Benoit Pilon Articles

Next month, IFC Films will be releasing via its video-on-demand platform the French box office hit Cliente / A French Gigolo (right), starring veteran Nathalie Baye, on November 4, and Canada's submission for the 2009 best foreign language film Oscar, The Necessities of Life, on November 11. These films are part of the "IFC Festival Direct" program, an electronic film festival available "at the touch [...]

In a bizarre twist, the Canadian Academy of Film & Television chose Passchendaele, Paul Gross' flag-waving World War I melodrama about Canadian valor, as the best Canadian film of 2008. I say bizarre because even though Passchendaele was in the running for a best film Genie Award, neither its screenplay nor (writer-)director Gross had even been nominated (though Gross, who didn't attend the ceremony as [...]

2009 Genie Awards 2009 Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's Genie Award nominations: Feb. 10, 2009 2009 Genie Award winners: Ottawa, April 4, 2009 ("*" denotes the winner in each category)     BEST MOTION PICTURE / MEILLEUR FILM Amal – David Miller, Steven Bray Ce qu'il faut pour vivre / The Necessities of Life – Bernadette Payeur, René Chénier Normal – Andrew Boutilier, Carl [...]

2009 Prix Jutra 2009 Jutra Award nominations: Feb. 17, 2009 2009 Jutra Award winners: March 29, 2009 ("*" denotes the winner in each category)   Ce qu'il faut pour vivre / The Necessities of Life, the 2009 winner of the Prix Jutra for best film, tells the story of an Inuit hunter (best actor winner Natar Ungalaaq) suffering from tuberculosis who is sent to a [...]