Quebec Film Week: Missing Victor Pellerin December 10, 2008

Victor Pellerin has been missing for 15 years. After a short burst of fame in the Quebec art scene, he reclaimed all of his paintings, set them aflame and disappeared. Or did he? Sophie Deraspe’s sprightly genre-busting hybrid follows a group of aging bohemian Montreal artists as they prepare for an anniversary show centered around Pellerin’s absent work. Like Orson Welles in his film F for Fake—also a multilayered look at the international art world—Deraspe calls our willingness to trust the documentary form into question and does so with a cutting sense of humor. Michael Atkinson, in a recent issue of Film Comment, writes that the film’s “evasive zigzag around ‘reality’ serves as a deft backhand slap at the whimsical, emperor’s-new-clothes absurdity of the international art world.” Written and photographed by Sophie Deraspe. With Sylvain Bouthilette. In French with English subtitles. 102 min. Distributed by Atopia Distribution. Bouthilette is expected to attend.

Note, additionally playtime on Saturday December 13 at 1:30PM

Film tickets $10 year-round SFFS members, $12.50 general, $11 seniors, students and persons with disabilities; CineVoucher Québec 8-Packs $72 SFFS members, $92 general; one opening night film and reception $15 SFFS members, $20 general; both opening night films and reception $25 SFFS members, $32.50 general. Tickets available online at www.sffs.org, by calling 925.866.9559 or by faxing 925.866.9597. Open November 11 for SFFS members and November 18 for the general public.

Full schedule and information: www.sffs.org.

Official Website: http://www.sffs.org/events/index_series_quebec.html