A Monkey in Winter
After several nuanced portrait films of Quebec cultural figures, Simon Beaulieu, also a screenwriter, follows a trajectory that brings his work closer to the essay film. In addition to screening his films, the carte blanche we offer him showcases the diversity of his influences and the eclecticism of his tastes.
An old innkeeper and a young man on the move spend the night drinking and "traveling" in their frenzy.
Henri Verneuil
Achod Malakian, known as Henri Verneuil, was a French film director and screenwriter of Armenian origin. Surviving the Armenian genocide with his family, he grew up in Marseille and began directing short films after studying engineering and spending several years in journalism. He transitioned to feature film thanks to Fernandel, and became known for directing the comedic star in nine films in the 1950s, culminating in the international success of The Cow and I (1959). From the 1960s to the 1980s, he directed films, often spectacular ones, some of which became classics, including A Monkey in Winter (1962), Any Number Can Win (1963), The Sicilian Clan (1969), The Burglars (1971), Fear Over the City (1975), and I… For Icarus (1979). He worked with some of the biggest names in French cinema such as Jean Gabin, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, and Lino Ventura. Fascinated and influenced by the United States, his success led him to make two films in Hollywood. Despite being underestimated by critics for his popular cinema, he was nominated in 1956 for an Academy Award for Best Story for The Sheep Has Five Legs. He was awarded the Honorary César in 1996 for his entire career. Henri Verneuil remains the French director with the highest number of viewers in theaters, with over 91 million admissions in France.
