Jean Dujardin in a gala screening, Guy A. Lepage honoured: CINEMANIA plays its final weekend

Official poster for the 32nd edition. © CINEMANIA

Tonight, Jean Dujardin in a gala screening

It is the moment Montreal has been waiting for. This Friday, November 13 at 5:30 p.m., the Ludger-Duvernay Theatre at the Monument-National hosts the gala screening of “Les rayons et les ombres”, Xavier Giannoli's new historical epic, presented as a North American premiere — with Jean Dujardin in attendance. Dujardin plays a chillingly cold Jean Luchaire, a journalist caught in the spiral of compromise, opposite August Diehl as Otto Abetz and Nastya Golubeva Carax. After “Lost Illusions”, Giannoli delivers a sweeping film about blindness and the fascination of power.

The day also marks the end of CINEMANIA Pro, the festival's industry strand, which brought professionals together from November 9 to 13. Twelve days of festival — and the curtain has not fallen yet.

A week of honours

This final weekend caps a week in which CINEMANIA celebrated its own. On Wednesday, November 11, at the festival's benefit gala, Théodore Pellerin received the 2026 CINEMANIA Honorary Award — a moment Festival TV covered in our story on the poster child turned honouree. Yesterday, Thursday, November 12, Sandrine Kiberlain received the Artistic Influence Award, at the screening of Marc Fitoussi's “Ni vue, ni connue”, in which she plays herself opposite Isabelle Huppert.

Tomorrow, the closing — and the announced tribute to Guy A. Lepage

Tomorrow, Saturday, November 14, CINEMANIA brings its 32nd edition to a close at the Monument-National with the closing gala: “De la Comédie-Française”, the first feature by Bertrand Usclat and Martin Darondeau, a comedy filmed behind the scenes of the Salle Richelieu with members of the troupe, screened with actress Pauline Clément in attendance.

The festival also announces, for that same closing ceremony, the presentation of the Prix Hommage of the Journées de la série francophone to Guy A. Lepage, its first-ever recipient. The award was created with the festival's new series strand, to salute a figure who has profoundly shaped Quebec television. Tomorrow night, the celebration speaks.

Sunday, the final screenings

One Sunday will remain for latecomers: on November 15, the edition's final screenings include “Garance” by Jeanne Herry, carried by Adèle Exarchopoulos and presented as a Canadian premiere at the Ludger-Duvernay Theatre. That same day at noon, at the Cinéma du Musée, Jean Dujardin extends the encounter with audiences in a conversation on comedy in cinema alongside Marc Labrèche.

138 films, one Francophonie

In all, this 32nd edition will have lined up 138 feature films, with French-speaking Belgium in the spotlight and a brand-new strand, the Journées de la série francophone. A Quebec opening with Jérémy Comte's “Paradis”, a 32nd-anniversary gala around “Villeneuve: l'ascension d'une légende”, guests by the hundreds: CINEMANIA remains what it has been for more than three decades — North America's great gathering for cinema in French. To relive the edition and look ahead, everything is on the festival's page.

Moïse 1er, the Festival Explorer / Montréal - Québec - Toronto - Canada