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
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
Living Together
Halima Elkhatabi’s delightful documentary feature takes us to 15 apartments in Montreal, where a diverse assortment of potential roommates interview each other as they search for compatibility, authentic connections, and a place to call home.
Emilia Pérez
When a defence attorney (Zoe Saldana) is enlisted to tend to the affairs of a notorious drug lord (Karla Sofía Gascón) completing gender affirmation surgery, there will be blood, ballads, and dance numbers. A maximalist musical from Jacques Audiard.
Vermiglio
Delperro's exquisitely photographed movie -- Italy's submission for the Academy Awards -- recreates the austere and harsh lifestyle in an Alpine village at the tail end of WWII with revelatory care and compassion.
A New Kind of Wilderness
An idyllic life on a family farm in Norway becomes an impossible task when Nik's wife dies from cancer. This quietly affecting film follows his struggles to do right by his kids, himself, and his late wife's wishes.
Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back
Bob Dylan is captured on-screen as he never would be again in this groundbreaking film from D. A. Pennebaker. The legendary documentarian finds Dylan in England during his 1965 tour, which would be his last as an acoustic artist.