PAYS – 4PM

Pays (Boundaries)

Screening: Thursday, February 2, 2017 – 4:00 pm
Location: Uptown Theatre, 55 Dunlop Street West, Barrie

Written and Directed by: Chloé Robichaud
Principle Cast: Emily VanCamp, Macha Grenon, Rémy Girard and Serge Houde
Drama, PG, 100 minutes, Language: French with English subtitles (Canada)

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“Boundaries is an intimate study of three women navigating the male-dominated milieu of international politics, where condescension and mansplaining are the norm, and threats of lethal violence often lurk [in] the shadows.” – Stephen Dalton, The Hollywood Reporter

“Basking in its understated sense of the absurd, ‘Pays’ offers insights, and laughs, at its own offbeat pace.” – T’Cha Dunlevy, Montreal Gazette

A tiny island nation off Canada’s east coast enters the global arena when its natural resources become the focal point for international wheeling, dealing, and politicking, in this energetic political satire from Quebec director Chloé Robichaud. This fictional country of Besco seems to have frozen in time a few decades ago. Now its natural resources are up for imminent exploitation by a foreign company. Emily Price (Emily VanCamp) is an American mediator of the negotiations between Besco’s president, Danielle Richard (Macha Grenon), and a Canadian government minister, who is aided behind the scenes by his deputy, Félixe (Nathalie Doummar). The daily negotiations take place at a primary school (the area’s only neutral space large enough to host). Squished into student desks, the politicians argue fervently, each with their share of one-sided statistics and studies. Input from lobbyists, ministries, unions, and workers only muddy the waters as they try to resolve the question: in whose interest would the mining truly be? Whenever progress is made in one area, new quarrels arise in the next, making an agreement increasingly unlikely. This film gives us a profound look at its main characters’ principles and doubts, while it portrays the game they’re playing as equal parts hilarious and damning. If history has taught anyone anything, it’s that nobody seems to agree on its teachings.

Awards:
Nominated, New Voices/New Visions Grand Jury Prize, Palm Springs International Film Festival, 2017

French Trailer (film will have english subtitles):

[embed_video video_site=”youtube” video_url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfG4fOWCNdE” video_width=”640″ video_height=”360″ ]

Scene:

[embed_video video_site=”youtube” video_url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyrisucCqgs” video_width=”640″ video_height=”360″ ]

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