Sarah préfère la course

Directed by Chloé Robichaud

Canada, 2013 (fiction, 97 minutes, colour, French)

Also known as "Sara Prefere Correr", "Sarah Prefers to Run"

Film Description:
"Sarah is a young, middle-distance runner from Quebec City, whose life turns upside-down when she wins a place on the Montreal university athletics team that is top in the province. Her mother won't offer her any financial help with this adventure and she is convinced that it will have negative effect on her daughter's health and welfare. In spite of this, Sarah sets off, along with her boyfriend, Antoine. Naively, they decide to get married in order to be eligible for government loans and grants. But marriage turns out to be very different from what they—at 20—were expecting. Sarah wishes no one any harm by her choices but, unfortunately, she would rather run."
-- Telefilm Canada (source)

Film Credits (partial):
Written by:	Chloé Robichaud
Produced by:	Fanny-Laure Malo
Principal Cast:	Sophie Desmarais, Jean-Sébastien Courchesne, Geneviève Boivin-Roussy, Hélène Florent, Micheline Lanctôt, Ève Duranceau, Pierre-Luc Lafontaine
Cinematography:	Jessica Lee Gagné
Film Editing:	Michel Arcand
Production Company:	La Boîte à Fanny

(sources)

Award won by Sarah préfère la course

Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award: Best Actress in a Canadian Film -- awarded to Sophie Desmarais

Notes about Sarah préfère la course

Shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013.
Selected as one of the ten best Canadian feature films of 2013 for the Canada's Top Ten Film Festival in 2014.

(sources)

Quote by the Director

"I wanted to make the opposite of the classic sports movie. I was much more interested in the psychology of the athlete rather than the sport itself. [In Sarah préfère la course], I didn't want to show Sarah winning medals, accompanied by big dramatic music. I really wanted to show what she was living as an athlete and as a young woman."
-- Chloé Robichaud (source)

Quotes about Sarah préfère la course

"[Sarah préfère la course is] a remarkably muted piece of filmmaking. The odd thing is that I have the sense that's precisely the effect Robichaud wanted to have—to capture the feel of a seriously introverted character. But that lack of emotional spark is, I suspect, going to be a hurdle that many viewers will have trouble getting over."
-- Brendan Kelly (source)

"Like many first films, Sarah Prefers to Run is a coming-of-age story, and also like many first films, it's told in the naturalistic style—location settings, conversations punctuated by long silences, an aversion to making the drama too dramatic—of a young storyteller. You feel Robichaud's mastery of the techniques, but as the story goes along, she seems unsure of how to resolve the conflicts."
-- Jay Stone (source)

Quotes about Sarah préfère la course [in French]

"Du topos sur le passage à l'âge adulte et l'identité sexuelle, Sarah préfère la course dégage une force motrice sourde emmenant le film vers un anti-portrait original. Le long métrage n'évacue jamais la psychologie, il fait juste sien le caractère taiseux et secret de l'héroïne qui distille au compte-gouttes tout ce qui émane de son univers mental et émotionnel, sa citadelle intérieure. Ce monde entendant, mais muet à tous, se révèle par petites touches, un regard appuyé, une gêne, une main posée sur une autre avec la maladresse des premières fois."
-- Nicolas Bauche (source)

"Joli film qui s'inspire des aléas de la jeunesse, Sarah préfère la course ne parvient à transmettre la passion dévorante de son héroïne que partiellement. L'intrigue manque de tension dramatique, si bien que le spectateur n'adhère jamais totalement à l'univers proposé par Chloé Robichaud. Pas plus qu'il ne parvient à comprendre ce qui motive tant Sarah à courir."
-- Stéphane Defoy (source)

"Si la préférence de Sarah [dans Sarah préfère la course], et de Chloé Robichaud, est portée sur la course, c'est qu'il s'agit de montrer des filles en mouvement, des filles qui avancent dans le monde extérieur et pour qui les lieux de la domesticité — l'appartement, la cuisine, le lit — sont toujours trop petits."
-- Martine Delvaux (source)

"La quête de Sarah [dans Sarah préfère la course] se distingue par la netteté de son but. Sophie Desmarais atténue la sécheresse de cette figure monomaniaque par de brefs éclairs d'humour, en faisant passer sur le visage sans apprêt de Sarah un nuage de désir, de peur."
-- Thomas Sotinel (source)

Bibliography for Sarah préfère la course

Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites

Bauche, Nicolas. "Sarah préfère la course." Review of Sarah préfère la course. Positif, June 2014. [in French]
Defoy, Stéphane. "Course à obstacles." Review of Sarah préfère la course. Ciné-Bulles, vol. 31, no. 3, Summer 2013. [in French]
Delvaux, Martine. "Bartleby en espadrilles." Review of Sarah préfère la course. Liberté, no. 302, Winter 2014. [in French]
Dunlevy, T'cha. "Concordia grad's film picked at Cannes; Sarah préfère la course to screen in Un Certain Regard section." Interview with Chloé Robichaud. Montreal Gazette, April 19, 2013.
Kelly, Brendan. "Expectation is running high; Chloé Robichaud hopes Quebecers will like her first feature film following its good reception at Cannes." Interview with Chloé Robichaud. Montreal Gazette, June 3, 2013.
Kelly, Brendan. "Heroine doesn't quite go the distance." Review of Sarah préfère la course. Montreal Gazette, June 7, 2013.
Lacey, Liam. "I'm a girl who knows what she wants." Interview with Chloé Robichaud. Globe and Mail, May 21, 2013.
Lanlo, Jean-Marie. "Chloé préfère le demi-fond." Review of Sarah préfère la course. Séquences, no. 285, July-August 2013. [in French]
Sotinel, Thomas. "Sarah, 20 ans, et un fol appétit de courir: Chloé Robichaud brosse le portrait d'une jeune fille obsédée par sa passion : le demi-fond." Review of Sarah préfère la course. Le Monde, May 7, 2014. [in French]
Stone, Jay. "Sarah Prefers to Run a good warm-up for Quebec filmmaker." Review of Sarah préfère la course. Ottawa Citizen, December 13, 2013.
Szklarski, Cassandra. "Sarah préfère la course poursuit sa tournée au TIFF." Interview with Sophie Desmarais. La Presse, September 14, 2013. [in French]

Brief Sections of Dissertations

Robillard, Maude. "L'intégration des personnages LGBTQ dans le cinéma québécois." M.A. diss., Université de Montréal, 2018. (pp. 34-35) [in French]

Web Sites about Sarah préfère la course

"IMDb: Sarah préfère la course." Internet Movie Database, Inc. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2384328/combined.