Bootlegger

2022 Prix Iris for Most successful Film Outside Québec
Drama
French, Anishinabemowin
81 minutes
2021

Synopsis

Mani, a master’s student, returns to the remote place in northern Quebec where she grew up. Her painful past resurfaces. Resolved to reintegrate into her former home, she gets involved in the debate around a referendum on allowing the free sale of alcohol. Laura, a bootlegger, pockets the profits she makes there under the protection of the band council and her partner Raymond. The latter is still angry with Mani, whom he holds responsible for the death of his daughter in a fire. Two radically opposed women divide the community into two sides who face each other to determine the best path to independence.

Credits

Scriptwriters

Caroline Monnet
Daniel Watchorn

Director

Caroline Monnet

Script Consultants

Danielle Dansereau
Robert Morin

Cast

Pascale Bussières
Devery Jacobs
Samian
Jacques Newashish
Dominique Pétin
Joséphine Bacon
C,S, Gilbert Crazy Horse
Brigitte Poupart
Charles Bender

Editing

Aube Foglia

Cinematography

Nicolas Canniccioni

Production Designer

Louisa Schabas

Costumes

Éric Poirier

Sound

Stéphane Barsalou
Guillaume Daoust
Jean-François B. Sauvé
Bernard Gariepy Strobl

Original Score

Jean Martin
Tanya Tagaq

Produced by

Catherine Chagnon

Executive Producer

Pierre Even

Associate Producer

Sheldon McGregor

Production

Microclimat Films

Financing

SODEC
Telefilm Canada
Fonds Harold Greenberg

In Association with

Best Friend Forever

In Collaboration with

Canadian Broadcast Corporation
Super Écran

Awards

2022 Prix Iris for Most successful Film Outside Québec

2022 Prix Jean Malaurie by Festival du film canadien de Dieppe

2022 Prix TVA Est-du-Québec for Best Film, Audience Award for Best Québec Film, Prix Centre Manicouagan for Best Sound by Festival du film international de Baie-Comeau – Cinoche

2021 Best Dramatic Feature Award by imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival

2021 Canadian Emergent Director Award by Vancouver International Film Festival

2017 Best Screenplay Award by CNC & Cinéfondation Cannes Film Festival

Director's biography

Caroline Monnet is a multidisciplinary artist of Algonquin ancestry from Outaouais, Quebec. She studied Sociology and Communication at the University of Ottawa (Canada) and the University of Granada (Spain) before pursuing a career in visual
art and film. Monnet’s short films Ikwé (2009), Warchild (2010), Mobilize (2015), Tshieutin (2016), Dada Creatura (2016), and Emptying the Tank (2018) all screened at TIFF. Gephyrophobia (2012) screened 
at Les Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, and Mobilize was selected at the Sundance Film Festival. She was nominated for Best Short Film for Roberta (2014) and Best Short Documentary for Tshiuetin at the Canadian Screen Awards. Her first feature film Bootlegger won Best Screenplay at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, an award granted by the Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC) and Cinéfondation.

Immerse yourself in Bootlegger's musical universe. Listen to our feature tracks by Jean Martin and Tanya Tagaq.
Surface Nord
3:58
Unwelcomed Party
1:21
Production
Founded in 2010 by producer Catherine Chagnon, MICROCLIMAT FILMS is a Quebec company dedicated to a cinema outside the box.
MICROCLIMAT FILMS
Catherine Chagnon
producer
catherine@microclimatfilms.com
271, chemin Judd
Sutton (Québec) J0E 2K0
+ 1 514 998-4157
International Sales
Founded in 2019, BEST FRIEND FOREVER is a Brussels based company that focused on bringing carefully selected arthouse films to the international market.
BEST FRIEND FOREVER
Martin Gondre
international sales agent
martin@bffsales.eu
Varkensmarkt, 23, 1000,
Brussels
+33 6 72 23 27 18
Distribution in Canada
Founded in 2017 by Charles Tremblay, MK2 | MILE END is a distribution company which presents the best of international cinema to Quebec and Canadian audiences.
MK2 | MILE END
Ariane Giroux Dallaire
vice-president
agd@mk2mile-end.com
316-5445, avenue de Gaspé
Montréal (Québec) H2T 3B2
+ 1 514 271-1222 #21