Press release

Four New Films Acquired

Montreal, Tuesday June 12, 2006. Atopia Distribution is very happy to announce the acquisition of four new Quebecois films.

Missing Victor Pellerin by Sophie Deraspe

In 1990, Victor Pellerin, a young painter and darling of the art scene, burns his work and disappears without a trace. Fifteen years later, the documentary filmmaker Sophie Deraspe revisits the events that led to his disappearance, meeting the people who were intimate with Victor, and who had succumbed to his troubled personality. Alternating between documentary and cinema vérité, Rechercher Victor Pellerin takes a close look at this charismatic character, exploring the contradictory points of view of those who knew him.

The 4th Life by François Miron

In this stylistic thriller, a woman runs away from a nightmarish life and a nightmarish past, until the “truth” catches up to her in the form of a former female lover, a lover on a mission to defend betrayal and all those who have been hurt by “love.” Set against a backdrop of fading dreams, broken aspirations, and the crumbling ruins of a decaying town their separate paths come together with explosive results.

Imitation by Federico Hidalgo (A Silent Love)

Teresa, an alluring Mexican woman, comes to Montreal in search of her husband who had abandoned her in Mexico, cutting her life in two. In Montreal, she meets Fenton, a young man who falls in love with her. Fenton convinces Teresa to let him help her find her husband. In their pursuit, Teresa and Fenton criss-cross Montreal, persuading a string of comical characters to reveal clues that will finally lead them to the wayward husband. In the end, Teresa must decide whether to reveal the painful secret that haunts her.

Panache by André-Line Beauparlant (3 Princesses pour Roland, Le Petit Jésus)

In today’s Upper Gatineau, deft documentarian André-Line Beauparlant paints a tender portrait of men whom are rarely given an opportunity to reveal their sensitivities: big game hunters. Alternating between interviews in which they each explain what drives them and hunting sequences where we see them carry out their missions, the film overflows with breathtaking authenticity as it touches subjects such as love, religion and death.

Atopia Distribution is equally proud to announce the addition of three new members to its team.

Helen Faradji - Marketing and Communications Manager. Born in France in 1977, Helen has had a passion for cinema as long as she can remember. She was a film critic for the Montreal cultural weekly, ICI, between 2003 and 2006, and head of its film section from May 2005 to May 2006. She has also worked in other types of media. President of the Film Critics Association of Quebec since 2005, Helen holds a Master’s degree in Cinema from the University of Montreal and is working on her PhD thesis in Cinema at the University of Quebec in Montreal.

Mitch Davis - Acquisitions and Distribution Manager. An inveterate film buff, Mitch has been a Programming Director at Montreal’s enormously popular FanTasia Film Festival since 1997(over 70,000 tickets were sold at last summer’s event). From 1999 to early 2006, he did monthly Indie & Cult film programming for the city’s last surviving repertory theater, Cinema Du Parc. He has also done programming for the Comedia film component of the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. Mitch directed the award-winning underground film Divided Into Zero, and has produced films for many local artists. Mitch has also written for a multitude of international alternative publications including Post Script, Rue Morgue Magazine, Eyeball, Flesh & Blood and The Montreal Mirror.

Freya Mackenzie - Acquisitions and Distribution Coordinator. Freya has been working in film and video since 1997 and is a graduate of Concordia Film Studies. Versed in many aspects of the filmmaking process, both documentary and fiction, she gradually developed an affinity to the domain of performance, and until recently, was working as Atopia’s in-house casting director.

Atopia Distribution releases its in-house productions as well as a selection of equally insightful films to audiences across the USA and Canada. Daring and original, our films are critically-acclaimed features (S.P.I.T.: Squeegee Punks In Traffic by Daniel Cross, El Ring by Carl Valiquet & Richard Gravel, Jimmywork by Simon Sauvé, A Silent Love by Federico Hidalgo). In order to give our films the richest tour, Atopia Distribution screens them at major festivals around the world, then releases them in art-house and commercial theatres. This allows our titles to garner wide media exposure prior to being launched on DVD through retailers, as well as being sold on line.

Source: Atopia Distribution
3981, boulevard Saint-Laurent
Local 200
Montréal (Québec)
Canada H2W 1Y5
T: +1 514-985-0873
F: +1 514-985-5876
E: info@atopia.com

Informations and interview requests:
Mélanie Mingotaud
514-861-7871
mmingotaud@sympatico.ca

News posted Monday, June 12, 2006.