Pierre Lebeau Movies

Experience a whole new take on the disaster film as director Philippe Calderon uses macrophotography to find out just what happens to a swarming colony of termites when an unexpected rain washes through their six-meter-high African savanna tower, flooding through the chambers and paving the way for an invasion by ravenous and carnivorous ants. Shot in the style of a large-scale disaster film and driven by innovative filmmaking techniques, Calderon's look at the remarkable life of insects provides fascinating insight into a little-explored universe seldom seen by the human eye. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Directed by Michel Boujenah, Pere et Fils (Father and Son) centers around retired traveling salesman Leo Serano's (Philippe Noiret) decision to become closer to his three children, albeit late in life. Leo's first son, David (Charles Berling), is a longtime overachiever who runs his own plumbing fixtures company and employs his youngest brother, Simon (Pascal Elbe), in the warehouse. Pot-smoking Simon is blissfully unconcerned when it comes to the intricacies of his family, but David hasn't spoken to his unemployed brother Max (Bruno Putzulu) in years, and isn't particularly keen to build a relationship with his long absent father. However, when Leo convinces the trio that he's slated for a risky heart surgery in a couple of weeks -- in fact, Leo's physician had declared him perfectly healthy -- the broken family decides to take a spontaneous trip to Montreal. The film also features Marie Tifo, Genevieve Brouillette, Pierre Lebeau, Jacques Boudet, and Matthieu Boujenah. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

A scientist living in Tokyo is sent to a small Canadian town to study the tides in this visually inventive feature from director Manon Briand. Suspecting that the cecassion of the tides may indicate an impending earthquake, Seismologist Alice (Pascale Bussieres) arrives in her hometown of Baie-Comeau, Quebec to commence her investigation. Soon confronted by numerous figures from her past, the unusual weather and inexplicable behavior of the citizens lead Alice to believe that something beyond her comprehension is occurring to her old hometown. With a mysterious waitress (Genevive Bujold), a lusting woman, a pack of nuns, a sleepwalking child and a widower pilot who grows ever closer to Alice all factoring into the strange goings on, it seems as if human emotions may have somehow played an integral part in the sudden climate shift. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Love, death, and fish all mingle in this offbeat comedy-drama from award-winning Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve. Bibiane Champagne (Marie-Josee Croze) is the daughter of a well-known fashion designer who dabbles in modeling when she's not busy helping to run the family business with her brother Phillippe (Bobby Beshro). But Bibiane has not been especially happy in her work lately, owing in part to an unexpected pregnancy that led her to have an abortion. Bibiane tries drowning her sorrows in alcohol and drugs, and late one night, after several drinks too many, she hits a jaywalker while driving home. The pedestrian staggers away after the accident, and the next morning, Bibiane remembers what happened and is frightened at the prospect that she may have killed someone. When Bibiane reads a newspaper account the next day of a seafood delivery man who died in his kitchen after being struck by a hit-and-run driver, she's convinced she was responsible for the crime. Guiltily attending the man's funeral, Bibiane strikes up a conversation with his son, Evian (Jean-Nicholas Verreault), and soon the two have become romantically involved, with Bibiane unable to tell Evian her secret. Maelstrom was shown in competition at both the Montreal World Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival in 2000. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Quebec filmmaker Jean-Phillipe Duval debuted with this madcap comedy about a graduate student sucked into Montreal's criminal netherworld. Ph.D. candidate Gilles (Alexis Martin) literally runs into waitress Guylaine (Guylaine Tremblay) at the beach while he is reviewing his dissertation. The two immediately hit it off, and when he returns to his abode in Montreal he heads straight to the low-rent bar where she works. The lovebirds begin talking about the future, until Guylaine's gun-toting brother Bob (Gary Boudreault) staggers to their doorstep after getting worked over by the mob. Fearing for his life, he pleads with Gilles to deliver a message to Matroni, the big boss. On his way to hand off the note, the overly ethical Gilles has a moral crisis: the letter lists names of other soon-to-be-ex-hoods. His actions start a series of bizarre and unforeseen incidents. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

This Canadian hockey comedy broke box-office records in Canada. Stan (Remy Girard) runs the blue-collar tavern Chez Stan and also coaches Les Boys, an ineffectual amateur hockey team of bar-room buddies. Gambling debts lead to a risky game in which Stan will lose Chez Stan to mob boss Meo (Pierre Lebeau) if Les Boys are defeated by Meo's team of heavyweight thugs. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi