Film festival in qathet region celebrates French culture

Following the cancellation of the Salmon Festival, an annual French cultural event, Club Bon Accueil (French Club of Powell River) has made other plans to gather locals and celebrate French culture. 

qathet region’s first Francophone Film Festival begins Saturday, February 19, with two live screenings at the Patricia Theatre, and includes a month of free online screenings of French films.  

Chloe Defresne, cultural coordinator for the club and Francophone Film Festival, said this year has been different for the club. With two years of cancelled salmon festivals and unused grant money, they had to come up with something that would work well online.

“We have grants to organize the [salmon] festival, but because we had to cancel, we had to use the funding to do something else. So that’s why we came up with the Francophone Film Festival.” 

Live screenings of Poly and Delicieux will have English subtitles, are free to watch and come with free popcorn and drinks at the Patricia.  

Poly, a family-friendly film by director Nicolas Vanier, screens February 19 at 11 am. The film is about the bond between a girl and a mistreated circus pony named Poly.

This is followed by a matinee screening of Delicieux by director Eric Besnard at 1:30 pm. Defresne describes this movie as a historical film about food and French culture. If Anglophone viewers are looking for a French experience, she said this is the one to try.

Aside from the in-person screenings, the club has arranged for a month of free online viewing, from February 19 to March 19, which can be accessed on its website: clubbonaccueil.com/en/francophone-film-festival-2022.

“I’m really a bit scared that people will not show up because of the new COVID-19 omicron stuff,” said Defresne. “So, we’re doing the online festival, too, not just the screening at Patricia, so people can also watch the movies online.”

About 24 films will become available for online viewing, with new films released each week over the month-long festival. All films are free to watch online and have the option to turn on subtitles.

Depending on viewer and community feedback, Defresne said the club might hold the Francophone Film Festival again next year, if grant funding is received. 

As for the salmon festival, Club Bon Accueil is still hopeful it will happen this fall, under a new name: the Francophone Festival. 

“Maybe we can add the Francophone Film Festival to the planning,” said Defresne. “We just still don’t know.”