New Auteurs: Denis Côté

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Since making his first feature, Les etat nordiques, in 2005, Denis Côté has become one of Canada’s most internationally celebrated filmmakers. Even as one can clearly see the progression of his interests and the refining of his aesthetic from film to film, Côté remains impossible to define or pin down; and it’s this inventiveness and vitality that makes him an ideal candidate to debut The New Auteurs.
Since making his first feature, Les etat nordiques, in 2005, Denis Côté has become one of Canada’s most internationally celebrated filmmakers. Over the course of six features, he has collected international accolades: his debut shared a Golden Leopard in the video competition at Locarno, and he subsequently won Silver Leopards for Best Director for his third feature, Elle veut le chaos, and his most recent film, Curling. Carcasses, his fourth feature, played Cannes’ prestigious Directors’ Fortnight.

Employing a minimalist aesthetic—few characters, handheld video camera, and decidedly remote locations—Côté is usually drawn to characters who exist on the fringes of society. Running through all of his films is a sense of dread and each of his films build assumptions only to dash them through abrupt shifts in tone and circumstance. His films are immensely rewarding to watch especially when considered together to see the progression of his interests and aesthetic which culminates in his two most recent films: Les ligne enemies and Curling—the latter which is heart-wrenching, funny and redemptive has the assurance and breadth of a masterpiece.

Films in New Auteurs: Denis Côté

    • Carcasses

    • A group of teenagers with Downs Syndrome squat on the land of hermit Jean-Paul Colmor, who makes an unlikely living repairing and saving the abandoned cars and other discarded objects in Saint Amable, a hamlet near Montreal.

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    • Curling

    • Set in a village in Quebec, Denis Côté’s Curling follows inveterate loner Jean-François, a single father, and his isolated 12-year-old daughter Julyvonne. Between his unremarkable jobs, Jean-François devotes an awkward energy to Julyvonne until some unexpected events jeopardize the fragile balance of their relationship.

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    • Denis Côté's Carte Blanche: Models

    • "Brutally frontal and borderline misanthropic, Ulrich Seidl is Europe’s worst nightmare when it comes to exposing social inequities and taboos. Models was a true point of departure for my film Carcasses (and somehow for some others)."—Denis Côté

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    • Elle veut le chaos

    • A rural Quebecois Gothic photographed in high-contrast black-and-white, Elle Veut le Chaos finds Cote focused not as per usual on a loner protagonist but a small, vicious circle of-down-and-out-characters.

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    • Les états nordiques

    • A man named Christian constructs a new life for himself in a small town called Radisson after his mother falls into a coma.

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    • Nos vies privees

    • A woman, Milena (Anastassia Liutova), and and a man, Philip (Pedro S. Gospodin), meet on an internet chat site, but after arranging a liaison in person they soon discover that the intimacy they experienced online is much more difficult to achieve in person.

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    • Short Films by Denis Côté

    • We are pleased to present this rare screening of some of Côté’s best short work, including the Toronto premiere of his new short Les lignes ennemies, commissioned as part of the 2010 Jeonju Digital Project, and also the 2007 film Maïté, which Côté cites as his personal favourite of all his films.

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