Montreal film about Chassidic woman’s affair is Canada’s Oscar consideration

Israeli Hadas Yaron co-stars in 'Félix et Meira'

Félix et Meira, a tender movie about the improbable adulterous affair between a young Chassidic mother and a francophone Quebecer, has been selected to represent Canada for consideration as a possible nominee in the best foreign language film category at the Academy Awards to be held in February.

Directed by Montrealer Maxime Giroux, Félix et Meira premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival where it won the award for best Canadian feature film. It tied for the top prize at Montreal’s Festival du Nouveau Cinéma last year.

Since then it has screened at more than 50 festivals around the world, winning more awards, and has enjoyed theatrical success in Canada and the United States.

Félix et Meira, a love story about two people from vastly different worlds, has moved Canadian and international audiences,” said Carolle Brabant, executive director of Telefilm Canada, in making the announcement on Sept. 25. Telefilm Canada, a federal agency, chairs the Canadian Oscar selection committee.

Although the subject matter may be scandalous, Giroux sensitively handles the genuine feelings between the couple and is respectful in the depiction of Chassidim and their way of life.

The cinematography of Montreal’s Mile End and Outremont neighbourhoods is alluring, and the scenes of Chassidic life, rarely witnessed by the public, quite authentic.

Much of the film’s appeal is due to the understated performances of the Israeli actress Hadas Yaron (Meira) and her betrayed and bewildered husband Shulem, played by Luzer Twersky, an American actor who grew up in a Chassidic community in Brooklyn, which he has left.

Despite his carefree persona, Félix (Martin Dubreuil), a bachelor approaching middle age, is adrift and melancholy, especially since his wealthy father’s death. Meira chafes at her restricted role and husband’s gentle, but domineering, ways, and eventually succumbs to a strange man’s ardent pursuit.

Giroux, 39, has been fascinated by his Chassidic neighbours since he moved into Mile End a decade ago,especially because of their insularity and his inability to communicate with them. The research he conducted to understand them better eventually laid the foundation for the movie.

He described the title characters as “two marginalized people, two fragile beings who are attracted by the unattainable, the forbidden fruit.”

Above all, he said he wanted to portray their humanity.

Upon hearing that he may be in the running for an Oscar, Giroux stated: “When we started working on Félix et Meira in 2011, we never imagined that the movie would be so successful once it was finished. The process to secure funding for the project was particularly difficult, but we never questioned the potential of this unique film.”

He added that Telefilm Canada, a leading funder, believed in the project from the start.

Giroux’s third movie has received close to 20 festival prizes including the Tobias Szpancer Award for best film in the Between Judaism and Israelism Competition at the Haifa International Film Festival in Israel.

In 2014, a record 83 countries made entries in the foreign language film category. Eight Canadian films have been nominated in that category over the history of the Oscars.

The Canadian Oscar selection committee comprises 23 representatives from the country’s film industry and major government cultural agencies.

A Canadian-Palestinian film produced by another Montrealer, Ina Fichman, has been submitted by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture for Oscar consideration in the foreign language category.

The Wanted 18, co-directed by Canadian Paul Cowan and Palestinian Amer Shomali, is an animated documentary feature set at the beginning of the first intifadah. It tells the story of how residents of the West Bank town of Beit Sahour tried to start their own dairy industry in order to end their dependence on milk from Israel.

The title refers to the 18 cows the Palestinians tried to hide from the Israeli army, which deemed their activities a security threat.

Fichman, a veteran documentary filmmaker and head of Intuitive Pictures, co-produced The Wanted 18 with Nathalie Cloutier of the National Film Board of Canada. It was already won a number of awards.