April 19, 2016 – Moncton – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2016 Tremplin competition, organized by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in collaboration with Radio Canada. André Roy of Dieppe, New Brunswick, and Julien Capraro of Vancouver, BC, are the grand prize winners of the ninth edition of Tremplin. The cross-Canada contest is open to emerging francophone filmmakers living outside Quebec.
Heading into the field
Each of the two winners will soon start to work with experienced NFB production teams on a 20-minute documentary film. Julien Capraro’s film will be his first, while André Roy will be making his second professional documentary. They are currently preparing to shoot and edit their works, and will be in the field along with their professional teams later this spring and summer—plunged into the heart of the action with their films’ subjects in Vancouver and Moncton, respectively. The films will go through post-production and be completed in fall of 2016.
André Roy’s film will be produced by Jac Gautreau of the Canadian Francophonie Studio – Acadie, while Julien Capraro’s will be produced by Dominic Desjardins of the Canadian Francophonie Studio – Ontario and West. Both will be broadcast on Radio-Canada, a Tremplin partner since the launch of the competition.
Fostering the next generation of minority francophone filmmakers
“Recognizing how many young filmmakers are ready to face the challenge of telling powerful, fascinating stories, Radio-Canada has always been proud to partner with the NFB on the Tremplin competition. The winning project from Acadie will lead to reflection on our standards of beauty, while the project from the West introduces us to an immigrant and his desire to integrate,” said Richard Simoens, head of Radio-Canada Acadie.
Dominic Desjardins, Executive Producer of the NFB’s Canadian Francophonie Studio, added, “The world of Canadian francophone documentary film has a great need for programs to foster the next generation of filmmakers. There are very few training opportunities and support programs for young francophone minority directors. The NFB is delighted to have discovered up-and-coming filmmakers whose talents and projects demonstrate their readiness to take up the creative torch. The themes of their films are very personal, but their broad universal appeal will ensure that they are seen beyond the world of francophone Canada.”
Winning projects and winners’ bios
La perte (The Loss) by André Roy
La perte looks at a little-understood subject: hair loss among women. In a world in which women’s worth is all-too-often linked to beauty and appearance, those affected by hair loss can experience a sudden drop in self-esteem. The documentary follows Karène, who suffers from alopecia and who is ready to do just about anything to regain her self-confidence and her lost belief in her beauty.
One of the promising young figures in the world of Acadian cinema, André Roy is a filmmaker and humorist who also wears many hats in the world of theatre. Two of his films were featured at the 29th Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie in 2015: the drama Un dîner de Noël pas comme les autres and the documentary L’humour c’est secondaire. The latter was broadcast as a two-part series by the UNIS network during the winter of 2016. André Roy was previously a finalist in the NFB’s Tremplin competition in 2008.
La dernière clé by Julien Capraro
A French immigrant recalls what led him to include his Citroën 2CV—a common French post-war car—among the belongings he brought with him as a new immigrant arriving in Vancouver. But thanks to meetings with other Citroën owners at an exhibition of antique cars, we discover that on the West Coast these anachronistic vehicles not only evoke nostalgia for a past era but are also a powerful marker of identity that represents a link between two cultures.
After studying history and political science, Julien Capraro worked as a journalist in both print media and radio. He moved to Canada in 2006 and works in marketing and communications. In 2014 he founded the audiovisual production company Vanris Productions.
Quick Facts
The Tremplin competition is open to emerging French-speaking filmmakers residing outside Quebec who wish to make a first or second documentary. Each of the two winners will be able to make a short film of approximately 20 minutes in length under professional conditions, and benefit from the NFB’s expertise along each step of the way to the final production.
The Tremplin competition forms a part of the NFB’s initiative to discover and showcase the talent of emerging Canadian francophone documentary filmmakers. By offering hands-on film production experience, Tremplin provides an essential step in launching a career in film. For its part, Radio-Canada believes in the importance of broadcasting these documentaries by young francophone Canadian filmmakers whose work reveals the great issues of our time through the full range of human experience.
- Jury members for the various stages of the selection process:
- Dominic Desjardins, Executive Producer, Canadian Francophonie Studio, NFB
- Jac Gautreau, Producer, Canadian Francophonie Studio – Acadie, NFB
- Marie-Claude Dupont, Head of Programming, Radio-Canada Regional Services
- Richard Simoens, Director, Radio-Canada Acadie
- Claude Guilmain, filmmaker
- Acclaim for Tremplin Films
- Short films by Tremplin winners have been very successful at festivals, including the Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie (FICFA), where they have won eight awards, including two for Daniel Léger’s Un dimanche à 105 ans (A Sunday at 105), one of the most popular films available for viewing on ONF.ca. The other FICFA award-winning works produced through Tremplin are La trappe (The Trap) by Lina Verchery, Alanna by Julie Plourde, Habiter la danse (Inhabiting Dance) by Julien Cadieux, Voleuse de poussière (Like a Thief in the Night) by Marie-Thérèse François, Une affaire de famille (Family Business) by Justin Guitard and Francine Hébert’s Cafétéria (Cafeteria)
- Some of the films by Tremplin winners have also been shown at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois, where Une affaire de famille (Family Business) by Justin Guitard, Emma fait son cinéma (Emma Makes Movies) by Mélanie Léger and Cafétéria (Cafeteria) by Francine Hébert, won the Best Franco-Canadian Film award in 2013, 2014 and 2016 respectively.
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Associated Links
Tremplin competition (in French)
Radio-Canada
Canadian Francophonie Studio
Canadian Francophonie Studio – Acadie
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