Montreal’s Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC) scores not one but two coups with the announcement of its opening and closing films.
Fresh off its world premiere in the Special Presentations section of the Toronto International Film Festival, Philippe Falardeau’s American debut The Good Lie (starring Reese Witherspoon) opens the FNC on Oct. 8, before hitting Quebec theatres Oct. 24.
The two-part story follows four southern Sudanese children who walk hundreds of miles to escape the civil war that kills their parents in the ‘90s, then 13 years later win a lottery and are relocated from a refugee camp to the modern world of the United States. Witherspoon plays an employment agency counselor who helps the young adults adjust to their new life.
Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado’s Le sel de la terre (The Salt of the Earth), a documentary about the life and socially-themed work of Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, will close the FNC on Oct. 18. It was featured in the Un certain regard section of the Cannes Film Festival in April, where it won the Prix Special.
Both filmmakers have a history with the FNC. Falardeau’s Congorama opened the festival in 2006, and his Oscar-nominated Monsieur Lazhar closed the event in 2011.
Called the “Chouchou du FNC” in Tuesday’s press release, Wenders has shown many of his films at the festival, including his 2011 3D documentary Pina, about German choreographer Pina Bausch.
The FNC’s full lineup will be announced Sept. 23.
The 43rd Festival du nouveau cinéma takes place Oct. 8 to 18. For more information, visit nouveaucinema.ca
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