Pays

Directed by Chloé Robichaud

Canada, 2016 (fiction, 98 minutes, colour, French)

Also known as "Boundaries"

Film Description [in French] :
"À 25 ans, Félixe ne pouvait penser qu'en se présentant comme candidate aux élections fédérales dans son comté, elle serait réellement élue. D'un coup, la voilà catapultée dans une mission ayant pour cause l'exploitation minière d'un pays dans une situation financière critique. Les discussions sont menées par Emily, une médiatrice oeuvrant à l'international. Puis il y a Danielle, présidente, qui doit gérer la situation, tout en cherchant à préserver sa vie familiale. Pays est une fresque politique et humaine sur l'identité; une réflexion sur l'image des femmes et hommes de pouvoir."
-- Éléphant : mémoire du cinéma québécois (source)

Film Description:
"She never thought she'd win the election. But now Félixe, 25, is an MP who has to deal with the problems caused by mining operations in a country with a precarious economic situation. We also meet Emily, an international mediator, and Danielle, the president of Besco Island, juggling her private and public lives and striving to maintain a diplomatic balance with the country's neighbour, Canada. [...]"
-- Québec Cinéma (source)

Film Credits (partial):
Written by:	Chloé Robichaud
Produced by:	Barbara Doran, Pierre Even, Fanny-Laure Malo, Marie-Claude Poulin
Principal Cast:	Nathalie Doummar, Sophie Faucher, Rémy Girard, Macha Grenon, Serge Houde, Yves Jacques, Micheline Lanctôt, Alexandre Landry, Emily VanCamp
Cinematography:	Jessica Lee Gagné
Film Editing:	Michel Arcand
Music:	Simon Bertrand
Production Company:	Item 7, La boîte à Fanny, Morag Loves Company

(sources)

Notes about Pays

Filmed in Montreal and Newfoundland.
Shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2016.

(sources)

Quotes by the Director

"[Pays is] a film about identity, the identity of the individual versus the identity of a country. We're all looking to make our own choices and decisions. When we assert ourselves as individuals, we'll be able to assert ourselves collectively. It's a film based on my reflections as a young woman. As I get older, I find myself questioning things. It's a bit of that, mixed with humorous touches. It's not all serious."
-- Chloé Robichaud (source)

"We were filming icebergs all around Newfoundland in June, ahead of shooting the film [Pays] in October. I knew I wanted icebergs because, to me, they are a great metaphor for what's happening right now with the environment. We were filming one, and it just broke in front of us. We were very lucky because we were filming on 35mm, and did not have a lot of footage. It was a beautiful moment."
-- Chloé Robichaud (source)

Quote by the Director [in French]

"Jeune ado et même à l'université, j'ai beaucoup lu sur la politique, donc on dirait que l'idée [du film Pays] s'est imposée à moi. Aussi, j'adore parler de l'affirmation de soi dans sa différence, un thème qui me rejoint sur plusieurs de mes projets et je trouvais que les politiciennes étaient parfaites pour l'incarner: c'est plutôt rare de voir des femmes en politique même si ça tend à changer. Aussi, comment balancer la vie personnelle et professionnelle; ce sont des femmes qui ont des postes à responsabilités. Que ce soit pour les femmes ou les hommes, quand tu travailles pour ta communauté, ça vient avec une pression qui est assez énorme."
-- Chloé Robichaud (source)

Quotes about Pays

"There is no single drama in Pays, but rather a compendium of personal crises, inner conflicts and turning points as these three women's lives intersect to varying degrees. Like in life, if not so often in cinema, there is no snappy resolution. Things happen, people react, then other things happen. Basking in its understated sense of the absurd, Pays offers insights, and laughs, at its own offbeat pace."
-- T'cha Dunlevy (source)

"Blending intimate close-ups and ostentatious zooms, and juxtaposing pretty images of quaint homes nestled in seaside hills with square compositions of the delegates' anonymous motel, Boundaries is grounded in contrasts: between the personal and the political, the corporate and the cottage industry, careerism and domesticity."
-- José Teodoro (source)

Quote about Pays [in French]

"[Pays] relate avec nuance et finesse les chevauchements de la vie politique et de la vie privée de femmes qui travaillent dans le milieu politique."
-- Julie Ravary-Pilon (source)

Bibliography for Pays

Brief Sections of Books

Ravary-Pilon, Julie. Femmes, nation et nature dans le cinéma québécois. Montréal: Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 2018. [in French] (pp. 128-129)

Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites

Dunlevy, T'cha. "Chloé Robichaud's Pays looks beyond the politics." Interview with Chloé Robichaud. Montreal Gazette, November 17, 2016.
Dunlevy, T'cha. "En français, s'il vous plaît." Interview with Emily VanCamp. Montreal Gazette, November 17, 2016.
Dunlevy, T'cha. "Pays offers playful take on conflict and identity; Director uses her understated style." Review of Pays. Montreal Gazette, November 18, 2016.
Dunlevy, T'cha. "Robichaud stakes out her own territory at TIFF." Interview with Chloé Robichaud. Montreal Gazette, September 15, 2016.
Lanlo, Jean-Marie. "Pays : L'art du contre-pied." Review of Pays. Séquences, no. 305, December 2016. [in French]
Lizotte, Chloe. "Interview: Chloé Robichaud." Interview with Chloé Robichaud. Film Comment: Web Only, March 24, 2017.
Teodoro, José. "Boundaries (Pays)." Review of Pays. Film Comment, vol. 53, no. 2, March-April 2017.
Vaillancourt, Julie. "Chloé Robichaud." Interview with Chloé Robichaud. Séquences, no. 305, November-December 2016. [in French]

Web Sites about Pays

"IMDb: Pays." Internet Movie Database, Inc. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3477762/reference.