Montreal: Somewhere in an isolated border region in 19th century Eastern Europe, village peasants begin an unholy search for two social outcasts falsely accused of murder. The unusual premise sets the scene for Kim Nguyen's first feature film, Le Marais (The Marsh), an expressionist, art-directed fantasy from Quebec City's Productions Thalie. Yves Fortin (Un petit vent de panique, Francophonie d'Amerique) is the producer. Francois Leclerc is line producer.

Players include Gregory Hlady, Paul Ahmarani, Gabriel Gascon, Jennifer Morehouse, James Hyndman, Alex Ivanovici, Elyzabeth Walling and Real Bosse.

Leclerc says the production will use a state-of-the-art digital FX and post-production process.

DOP Daniel Vincelette originated on 35mm film. High-definition visual FX and blue-screen elements will be added to create an entirely new composite film negative printed from the 2K digital master, a process used for the hit French movie Amelie, says Leclerc.

Monique Dion (Une Jeune fille a la fenetre) is art director. Richard Comeau (Maelstrom) is editing at Station 29. Francesca Chamberland is the costume designer and Julien Knafo is composing the music. Physical effects are by Twin FX.

Le Marais is budgeted at $2.3 million. Investors include Telefilm Canada, SODEC and Super Ecran. Film Tonic is the distributor.

Thalie principals include Andre Mailly, Michel Martel and Fortin. Credits include the new 12-hour docudrama series Entree Cote 'Court', licensed by Radio-Canada and Tele-Quebec, and the Genevieve Lefebvre and Andre Melancon feature film Le Ciel sur la tete.

Art docs from Ferrari, Biname

Two new art doc documentaries, Pepita Ferrari's Joseph Giunta: A Silent Triumph and Charles Binames's Gauvreau ou l'obligation de la liberte, are part of a double-bill program at Ex-Centris through to Dec. 6.

Ferrari's (By Woman's Hand, The Petticoat Expeditions) masterfully understated and very moving portrait of what is most noble in the human spirit chronicles Giunta's final months and days as he prepares for an important retrospective of his paintings, created over seven decades. The story also reveals a loving relationship with wife Helen, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease.

Selected credits go to DOP Marc Gadoury, sound recordist Diane Carriere and picture editor Barbara Brown. The original music is by Karen Young. French translation/voice direction is by Jacques d'Aragon.

Joseph Giunta: A Silent Triumph is produced by Films Piche Ferrari, with licences from Bravo! and Tele-Quebec and second windows for Knowledge Network, Saskatchewan Communications Network and Canadian Learning Television. Sales are by Distribution La Fete.

Biname's treatment on Gauvreau counterpoints a chat with longtime friend Pierre Gauvreau (they met at the National Film Board), the artist's difficult formative years and his personal philosophy, all vividly photographed in digital video in the artist's garden. Much of the documentary is dedicated to Gauvreau's "naive" paintings. Gauvreau is also an accomplished screenwriter (Le Temps d'une paix, Cormoran, Le Volcan Tranquille) and producer (Mon Oncle Antoine, Le Temps d'une chasse) and is the recipient of the Academy Grand Prix for career achievement.

Biname is currently working on the historical feature drama Un Homme et son peche.

Gauvreau is produced by Jean-Pierre Morin and Chantal Bowen of Vivavision. Radio-Canada and Tele-Quebec are the broadcasters. The distributor is Avecom Distribution.

Undying love

Director/writer Helene Klodawsky's feature-length docudrama Undying Love chronicles the poignant and often miraculous love stories of young people who rebuilt their lives before, during and after the Holocaust.

Producer Ina Fichman (Fire Station, Vampire High, Towards a Promised Land) of La Fete Productions says most survivors of the Shoah confess they never would have chosen or even encountered their mates had it not been for the complete shattering of their pre-war lives.

The story is told through the testimonials of survivors, using personal and intimate artifacts like photos and letters, materials from international archival sources and through what Fichman refers to as "illustrations," or dramatized sequences.

Interviews were conducted in Montreal, Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York, Amsterdam and in various cities in Poland throughout September and October. The budget is an impressive $1.1 million.

Undying Love's craft credits go to DOP Francois Dagenais, editor Howard Goldberg, line producer Amy Webb, award-winning costume designer Nicoletta Massone, production designer Andre Chamberland, researcher Terry Foxman and coordinator/AD Caroline Bacle.

Casting is by Elite Productions.

Broadcasters include CTV, Vision TV, Tele-Quebec and NIK Media in Holland. Funding sources include Telefilm Canada, SODEC, the Canadian Television Fund LFP, the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund, Health Canada, exporter Distribution La Fete and tax credits.

Losing a child

Montreal director/producer John Curtin's latest is the one-hour doc Our Grieving Hearts, a portrait of parents who have lost a child. The testimonials are both courageous and very sad, "describing the ordeal of losing a child and the search for meaning after such a loss," says the director. The portrait includes a frank interview with Margaret Trudeau about a year after son Michel, aged 23, died in an avalanche in B.C.