Côté, who died on May 29 at the age of 72, was awarded this tribute prize for his entire career. We were also able to see several extracts from films featuring the actor during the In Memoriam segment where Marie-Eve Janvier, accompanied on the piano by Jean-Michel Blais, sang Emmenez-moi by Charles Aznavour.
To honor his memory, the Gala Québec Cinéma renamed the Audience Award the Michel-Côté Prize. In a mixture of joy and emotion, Maxime Le Flaguais, son of the actor, and Marc-André Grondin, who played his son in C.R.A.Z.Y. by the late Jean-Marc Vallée, presented the prize for the most popular film to Anik Jean’s first feature film, My Mother’s Men.
Written by Maryse Latendresse, My Mother’s Men was also in the running in the categories of Best First Film and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Léane Labrèche-Dor. Remember that, for the first time, three films by women had the best box offices: December 23, directed by Miryam Bouchard with a screenplay by India Desjardins; Le temps d’un été, written by Marie Vien and directed by Louise Archambault; and that of Anik Jean.
“What a spectacular entry into cinema,” exclaimed Patrick Roy, president of Immina Films, who reminded the federal government that the industry was impatiently awaiting continued funding from Telefilm Canada. With emotion in his voice, he said he was proud to win this first Michel-Côté prize, an “exceptional, generous and available” man.
“This is the price I wanted for my film! I want to holler again! You made me bawl! “, said Anik Jean before passing the floor to Patrick Huard, producer and actor of the film, who also praised Michel Côté who “showed him how to tell stories that talk about you”. Furthermore, C.R.A.Z.Y. was voted by the public as their favorite film of the last 25 years: “The film has not aged,” said Danielle Proulx, who accompanied Alex Vallée on stage. Unfortunately, Michel and Jean-Marc will not age either. »
Nominated six times, winner of the Iris du Film having been the most distinguished outside of Quebec awarded on Thursday evening, Falcon Lake, a captivating initiatory story with poetic accents flirting with the genre cinema of Charlotte Le Bon, obtained the award for Best First Film. The filmmaker wanted to add her “modest voice” to the international community by calling for an “immediate ceasefire” by referring to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
After winning the Iris for Best Editing (Documentary Film) at the Artisans Gala, Jeremiah Hayes walked away with the Best Documentary Film award for Dear Audrey, a moving portrait of documentary filmmaker Martin Duckworth and his wife struggling with Alzheimer’s disease. , photographer Audrey Schirmer, who competed in four categories.
Joined at the end of the gala by Fabiola Nyrva Aladin, who couldn’t help but swear when announcing that Viking was the Best Film of the Year, Jay Du Temple exclaimed “long live Quebec cinema, It was an honor! “.