If you’re within a day drive from Montréal, or if you want to fly in for 3 or 4 days, here is an event which you might want to take in…

“Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois” is an annual film festival which will present hundreds (yes, hundreds) of Québecois and Montréwood films, all within 10 short days (a mix of long and short films).  This year’s Rendez-vous will be held from 19 to 28 of February, 2015 in the Quartier des spectacles / Quartier Latin district of Montréal (East of downtown).

They haven’t yet come out with what movies will be shown (we will have to wait until February 4^th), but last year 300 films were shown, of which 100 were premiers.   That’s a lot of movies for just 10 days.

The festival’s official website is found here: http://www.rvcq.com/festival-32e

But there’s a reason why I’m bringing this up so early…

There is a “travelling film” component to the festival, in which they take the movies on the road across Canada – and they may be in a city close to you in the very near future.

In the run-up to the festival in Montréal, movies will be show between now and February in

• Prince Edward Island (Click here for the movies & info): http://www.rvcq.com/tournee-2015/itineraires/orleans
• Moncton
• Toronto
• Victoria
• Nanaimo
• Vancouver
• Kuujjuaq
• Inukjuak
• Iqaluit

Unfortunately, apart from Prince Edward Island, the dates have yet to be announced (the festival already passed through a number of other cities in the last few months).  Dates seem to be announced approximately one week in advance.    When dates are announced, they’re listed here:  http://www.rvcq.com/tournee-2015/itineraires/ottawa

But this is one more reason to check in with the local Francophone association or assembly of your province.  See if they might have dates, not only for these films, but for any others being shown in your part of the country.

Another tid-bit of info:  It looks like two movies already talked about in earlier blogs, 1987, and Gabrielle are among the line being shown in the run-up to the festival in February.

All said and done, even if you cannot physically make it to the festival, this still gives you an idea just how many Montréwood movies are out there each year.   Don’t be afraid to push your French and purchase some online viewings through streaming venues.   Even if your French isn’t up to par, many movies come with English subtitles.