West of Pluto

Abdel’s quiet life is upended by the arrival of his extroverted cousin, who’s staying for the summer. Fatima craves a more stable life since she’s starting a new job as a supermarket cashier. Toussaint, while fishing, finds a bottle washed up on the shore, and there’s a message inside. Straddling the line between fiction and documentary, Les Rayons Gamma / Gamma Rays is a dramedy filmed with young, non-professional actors from immigrant communities.

This feature documentary takes us back to April 20, 2001, as Quebec City prepares to host the 3-day Summit of the Americas. A 4-kilometre fence has been erected, cutting off the Upper Town from the rest of the city. Thirty-four heads of state from the Americas will meet behind closed doors to discuss agreements for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Those opposed to the FTAA are mobilizing and gathering in Quebec City, too. Several thousand delegates have come to participate in the People's Summit, and tens of thousands will march in protest. Six thousand police officers fill the streets and it looks as if the historic Quebec capital is under siege. The local population fears the worst. Will the Quebec capital become a battleground? Shot in cinéma vérité style by 7 of Quebec's best documentary filmmakers, View from the Summit vividly portrays what happens when passionate and creative protesters clash with the ideologies of those in power.

Patrick Bourgeois dives into the history of one of the worst naval tragedies that ever occurred in Quebec. In 1711, Admiral Hovenden Walker lead a 75-ship English fleet, carrying 15 000 soldiers, towards Quebec City. Eight of his boats shipwrecked on l’Île-aux-oeufs and 1000 people lost their life.

Four young adults must protect their workplace—a campground where the Boss is an agoraphobic bear—against a wild variety of perils ranging from the downright silly to the supernatural.