In Lac-Saint-Jean, summer means blueberry season. Once the fields paint themselves blue, fruit gatherers of all kinds rush to pick these precious boreal berries before the first frost. The Blueberry Blues celebrates a territory and the people who return to this hardy little fruit each summer, connecting generations and cultures. Together, like blueberries emerging from the ashes of a forest fire, they learn the power of resilience.
Nominee
INSIDER
A treasure hunt through memory and self leads the panda to embrace the long-forgotten version of himself.
Shedding
In a dark, isolated home, a Chinese American teenage girl lives under the strict control of her mother, who treats punishment as care and obedience as survival. As the girl’s compulsive hair-pulling turns into a secret obsession, the tension between them builds toward a violent confrontation.
Parallel Gazes
Madeleine, Jean-Jacques, and Félicien orchestrate a car theft to break free from their financial and social constraints. During the act, they kill a witness, drawing the public’s attention. Hunted by all, this decision leads them down a bewildering path between love and violence, one they can no longer control.
Beyond the Mountains
A brilliant student from a poor rural family arrives in the city for university, only to be scammed and left homeless. As he struggles to survive by scavenging, unaware that the entire city is searching for him, his acts of kindness quietly ripple through society. Beyond the Mountains is a powerful story of resilience, misunderstanding, and the quiet strength of human compassion.
Sash Window
A female musician attempting to cross the Iranian border by land, gets arrested by the police because of an exit ban. The events during her detainment inspire her for her new musical piece.