# 2020 Festival du nouveau cinéma

The 2020 edition of the Festival du nouveau cinéma, the 49th edition in the event's history, took place from October 7 to 31, 2020 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec, it was staged almost entirely online, with the exception of a few outdoor screenings at Ciné-parc FNC x YUL, a temporary drive-in theatre in the employee parking lot of Montréal–Trudeau International Airport.
The festival had planned to include some in-person screenings, but was forced to cancel these when the government of Quebec imposed a 28-day lockdown on September 29, just days before the festival was set to begin. As the drive-in and online components were already planned, the festival was able to quickly pivot its strategy, although the tight timeframe meant that a few films that had been scheduled for in-person screenings had to be pulled from the program rather than being added to the online platform.
The festival was slated to open with a free public screening of Underground (Souterrain) by Sophie Dupuis at FNC x YUL, but this event had to be cancelled due to severe weather. It closed with the film My Salinger Year by Philippe Falardeau on October 16; some, but not all, films in the program then remained available on the online platform until October 31.

## Awards

Award winners were announced on October 17.
The international competition jury comprised Pascale Bussières, Louise Lecavalier and Félix Dufour-Laperrière, while the national competition jury consisted of Evelyne de la Chenelière, Timothée Donay and Ewa Puszczynska.
| Award | Film | Filmmaker |
| National Competition, Grand Prize | Judy Versus Capitalism | Mike Hoolboom |
| National Competition, Prix de la diffusion Québécor | Without Havana (Sin la Habana) | Kaveh Nabatian |
| International Competition, Grand Prize | Atlantis (Атлантида) | Valentyn Vasyanovych |
| International Competition, Prix de l’innovation Daniel Langlois | Ecstasy (Êxtase) | Moara Passoni |
| International Competition, Best Acting Performance | This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection | Mary Twala Mhlongo |
| FIPRESCI International Critics Prize | Last and First Men | Jóhann Jóhannsson |
| New Alchemists Prize | Khamsin | Grégoire Orio, Grégoire Couvert |
| P'tits Loups | À la mode | Jean Lecointre |
| FNC Explore Panorama Prize | O | Qiu Yang |
| FNC Explore Horizon Prize | The Book of Distance | Randall Okita |
| National Competition, Short Film | Foam (Écume) | Omar Elhamy |
| National Competition, Short Film Honorable Mention | Benjamin, Benny, Ben | Paul Shkordoff |
| National Competition, Short Film Public Prize | Shooting Star (Comme une comète) | Ariane Louis-Seize |
| International Competition, Short Film | Filipiñana | Rafael Manuel |
| International Competition, Short Film Honorable Mention | Red Aninsri, or, Tiptoeing on The Still Trembling Berlin Wall | Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke |
| New Alchemists, Animated Short Film | Serial Parallels | Max Hattler |
| New Alchemists, National Dada Prize | Barcelona Burning (Barcelona de foc) | Theodore Ushev |
| New Alchemists, International Dada Prize | How to Disappear | Total Refusal |
| RPCÉ Grand Prize | Danica's Mom | Kennedy Kao |
| Pitch Premières Œuvres | Ghosts of the Sea (Les Enfants du large) | Virginia Tangvald |

## Official selections
### International Competition

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Abandonment | Desterro | Maria Clara Escobar | Brazil, Portugal, Argentina |
| Atlantis | Атлантида | Valentyn Vasyanovych | Ukraine |
| Bad Roads | Pohani dorohy | Natalya Vorozhbyt | Ukraine |
| The Cloud in Her Room | Ta fang jian li de yun | Zheng Lu Xinyuan | China, Hong Kong |
| Ecstasy | Êxtase | Moara Passoni | Brazil |
| Kill It and Leave This Town | Zabij to i wyjedź z tego miasta | Mariusz Wilczyński | Poland |
| Servants | Služobníci | Ivan Ostrochovský | Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic, Ireland |
| The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs | Laila aur satt geet | Pushpendra Singh | India |
| This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection | This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection | Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese | Lesotho, South Africa, Italy |
| Topside | Topside | Celine Held, Logan George | United States |

### National Competition

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Judy Versus Capitalism | Judy Versus Capitalism | Mike Hoolboom | Canada |
| There Are No False Undertakings | Il n'y a pas de faux métier | Olivier Godin | Canada |
| Violation | Violation | Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli | Canada |
| Without Havana | Sin la Habana | Kaveh Nabatian | Canada |

### International Panorama

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Apples | Mila | Christos Nikou | Greece |
| Cocoon | Kokon | Leonie Krippendorf | Germany |
| Drowsy City | Thanh Pho Ngu Gat | Dung Luong Dinh | Vietnam |
| If It Were Love | Si c'était de l'amour | Patric Chiha | France |
| Moving On | Nam-Mae-Wui Yeo-Reum-Bam | Yoon Dan-bi | South Korea |
| Mum, Mum, Mum | Mamá, mamá, mamá | Sol Berruezo Pichon-Rivière | Argentina |
| Oasis | Oaza | Ivan Ikić | Serbia |
| Sisters with Transistors | Sisters with Transistors | Lisa Rovner | United States |
| A Thief's Daughter | La hija de un ladrón | Belén Funes | Spain |
| Wisdom Tooth | Ri Guang Zhi Xia | Liang Ming | China |
| A Yellow Animal | Um animal amarelo | Felipe Bragança | Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique |

### The New Alchemists (Les Nouveaux alchimistes)

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| DAU. Natasha | DAU. Natasha | Ilya Khrzhanovsky, Jekaterina Oertel | Russia, Germany, Ukraine, United Kingdom |
| Khamsin | Khamsin | Grégoire Orio, Grégoire Couvert | France, Lebanon |
| Last and First Men | Last and First Men | Jóhann Jóhannsson | Iceland |
| Maggie's Farm | Maggie's Farm | James Benning | United States |
| Night Has Come | Night Has Come | Peter Van Goethem | Belgium |
| Red Moon Tide | Lúa vermella | Lois Patiño | Spain |
| To the Moon | To the Moon | Tadhg O'Sullivan | Ireland |

### The Essentials (Les Incontournables)

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Conference | Konferentsiya | Ivan Tverdovskiy | Russia, Estonia, United Kingdom, Italy |
| There Is No Evil | Sheytân vojūd nadârad | Mohammad Rasoulof | Germany, Czech Republic, Iran |
| Undine | Undine | Christian Petzold | Germany, France |
| Uppercase Print | Tipografic majuscul | Radu Jude | Romania |
| Wim Wenders, Desperado | Wim Wenders, Desperado | Andreas Frege, Eric Friedler | Germany |

### Temps 0

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| The Book of Vision | The Book of Vision | Carlo S. Hintermann | Italy, United Kingdom, Belgium |
| Caught in the Net | V síti | Barbora Chalupová, Vít Klusák | Czech Republic |
| Fishlove | Poissonsexe | Olivier Babinet | France, Belgium |
| The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq | L'enlèvement de Michel Houellebecq | Guillaume Nicloux | France |
| Out of the Blue | Out of the Blue | Dennis Hopper | United States |
| Red Post on Escher Street | エッシャー通りの赤いポスト | Sion Sono | Japan |
| Shell and Joint | Shell and Joint | Isamu Hirabayashi | Japan |
| Siberia | Siberia | Abel Ferrara | Italy, Germany, Mexico |
| Simply Black | Tout simplement noir | Jean-Pascal Zadi, John Wax | France |
| Thalasso | Thalasso | Guillaume Nicloux | France |
| The Tremor | Nilanadukkam | Balaji Vembu Chelli | India |

### Special Presentations

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Octobre | Octobre | Pierre Falardeau | Canada |
| Orders | Les Ordres | Michel Brault | Canada |
| Saint-Narcisse | Saint-Narcisse | Bruce La Bruce | Canada |

### Cult Films at Ciné-Parc

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Mad Max | Mad Max | George Miller | Australia |
| Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior | Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior | George Miller | Australia |
| Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome | Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome | George Miller, George Ogilvie | Australia |
| Mad Max: Fury Road | Mad Max: Fury Road | George Miller | Australia, United States |
| Pink Floyd: The Wall | Pink Floyd: The Wall | Alan Parker | United Kingdom |
| The Shining | The Shining | Stanley Kubrick | United States |
| Total Recall | Total Recall | Paul Verhoeven | United States |

### International Competition for Short Films

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Battlefield | Battlefield | Jannis Lenz | Austria, Germany |
| Digital Funeral: Beta Version | Digital Funeral: Beta Version | Sorayos Prapapan | Thailand |
| L'Effort commercial | L'Effort commercial | Sarah Arnold | France |
| The End of Suffering (A Proposal) | To telos tou ponou (Mia protasi) | Jacqueline Lentzou | Greece |
| Erpe-Mere | Erpe-Mere | Noemi Osselaer | Belgium |
| The Eyes of Summer | Gimhanaye Netra | Rajee Samarasinghe | Sri Lanka, United States |
| Filipiñana | Filipiñana | Rafael Manuel | Philippines, United Kingdom |
| Fishbowl | Fishbowl | Ngabo Emmanuel | Rwanda |
| Heaven Reaches Down to Earth | Heaven Reaches Down to Earth | Tebogo Malebogo | South Africa |
| Lake on Fire | Sjö i brand | Jennifer Rainsford | Sweden |
| Maalbeek | Maalbeek | Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis | France |
| Menarca | Menarca | Lillah Halla | Brazil |
| Motorway65 | Motorway65 | Evi Kalogiropoulou | Greece |
| Our Kingdom | O Nosso Reino | Luis Costa | Portugal |
| Places | Miegamasis Rajonas | Vytautas Katkus | Lithuania |
| Rain Hums a Lullaby to Pain | A chuva acalanta a dor | Leonardo Mouramateus | Portugal, Brazil |
| Red Aninsri, or, Tiptoeing on The Still Trembling Berlin Wall | Red Aninsri, or, Tiptoeing on The Still Trembling Berlin Wall | Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke | Thailand |
| The Return of Tragedy | The Return of Tragedy | Bertrand Mandico | France |
| Song of Clouds | Song of Clouds | Ankit Poudel | Nepal |
| Sudden Light | Sudden Light | Sophie Littman | United Kingdom |
| Sun Dog | Sun Dog | Dorian Jespers | Belgium, Russia |
| Talk to Her | Talk to Her | Iwa | South Korea |
| This Means More | This Means More | Nicolas Gourault | United Kingdom, France, Portugal |
| Towards Evening | Axşama doğru | Teymur Hajiyev | Azerbaijan |
| The Unseen River | Giòng Sông Không Nhìn Thấy | Phạm Ngọc Lân | Vietnam, Laos |
| Which Is Witch? | Which Is Witch? | Marie Losier | France |
| White Goldfish | White Goldfish | Jan Roosens, Raf Roosens | Belgium |

### National Competition for Short Films

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Province |
| Acting Out | Acting Out | Jean-Sébastien Beaudoin Gagnon | Quebec |
| Aniksha | Aniksha | Vincent Toi | Quebec |
| As Spring Comes | Comme la neige au printemps | Marie-Ève Juste | Quebec |
| August 22, This Year | August 22, This Year | Graham Foy | Ontario |
| Benjamin, Benny, Ben | Benjamin, Benny, Ben | Paul Shkordoff | Ontario |
| Every Day's Like This | Every Day's Like This | Lev Lewis | Ontario |
| Father Neptune | Father Neptune | Erik Horn | British Columbia |
| Fear in Motion | Fear in Motion | Jean-Christophe Yacono | Quebec |
| Foam | Écumne | Omar Elhamy | Quebec |
| Happy as Can Be | Chez les heureux de ce monde | Jean-François Sauvé | Quebec |
| Here at Home | À la maison | Renaud Ouimet | Quebec |
| Inuit Languages in the 21st Century | Inuit Languages in the 21st Century | Ulivia Uviluk | Quebec |
| Moon | Lune | Zoé Pelchat | Quebec |
| Nadia | Nadia | Malorie Urbanovitch | Quebec |
| Parlour Palm | Parlour Palm | Rebeccah Love | Ontario |
| Point and Line to Plane | Point and Line to Plane | Sofia Bohdanowicz | Ontario |
| The Pond, at Night | L'Étang, la nuit | Olivia Boudreau | Quebec |
| Shooting Star | Comme une comète | Ariane Louis-Seize | Quebec |
| Spring Tide | Spring Tide | Jean Parsons | British Columbia |
| Storm Child | L'Enfant-tempête | Ines Guennaoui | Quebec |
| Sunken Cave and a Migrating Bird | Sunken Cave and a Migrating Bird | Qiuli Wu | British Columbia |
| Vaivén | Vaivén | Nisha Platzer | British Columbia |
| Zen Basketball | Zen Basketball | Mike Hoolboom | Ontario |

### The New Alchemists, Short Films

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Aletsch Negative | Aletsch Negative | Laurence Bonvin | Switzerland |
| Alltöting | Alltöting | Andreas Hykade | Germany, Canada, Portugal |
| Barcelona Burning | Barcelona de Foc | Theodore Ushev | Canada, Spain |
| Blue Lips | Lèvres bleues | Philippe Hamelin | Canada |
| Coldshot | Coldshot | Evan Collis | Canada |
| Disappearing Silence | Le Silence a disparu | Sarah Seené | Canada |
| Dissolution Prologue (Extended Version) | Dissolution Prologue (Extended Version) | Siegfried Fruhauf | Austria |
| Drink Some Darkness | Drink Some Darkness | Trevor Mowchun | Canada |
| Earthbound | Terrestres | Normand Rajotte | Canada |
| Forwards, Backwards | Forwards, Backwards | Mitchell Stafiej | Canada |
| Glimmer | Glimmer | Dan Browne | Canada |
| Grand-maman piano | Grand-maman piano | Guillaume Vallée | Canada |
| Here and There | Aquí y allá | Melisa Liebenthal | Argentina, France |
| How to Disappear | How to Disappear | Total Refusal | Austria |
| Imperial Irrigation | Imperial Irrigation | Lukas Marxt | Austria, Germany |
| Inflorescence | Inflorescence | Nicolaas Schmidt | Germany |
| Instructions for Robots | Instructions for Robots | Mike Hoolboom | Canada |
| The long wail of a passing train slips into the heart of the ghosts and everything explodes in silence | Le long cri du train qui passe se glisse au coeur des spectres et tout explose en silence | Anne-Marie Bouchard | Canada |
| Marcel Broodthaers in Conversation with Hideaki Anno and Akhenaten | Marcel Broodthaers en conversation avec Hideaki Anno et Akhenaton | Julie Tremble | Canada |
| May 35 | May 35 | Tina Takemoto | United States |
| Meine Liebe | Meine Liebe | Clara Jost | Portugal |
| Mood Hall | Mood Hall | Takumi Kawai, Hiroki Okamura | Japan |
| Mr. Carreaux | Mr. Carreaux | Marie-Hélène Turcotte | Canada |
| Notes, Imprints (On Love): Part 1 | Notes, Imprints (On Love): Part 1 | Alexandra Cuesta | United States, Ecuador |
| One | One | Anouk De Clercq | Belgium, Norway |
| The Peepul Tree | The Peepul Tree | Sonja Feldmeier | Switzerland |
| Push This Button If You Begin to Panic | Push This Button If You Begin to Panic | Gabriel Böhmer | United Kingdom |
| Recoding Entropia | Recoding Entropia | François Vautier | France |
| The Roses of Damascus | Les Roses de Damas | Gabriel Gonzalez Guirola, Yasmina Touzani | France |
| The Selkie | The Selkie | Monade Li | France |
| Serial Parallels | Serial Parallels | Max Hattler | Hong Kong, Germany |
| Sfumato | Sfumato | Robert Seidel | Germany, United States |
| Something to Remember | Något att minnas | Niki Lindroth von Bahr | Sweden |
| There Must Be Some Kind of Way Out of Here | There Must Be Some Kind of Way Out of Here | Rainer Kohlberger | Austria, Germany |
| Thorax | Thorax | Siegfried Fruhauf | Austria |
| Untitled Sequence of Gaps | Untitled Sequence of Gaps | Vika Kirchenbauer | Germany |
| The Walk | La Marche | Yoakim Bélanger | Canada |
| When We Are Nothing Left | When We Are Nothing Left | Milja Viita | Canada, Finland |

### RPCÉ Canadian Student Short Film Competition

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Province |
| 33' Lot | 33' Lot | Sarah Genge | British Columbia |
| L'Abat | L'Abat | Olivier Côté | Quebec |
| Adelante | Adelante | Romy Boutin St-Pierre | Quebec |
| Cave In | Cave In | Mathilde Chamussy, Gabrielle Chicoine, Marie-Ève Drolet | Quebec |
| The Cold | Le Froid | Natalia Duguay | Quebec |
| Danica's Mom | Danica's Mom | Kennedy Kao | Ontario |
| Eve and Fatima | Ève et Fatima | Julie Redon | Quebec |
| Familiar | Familiar | Cécilia Alain | Quebec |
| Hope | Kwizera | Romeo Axcel Uwemera | Quebec |
| I Must Be Going | I Must Be Going | Jack Pocaluyko | Ontario |
| Kijâtai | Kijâtai | Kijâtai-Alexandra Veillette-Cheezo | Quebec |
| Léphémer | Léphémer | Anne Delarue | Quebec |
| The Mediator | Le Médiateur | Philippe Besner | Quebec |
| Mitochondrial | Mitochondrial | Laura Kamugisha | Quebec |
| Monstre d'eau douce | Monstre d'eau douce | Maxym Bronsard | Quebec |
| Promise Me | Promise Me | Alison Duke | Ontario |
| Sleeping with the Fishes | Sleeping with the Fishes | Jordan Beck Crouse | Nova Scotia |
| Take Me | Prends-moi | Chloé Sirois, Samuel Boucher, Ali Dupont-Proulx | Quebec |

### RPCÉ Partner: National University of Colombia

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Province |
| Manacillo | Manacillo | Nicolás Garcés | Colombia |
| No lo encuentro | No lo encuentro | Mariana Jiménez | Colombia |
| Umbral | Umbral | Juan Francisco Rodriguez | Colombia |

### P'tits loups

Short film program of animation for children.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| À la mode | À la mode | Jean Lecointre | France |
| And Yet We're Not Super Heroes | On est pas prêts d'être des super héros | Lia Bertels | Belgium |
| Archie | Archie | Ainslie Henderson | United Kingdom |
| Athleticus 2: Luge | Athleticus 2: Luge | Nicolas Deveaux | France |
| Athleticus 2: Une patinoire pour deux | Athleticus 2: Une patinoire pour deux | Nicolas Deveaux | France |
| Autumn Winds, Spring Winds and Two Doves | Le Vent d'automne, le vent de printemps et les deux coulombes | Sadegh Javadi Nikjeh | Iran, France |
| Away | Au large | Mathilde Pepinster | Belgium |
| Boriya | Boriya | Sung Ah Min | France, South Korea |
| Dorothy the Rambler | Dorothy la vagabonde | Emmanuelle Gorgiard | France |
| The Horn Quartet: Up to the Mountain | Le Quatuor des cornes: Là-haut sur la montagne | Benjamin Botella, Arnaud Demuynck | France, Belgium |
| The Kindergarten Show | Le Spectacle de maternelle | Loïc Bruyère | France |
| The Last Day of Autumn | Le Dernier jour de l'automne | Marjolaine Perreten | Switzerland, France, Belgium |
| Leaf | Listek | Aliona Baranova | Czech Republic |
| A Lynx in the Town | Un Lynx dans la ville | Nina Bisiarina | France, Switzerland |
| Mishou | Mishou | Milen Vitanov | Germany, Bulgaria |
| Non-Non Gets Shrunk | Non-Non rétrécit | Wassim Boutaleb Joutei | France |
| Northern Lights | Au pays de l'aurore boréale | Caroline Attia | France, Switzerland |
| Promenade sentimentale | Promenade sentimentale | Émilie Tronche | France |
| Setting Suns | Soleils couchants | Aurélie Montèix | France |
| Sweet Night | Nuit chérie | Lia Bertels | Belgium |
| The Tiger and His Master | Le Tigre et son maître | Fabrice Luang-Vija | France, Belgium |
| To the Dusty Sea | À la mer poussière | Héloïse Ferlay | France |
| Umbrellas | Parapluies | José Prats, Alvaro Roblès | France, Spain |
| Under the Ice | Sous la glace | Milan Baulard, Ismail Berrahma, Flore Dupont, Laurie Estampes, Quentin Nory, Hugo Potin | France |

### FNC Explore

Virtual reality projects.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| 1st Step: From Earth to the Moon | 1st Step: From Earth to the Moon | Jörg Courtial, Maria Courtial | Germany |
| Agence | Agence | Pietro Gagliano | Canada |
| Black Bag | Black Bag | Qing Shao | China |
| The Book of Distance | The Book of Distance | Randall Okita | Canada |
| Daughters of Chibok | Daughters of Chibok | Joel Benson | Nigeria |
| Dreamin' Zone | Dreamin' Zone | Fabienne Giezendanner | France, Switzerland, Germany, South Korea |
| The Hangman at Home 3D | The Hangman at Home 3D | Uri Kranot, Michelle Kranot | Denmark, France, Canada |
| Hominidae | Hominidae | Brian Andrews | United States |
| In the Land of the Flabby Schnook | Au pays du cancre mou | Francis Gélinas | Canada |
| The Line | The Line | Ricardo Laganaro | Brazil |
| Meet Mortaza | Meet Mortaza | Josephine Derobe | France, Belgium |
| Minimum Mass | Minimum Mass | Raqi Syed, Areito Echevarria | New Zealand, France, United States |
| Mirror: The Signal | Mirror: The Signal | Pierre Zandrowicz | France, Belgium |
| Missing Pictures: Bird of Prey | Missing Pictures: Bird of Prey | Clément Deneux | France, United Kingdom, Taiwan |
| O | O | Qiu Yang | Taiwan |
| An Ode to Moss | An Ode to Moss | SU | Taiwan |
| Passenger | Passenger | Sobel Knowles, Van Sowerwine | Australia |
| The Passengers | Les Passagers: elle et lui | Ziad Touma | Canada, France |
| Recoding Entropia | Recoding Entropia | François Vautier | France |

### Films planned but not screened

Due to the last-minute cancellation of in-person screenings, some films previously announced by the festival that had been planned for in-person rather than online screenings were not included in the festival.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Another Round | Druk | Thomas Vinterberg | Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands |
| La Contemplation du mystère | La Contemplation du mystère | Albéric Aurtenèche | Canada |
| Days | Rìzi | Tsai Ming-liang | Taiwan |
| Irreversible Straight Cut | Irréversible — Inversion Intégrale | Gaspar Noé | France |
| Lux Æterna | Lux Æterna | Gaspar Noé | France |
| Mandibles | Mandibules | Quentin Dupieux | France |
| Music Hole | Music Hole | Gaëtan Lekens, David Mutzenmacher | Belgium |
| No Trace | Nulle trace | Simon Lavoie | Canada |
| The Truffle Hunters | The Truffle Hunters | Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw | United States, Greece, Italy |
| The Woman Who Ran | Domangchin yeoja | Hong Sang-soo | South Korea |