Canadians at Cannes.

Canada had one of its best showings ever at the 56th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. One could argue it was really Quebec's year, since all of the Canadian features in the Official Selection were Quebecois productions or co-productions; however, the movies emanate from a thriving Canadian film culture with Telefilm Canada at its hub. All the Canucks on the Cote d'Azur, whether French- or English-speaking, got a shot in the arm when Denys Arcand's Les Invasions barbares received a 22-minute ovation, won Best Screenplay and Best Actress awards, and sold to Miramax for a hefty price.

Without doubt, Canadians were at the top of their game at this year's festival. According to producer Denise Robert, she and Daniel Louis are the first Canadian producers in the history of Cannes to screen two movies in competition, Les Invasions barbares and La Petite Lili. Moreover, their company, Cinemaginaire, also produced Emile Gaudreault's Mambo Italiano, a hot item in the market that is already a hit in Quebec and probably will be in the rest of North America when it opens wide in the fall. And on the final day of Cannes 2003, when other national pavilions had packed up and gone home, Canada's was filled with buyers who had just seen Jean-Francois Pouliot's La Grande seduction produced by Roger Frappier and Luc Vandal. The good news offset the dark scenarios about the future of the industry that had stacked up during the winter doldrums. Spring had arrived, and the Canadians at Cannes had done very well.