François Delisle’s ‘Waiting for the Storms,’ Léa Pool’s ‘Hotel Silence’ Lead H264 Lineup in Berlin (EXCLUSIVE)
Montreal-based international sales company H264 has unveiled its lineup for this month’s European Film Market in Berlin, which includes François Delisle’s “Waiting for the Storms” and Léa Pool’s “Hotel Silence.” Variety has exclusive access to the first image from “Waiting for the Storms.”
“Waiting for the Storms” is described as “a fable about the climate crisis that transcends artistic boundaries to spark a dialogue between our past, present and future.” Delisle’s credits include “Chorus” and “Le Météore.”
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“Across various timelines and locations, four characters weave a web of stories that explore human resilience in the face of environmental upheaval,” according to a statement.
The film follows four characters: Marie, who is gripped by obsessive, heart-wrenching questions as a young mother whose child faces a dead-end future, and channels her anxiety into passionate activism; Terence, a climate-change refugee, who tells strangers his story in the hopes of finding asylum in the north; McKenzie, a state security officer, who “breaks the chains of the system to take control of his fate and feel alive at last”; and Kira, a soldier who deserts the army to join a nomadic tribe who are “the guardians of humanist values.”
The cast includes Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez, Victoria Diamond, Dominick Rustam, Robert Naylor, Laurent Lucas, Julian Casey, Rose-Marie Perreault and Masha Bashmakova.
“Hotel Silence,” which is described as a “deep dive into the feeling of loss,” stars Sébastien Ricard and Irène Jacob. It is based on the novel by Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir, which was translated into 21 languages. Pool’s credits include “Straight for the Heart,” “Emporte-moi” and “The Passion of Augustine.”
“Hotel Silence” centers on a man at a crossroads who decides to go on a one-way trip to a country ravaged by war. But in building relationships with the survivors he meets, he rediscovers meaning in his life. The film is an “ode to resilience, an ode to life.”
H264’s recent films include Pascal Plante’s “Red Rooms” and Ariane Louis-Seize’s “Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person,” which each sold in more than 30 countries.
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