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Familia - Sylvie Moreau, Juliette Gosselin, Jacques L'Heureux, Louise Archambault

Threat advisory: Under evaluation

Movie propaganda

Free-spirited aerobics instructor Michèle (Sylvie Moreau) decides to leave her boyfriend and gambling debts behind and run away to California to start a new life with her teenage daughter. They only make it as far as the home of childhood friend Janine (Macha Grenon). Janine has a teenage daughter of her own and seems to be living the suburban dream. The very different women are bound to clash, yet they may have more in common than they think...

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film Canada drama family mother daughter escape Canadian French

Persons of interest

Sylvie Moreau .... Michèle
Macha Grenon .... Janine
Juliette Gosselin .... Gabrielle
Mylène St-Sauveur .... Marguerite
Micheline Lanctôt .... Madeleine
Patricia Nolin .... Estelle
Paul Savoie .... Lucien
Vincent Graton .... Charles
Emily Holmes .... Kate
Xavier Morin-Lefort .... Olivier
Jacques L'Heureux .... François
Norman Helms .... Francis
Sonia Vigneault .... Laurence
Alexandre Côté .... Anthony
Claude Despins .... Scott
Hélène Florent .... Chloé
Louise Archambault .... Screenwriter
Louise Archambault .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Familia official movie site
Familia film production notes (.rtf)
Familia QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

Genie Awards 2006: Won: Claude Jutra Award (Louise Archambault); Nominated: Achievement in Cinematography (André Turpin), Best Achievement in Direction (Louise Archambault), Best Motion Picture (Luc Déry), Best Original Screenplay (Louise Archambault), Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Sylvie Moreau, Macha Grenon), Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Micheline Lanctôt)
Jutra Awards 2006: Nominated: Best Sound (Pierre Bertrand, Sylvain Bellemare, Louis Gignac)
Locarno International Film Festival 2005: Nominated: Golden Leopard (Louise Archambault)
Sydney Canadian Film Festival 2006: Opening night
Toronto International Film Festival 2005: Won: Best Canadian First Feature Film (Louise Archambault)

NB: French language dialogue with English language subtitles
Studios and distributors:

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

She is a bad mother.

All of them.

Familia puts paid to the homophobic notion that same-sex couples shouldn't be allowed to adopt children. Here you have a whole bunch of heterosexuals who are free to have as many kids as they like without any kind of checks (eg genetic disorders, criminal history, family health issues, psychological issues, income, parenting skills, place of residence). This is John Howard's "survival of the species" and it's a pretty piss-poor existence.

This is a dramatic film with a strong female essence, not just because most of the characters are female (and the males are bastards/rapists) but because it is redolent with primary care-giving, interpersonal issues and problem resolution. The joy of this type of drama is that all of the characters have been fucked up by their parents, all of whom are within the spectrum we call "normal". I guess that makes Familia something of a horror movie (see also The descent). If this all sounds too heavy for you, don't worry, it's written by a Canadian and they're former colonials so they have the same black sense of humour that we British down-under do. It's bloody funny.

The Canada, drama movie Familia is directed by Louise Archambault and stars Sylvie Moreau, Juliette Gosselin, Jacques L'Heureux.