CINEMANIA 2026: The Youth of Cinema, in every sense of the word

Thierry Frémaux, microphone in hand, commenting on the Lumière brothers’ early films. A jazz orchestra providing live accompaniment to a documentary on European development. Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Sandrine Kiberlain, and Jean Dujardin in person. From November 4 to 15, CINEMANIA is presenting its 32^nd edition, with many of its highlights taking place at the Monument-National and Théâtre Maisonneuve. Its director, Guilhem Caillard, presents a program that explores the origins of cinema and its young voices. 

How would you sum up the spirit of this 32^nd edition? 

CINEMANIA has been around for 32 years, with the defence of Francophone cinema at the heart of all its concerns. I think it’s the one film festival in Montreal today that draws the greatest number of international guests from across the Francophonie. This year again, we’ll be welcoming some very big names. Jean-Pierre Jeunet is coming to present Changer l’eau des fleurs (Violette) at the Monument-National on November 5, and we’re taking the opportunity to hold a mini-retrospective of his work. Sandrine Kiberlain will receive our Artistic Influence Award on November 12, at the screening of Marc Fitoussi’s Ni vue, ni connue. The following day, on November 13, Jean Dujardin will be here for Xavier Giannoli’s Les rayons et les ombres, presented as a gala. If I had to highlight some key themes, I would say: the origins of cinema, the Francophonie, and a particular focus on youth. 

One of the most highly anticipated moments is Lumière!, a session in which Thierry Frémaux, the General Delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, provides live commentary on some of the first films in the history of cinema. How did this idea come about? 

The concept comes from Thierry Frémaux himself. I had seen him give this kind of presentation at the Film Francophone à Angoulême Festival and the Festival international du film de comédie de l’Alpe d’Huez—two festivals with which CINEMANIA maintains very strong ties. On November 10, he will be on stage at the Monument-National to provide live commentary on the films of the Lumière brothers. It will be a truly special, unique moment. This is what defines this edition: a return to the origins of cinema. 

French-speaking Belgium is in the spotlight this year. What makes its cinema so unique? 

There’s a way of telling stories, a sense of self-deprecation, and a perspective on today’s world that are typical of French-speaking Belgians. There’s something unique about the expression of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, and that’s what we wanted to celebrate. Several films at the festival deal with the Nazi occupation, but Michaël R. Roskam’s Le faux Soir, presented at the Monument-National on November 5, offers a perspective on this period that others don’t. We mostly know these stories from the French point of view. But here, we learn what it was like to live in Brussels under occupation, through the true story of resistance fighters who printed a fake edition of the newspaper Le Soir to mock the occupiers. Lukas Dhont does the same with the First World War in Les Braves (Coward), presented at the Monument-National on November 8. There’s a whole history of American and French films about this war—such as Kubrick’s Paths of Glory. Here, for the first time, we are taken into the trenches on the Belgian side, put in the boots of young, mostly French-speaking soldiers. 

Another unusual proposal: a Luxembourgish cine-concert. What’s that about? 

Canada is in the process of moving closer to the European Union, and this is the perfect opportunity to entrust our Luxembourgish friends—who have been present at CINEMANIA for many years—with the organization of a cine-concert. Luxembourg is one of the founding countries of the European Union, perhaps even the most European of all. Along with Brussels and Strasbourg, it hosts some European institutions. The documentary Europe: la bataille des sièges (Europe – Three Cities, One Roof) by Donato Rotunno, a filmmaker we have hosted several times, examines the long political and institutional battle that resulted in a European capital spread across three locations. To make this all the more festive, we are presenting it as a cine-concert: the Singülar Orchestra, a trinational jazz ensemble featuring Luxembourgish, Belgian, and French musicians, will accompany the film live on stage at the Monument-National on November 7. Luxembourg is also a very important co-production partner for Quebec, and one of our Faces of the Francophonie jury members, actress Astrid Roos, hails from there. 

As for Quebec film, what are the not-to-be-missed events at Place des Arts and the Monument-National? 

First, there’s our 32^nd Anniversary Gala on November 9 at Théâtre Maisonneuve, featuring the Montreal premiere of Yan Lanouette Turgeon’s Villeneuve: l’ascension d’une légende. It’s a very well-made film that finds an intelligent and beautiful way to depict the Quiet Revolution through the character of Gilles Villeneuve. On November 6, we’re dedicating a double screening entirely to Quebec short films at the Monument-National: two consecutive screenings and more than a dozen shorts carefully selected by our teams. This is extremely important to us. And I don’t want to fail to mention Rodrigue Jean’s new film, Labrador – Autopsie du silence screening on November 11 at the Monument-National. It’s a real gem. 

The poster for this edition is taken from Xavier Dolan’s Juste la fin du monde (It’s Only the End of the World), which is celebrating its 10^th anniversary and is being given a retrospective screening. Why this image? 

The philosophy is to invest in youth: their energy, their desire for the future, their joy, and through them, the love of film. A festival is an event that serves to foster hope for tomorrow while sharing discoveries. There is a positive energy in this poster, a feeling of love and friendship, a drive toward the future. We see a young man from behind, lifting a child into the air: it’s Théodore Pellerin, in one of his first film appearances, embodying in a few seconds the younger version of the character played by Gaspard Ulliel. He is the recipient of this year’s CINEMANIA d’Honneur, an award that recognizes a figure who has contributed to the international reach of Quebec cinema. And through Xavier Dolan, who is particularly dear to us, there is also the idea that Quebec can aspire to become a major international leader, perhaps even the leader of Francophone cinema of tomorrow. 

Also showing at the Monument-National 

The festival opens on November 4 with Paradis, Jérémy Comte’s debut feature film, selected for the Berlinale, which intertwines the destinies of two young men, one in Ghana, the other in Quebec. It closes on November 14 with De la Comédie-Française by Bertrand Usclat and Martin Darondeau, a comedy filmed behind the scenes at the Salle Richelieu with members of the troupe. In between, there are screenings of several films that garnered attention at Cannes: Notre salut by Emmanuel Marre, winner of the Best Screenplay award, starring Swann Arlaud as an ordinary cog in the machinery of collaboration (November 7), and Moulin by László Nemes, with Gilles Lellouche and Lars Eidinger depicting the duel between Jean Moulin and Klaus Barbie (November 8). On November 15, there are also screenings of Garance by Jeanne Herry, starring Adèle Exarchopoulos, and L’affaire Marie-Claire by Lauriane Escaffre and Yvo Muller, with Charlotte Gainsbourg and Cécile de France, which revisits the Bobigny trial. 

CINEMANIA takes place from November 4 to 15, 2026. Tickets for screenings at the Monument-National and Théâtre Maisonneuve are on sale at Place des Arts starting October 21.