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Who by Fire film image; group of people sitting around a dinner table

Who by Fire

Comme le feu

Panorama

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Seventeen-year-old Jeff, an aspiring filmmaker, is invited by his friend Max and his family to stay in the isolated lodge belonging to Blake, an award-winning film director. As Jeff tries to navigate his awkward crush on his friend’s older sister, Aloicha, he witnesses the vicious, ego-driven, alcohol-fueled interactions between the renowned auteur and his former collaborator, Max’s screenwriter father, Albert. Surrounded by monumental mountains and shimmering lakes, the party veers between moments of elation and cruelty, unease and palpable danger.

Acclaimed Quebecois director Philippe Lesage (The Demons; Genesis) returns with a tense, mesmerizing tour de force that’s both agonizing and cathartic. Parallel, painful generational stories play out both in the seemingly infinite wilderness and across the dinner table; the slow burn of mounting dread punctuated with electrifying, deeply unsettling moments of feral intensity.

 

Grand Prix: Generation 14plus, Berlin 2024

 

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Noah Parker, Aurélia Arandi-Longpré, Arieh Worthalter, Paul Ahmarani, Sophie Desmarais, Antoine Marchand-Gagnon

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada/France

Year

2024

Language

In French and English with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+
162 min
Action & Suspense Award Winners Drama Family Relations
Unité

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Producer

Galilé Marion-Gauvin

Screenwriter

Philippe Lesage

Cinematography

Balthazar Lab

Editor

Mathieu Bouchard-Malo

Production Design

Geneviève Huot

Philippe Lesage headshot; Who by Fire director

Philippe Lesage

Philippe Lesage came to cinema via documentary. Following Ce coeur qui bat (2012 Jutra Award for Best Documentary Feature), filmed in a Montreal hospital shortly after his own surgery, Lesage transitioned to fiction. His films The Demons (2015) and Genesis (2018) have been showcased at numerous festivals worldwide such as San Sebastian, Locarno, Rotterdam, and more. Who by Fire is Lesage’s latest film which premiered at the 2024 Berlinale.

Filmography: Pourrons-nous vivre ensemble? (2006); The Heart That Beats (2010); The Demons (2015); Genesis (2018)

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