The Time Thief
Giants, fairies, magicians, ghosts, dragons, and monsters of all kinds… Here’s what your Cinémathèque has in store this summer! Since Méliès, filmmakers have embraced the fanstastic potential of cinema, creating infinite phantasmagorias and extraordinary spectacles where the unreal becomes real. Step into a world of fantasy and boundless imagination: whatever your generation, the monsters and wonders that once filled your childhood dreams are back this summer 2025!
Winner of three Prix Iris in 2022
Ill and exhausted, old storyteller Bernadette tries to reassure her grandson Fred that Death no longer exists. Her tale brings to life a whole cast of extraordinary characters from the village of Saint-Élie-de-Caxton in 1927. One night, a bolt of lightning strikes an apple tree near the church, whose bell rings an ominous bell. Has Death decided to treat himself to a buffet of souls? From now on, the end of life brings with it the birth of legends.
Francis Leclerc
Francis Leclerc is a Quebecois filmmaker, the son of singer Félix Leclerc. He had a brilliant career as a music video director before turning his attention to feature film with Une jeune fille à la fenêtre in 2001. He followed up in 2004 with Mémoires affectives, acclaimed by critics and for which he won the Jutra for Best Picture and Best Director, as well as three Genie Awards. After a moment in televison, he came back to cinema in 2008 with the comedy-drama Un été sans point ni coup sûr, starring Patrice Robitaille and a young Pier-Luc Funk. He then worked many television series, including Apparences (2012) and Les beaux malaises (2014-16), a popular comedy series created by Martin Matte. He continued in cinema with Pieds nus dans l'aube (2017), an adaptation of his father’s autobiographical story that he co-wrote with storyteller Fred Pellerin. This fruitful collaboration gave birth to L’arracheuse de temps (2021), the third film inspired by Pellerin’s universe. In 2023, Francis Leclerc adapted Stéphane Larue’s novel Le plongeur for the screen.
Photo: Bertrand Carrière | Collections de la Cinémathèque québécoise
