Days of Happiness, the latest drama from Montreal-based writer-director Chloé Robichaud, is an emotionally complex, visually assured drama about a young orchestra conductor who finds herself at a crossroads in her life and career.
Charismatic, gifted Emma (Sophie Desmarais) is a rising star, on track to become a major player on the Montreal classical music scene. Audiences are enraptured by her work, and a dream opportunity is put before her. However, her career is very closely managed by her controlling father, Patrick (Sylvain Marcel), who’s also her agent. And her attention, along with her heart, are at the same time pulled towards her secret relationship with Naëlle, a single mother and cellist.
Just like the music she conducts intensifies,swells, and crescendos on stage, tension builds with the complex relationships around her. With a fierce sense of determination, she is only just beginning to realize she can have the life she deserves, if she fights for it.
Days of Happiness examines familiar territory – the musician battling her demons – but with a fresh, engaging touch.
VOX
Sophie Desmarais, Sylvain Marcel, Nour Belkhiria, Maude Guérin, Vincent Leclerc
Canada
2023
Panorama
In French with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Producer
Pierre Even
Screenwriter
Chloé Robichaud
Cinematography
Ariel Méthot
Editor
Yvann Thibaudeau
Production Design
Louisa Schabas
Director
Chloé Robichaud
Screenwriter-director, Chloé Robichaud’s career is already well-established. In 2013, at the age of 25, her first feature
film, Sarah Prefers to Run, was part of the official selection for the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard. A year earlier, Herd Leader, was also screened at Cannes, and received a nomination for the Palme d’or of short films. Chloé has
also worked in television, directing episodes of the popular series, Trop, which garnered her a nomination for Best Direction-comedy at the 2018 Gémeaux Awards. More notably, she has helmed episodes of the popular Canadian series, Transplant, which airs on CTV and NBC. Chloé is currently in pre-production on a new adaptation of the legendary Quebecois cult film, Deux femmes en or. Born in Quebec City, Chloé Robichaud now lives and works in Montreal.
Filmography: Sarah Prefers to Run (2013); Boundaries (2016)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
A Poet
When embittered poet Oscar Restrepo takes a job at a local high school, he meets Yurlady, a talented student from a poor background. Seeking to help her cultivate her art, he draws her into the poetry world — to disastrous and comedic results.
Sirât
A desperate father (Sergi Lopez) searchers for his missing daughter through the spiritual wasteland of the Moroccan desert. An unforgettable sensory powerhouse, Sîrat will have you riveted and rattled for hours after the end credits have rolled.
The Love That Remains
Anna and Magnús have separated, leaving her to raise their three children as he spends long stretches at sea, working as a fisherman. As the seasons pass, their emotions ebb and flow. A richly conceived story with unexpected delight and humour.
Montreal, ma belle
In this Valentine to discovering love later in life, the ever-elegant Joan Chen plays Feng Xia, a 53-year-old Chinese immigrant and mother in Montreal whose world is turned upside down when she meets and falls in love with a young Quebecoise.
L'Atalante
Jean Vigo died from TB in 1934 at the age of 29. Yet he is revered as one of the great innovators of the medium, and his only feature, L'Atalante, is a seminal film, a tender, lyrical love story set on a barge on the Seine.
Spring After Spring
Three daughters strive to live up to the standards set by their mother Marie Mimi Ho, and keep Vancouver Chinatown's Spring Parade going through thick and thin, in this enormously affectionate local documentary by Jon Chiang.