Olhar de Cinema, Curitiba's International Film Festival in Brazil, took place from June 14 to 22, 2023. This year, in addition to competitive sections and various activities, the festival presented a focus on Quebec films (Foco Québec : para além das fronteiras) in collaboration with the RIDM.

Five feature films from the province were screened : Bestiary by Denis Côté, I Lost My Mom by Denys Desjardins, L.A. Tea Time by Sophie Bédard Marcotte, Xalko by Sami Mermer & Hind Benchekroun and November by Iphigénie Marcoux-Fortier & Karine van Ameringen, which had its world premiere.

Each screening was preceded by a short film from Wapikoni Mobile, including the 2022 Soirée de la relève Radio-Canada winner, Milikᵘ Tshishutshelimunuau by Isabelle Kanapé. The short films the selection were Kassinu by Uapukun Mestokosho McKenzie, Manitushiss by Réal Junior Leblanc, The Future Innu by Stéphane Nepton and Katatjatuuk Kangirsumi by Eva Kaukai & Manon Chamberland.

A conversation about Quebec's documentary scene

In addition to a great selection of local films, the public was treated to a conversation about the production context and films made in Quebec with some of the most important figures of the region’s contemporary documentary filmography. Notably, Iphigénie Marcoux-Fortier and Karine van Ameringen (November) and Denys Desjardins (I Lost My Mom) were among the invited guests with one of our programmers, Hubert Sabino-Brunette. Hubert was also invited to be part of the prestigious Brazil and International Competition - Feature Films jury.

The focus was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Gouvernement du Québec.