Samuel Matteau is a Canadian film director from Quebec. He is most noted as co-director with Guillaume Fournier and Yannick Nolin of a trilogy of short documentary films about Cajun life and culture in Louisiana. [1]
The first film in the series, Laissez les bon temps rouler, premiered in 2017.
The second film in the series, Acadiana , premiered at the 2019 Slamdance Film Festival. [2] At the 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival, the directors won the award for Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film. [3] It was subsequently named to the Toronto International Film Festival's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for short films in 2019, [4] and received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Short Documentary at the 8th Canadian Screen Awards in 2020. [5]
The third film, Belle River , premiered at the 2022 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. [6] It was named to the Canada's Top Ten list for short films in 2022, [7] and was a Prix Iris nominee for Best Short Documentary at the 25th Quebec Cinema Awards in 2023. [8]
Matteau has also directed numerous short films on his own, including Le Combat silencieux (2012), Karim + Hadjer (2014), Squat (2017) and Renouer (2022).
Janice Nadeau is a Canadian illustrator, art director and animation director.
Manic is a 2017 Canadian documentary film directed by Kalina Bertin. The film depicts Bertin's efforts, in response to a family history of bipolar disorder, to investigate parts of her father's prior life in Montserrat that she did not know about; she ultimately uncovers the revelations that her father was a cult leader who also suffered from bipolar disorder, and who had, unbeknownst to Bertin until making the film, also fathered at least 12 other children with four other women.
Acadiana is a 2019 Canadian short documentary film directed by Guillaume Fournier, Samuel Matteau and Yannick Nolin. The film explores the changing face of Cajun culture in the United States, and its roots in the Acadian culture of Canada, through a profile of the Crawfish Festival in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. The film was the second part of a trilogy by the directors about Cajun culture, following Let the Good Times Roll in 2017 and preceding Belle River in 2022.
Prayer for a Lost Mitten is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Jean-François Lesage and released in 2020. The film centres on the lost and found office of the Montreal Metro system.
Fanmi is a Canadian short drama film, directed by Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers and Carmine Pierre-Dufour and released in 2021. The film stars Mireille Metellus and Marie-Evelyne Lessard as Monique and Martine, a mother and daughter who are supporting each other through difficult times as Martine's partner Simon has recently committed suicide, while Monique is awaiting the results of medical tests to determine whether or not she has a serious illness.
In the Jam Jar is a Canadian short drama film, directed by Colin Nixon and released in 2021. A tribute to maternal love, the film stars France Castel as Joan, a dying woman who is being cared for by her son Dan.
Archipelago is a Canadian animated documentary film, directed by Félix Dufour-Laperrière and released in 2021. A poetic essay film that blends diverse styles of animation, the film is a psychogeographic meditation on the islands in the St. Lawrence River, forming a metaphor for Quebec's status as an "uncertain country" defined by the tensions between its status as a province of Canada and the Québécois people's conception of themselves as a distinct nation.
Geographies of Solitude is a Canadian documentary film by Jacquelyn Mills that was released in 2022. The film is guided by Zoe Lucas, a naturalist and environmentalist who lives on Nova Scotia's Sable Island, where she catalogues the island's wild Sable Island horses, and endeavours to preserve its unique ecosystem.
Rojek is a 2022 Canadian documentary film written, directed and produced by Zaynê Akyol. It is about the recovery of Kurdistan from the Rojava–Islamist conflict with a special emphasis on interviews with imprisoned former members of the Islamic State about their motivations. It was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.
Viking is a 2022 Canadian comedy film, directed by Stéphane Lafleur. The film centres on a group of people who are working as a "B team" to reenact the events of the first crewed mission to Mars, in the hopes of trying to solve the interpersonal problems among the astronauts that have impacted the real mission.
Nanitic is a 2022 Canadian short drama film written, directed, produced, and edited by Carol Nguyen. It stars Kylie Le, Ly Pham, and Van Pham, and follows a young Vietnamese-Canadian girl who observes as her terminally ill grandmother is taken care of by her aunt.
Simo is a 2022 Canadian short drama film, written, directed, and co-edited by Aziz Zoromba. The film stars Basel El Rayes and Seif El Rayes as Simo and Emad, two brothers whose competitive rivalry leads to a dangerous situation when Simo sneakily tries to take over Emad's online gaming channel.
No Ghost in the Morgue is a 2022 Canadian short comedy-drama film, written and directed by Marilyn Cooke. The film stars Schelby Jean-Baptiste as Keity, a medical student who takes an internship working in the morgue after failing to get her desired surgery placement, and repeatedly sees the ghost of her dead grandmother Myriam.
Belle River is a 2022 Canadian short documentary film directed by Guillaume Fournier, Samuel Matteau and Yannick Nolin. The third film in a trilogy about Cajun culture in Louisiana following the films Let the Good Times Roll in 2017 and Acadiana in 2019, the film profiles the residents of Pierre Part as they cope with the threat of their community being flooded by the possible but ultimately averted opening of the Morganza Spillway during the Mississippi River floods of 2019.
Triangle of Darkness is a Canadian animated short film, directed by Marie-Noëlle Moreau Robidas and released in 2022. A meditation on the loneliness and isolation that can affect people in times of crisis, the film centres on a homeless woman who takes shelter in an abandoned house during the January 1998 North American ice storm, only to find unexpected companionship.
Invincible is a 2022 Canadian short drama film written and directed by Vincent René-Lortie.
Harvey is a Canadian short animated film, directed by Janice Nadeau and released in 2023. Adapted from the Governor General's Literary Award-winning book of the same name, which was illustrated by Nadeau and written by Hervé Bouchard, the film centres on a young boy who is using his vivid imagination to cope with the death of his father.
Guillaume Fournier is a Canadian film director from Quebec City. He is most noted as co-director with Samuel Matteau and Yannick Nolin of a trilogy of short documentary films about Cajun life and culture in Louisiana.
Yannick Nolin is a Canadian film director and cinematographer from Quebec. He is most noted as co-director with Guillaume Fournier and Samuel Matteau of a trilogy of short documentary films about Cajun life and culture in Louisiana.