Claude Demers’ Les Dames en bleu to open 38th ed. of the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma

Canada’s most avant-garde major film festival will once again open with some homegrown produce, selecting Quebec helmer Claude Demers’ Les Dames en bleu (Ladies in Blue) as the opening film of the 38th edition which runs between the 7th and 18th of October.

In the 1960s, women swooned at his passing. The mention of his name could start a stampede. The mythic figure was Michel Louvain, who became the Wayne Newton of Quebec’s pop music scene in the 1950s. His admirers are mostly grandmothers now but their youthful passion has not aged. This respectful and tender film slips gently into the daily routines of five Louvain fans, women from different generations who made a place for the crooner in their hearts and in their lives. For them, he is the dream lover, the understanding friend, the most beautiful story ever told. The reality of course, is otherwise and they have sometimes empty emotional lives. The star-making machinery takes a bit of a hit, but the intimate portrait of these “ladies in blue” (the title comes from one of Louvain’s most famous song “La Dame en bleu“) reveals a desire to reach the unreachable, that universal yearning that sparkles within each of us.

This will be our next festival stop after TIFF. So stayed tuned for this coverage during the leaves turning yellow season.