Festival de la Francophonie: Canada/Quebec Night March 24, 2010

Film screening: Maman est chez le coiffeur (Mommy is at the Hairdresser’s)

Summer 1966, time to enjoy the summer holiday. Teenager Élise discovers that the sudden departure of her mother completely disrupts the family. Her brother Coco seeks solace in the garage, building a super racing car. Her youngest brother Benoît throws himself into his own inner world. The father seems absolutely overwhelmed by the situation. Élise decides to take control of her family in an attempt to save them. Filmmaker Léa Pool brings an exacting sensibility to this family drama set in 1960s Québec, drawing assured performances from her talented team of child and adult actors to expose the cracks below the surface of the traditional nuclear family and the unbridgeable distance between the worlds of men and women in the pre-feminist setting. "Maman est chez le coiffeur" won awards in 2009 from the Vancouver Film Critics Circle and at the Jutra Awards. The film will be screened in French with English subtitles. The Canada/Quebec evening at Francophonie is in part sponsored by La Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (Québec), Foreign Affairs Canada, the Consulate General of Canada in Chicago and the Québec Government Office in Chicago.

Official Website: http://www.af-chicago.org