Scroll Top

Mercenaire

A FILM BY PIER-PHILIPPE CHEVIGNY

Short film – Québec – 2024 – 15 min
Colour | French with English subs |  5.1

SYNOPSIS

Recently released from prison for a murder committed in unclear circumstances, David (Marc-André Grondin) struggles to adapt to his new-found freedom. Reluctantly hired at a pig slaughterhouse thanks to a social reinsertion program, he desperately tries to find another job while struggling to adapt to his new work environment. When he witnesses the cruelty of his new colleagues, he must fight to repress the violence that boils within him.

CAST

Marc-André Grondin, Émile Schneider, Jean-Guy Bouchard, Sandrine Bisson, Marc Beaupré

CREW

DIRECTOR: Pier-Philippe Chevigny
SCREENPLAY: Pier-Philippe Chevigny
PRODUCTION : Geneviève Gosselin-G. (Le Foyer Films)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Simran Dewan
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Suzel D. Smith
SOUND DESIGN: Simon Gervais
EDITING: Pier-Philippe Chevigny

    • Director's Notes

    After Vétérane and Rebel, Mercenaire is the third short film in a series of “tense social portraits”. This latest entry is perhaps my most personal film yet. I grew up in a region with a strong presence of organized crime, and I witnessed the downfall of several of my childhood friends who were imprisoned for violent crimes. In Quebec, the meat industry is a leading employer for ex-convicts, who are often rejected by the rest of the labour market. The dramatic irony of the situation is quite telling: although per our system they were imprisoned as a way to rehabilitate them from their own violence, they’re thrown right back in a cruel environment, as if society deemed them only good for killing. Inspired by an original idea by actor Marc-André Grondin, I wrote a screenplay based on my research on slaughterhouses and on horrifying blunders that some employees confided having witnessed. I wanted to make a tense, anxiety-inducing film, with directorial choices that literally imprison the viewer inside this suffocating workplace alongside David.

    BIOGRAPHY

    Pier-Philippe Chevigny is a filmmaker from Montreal, Quebec. His films combine anxiety-inducing camerawork and suspenseful scripts based on contemporary social issues. His short films Tala, Vétérane and Rebel were selected at over 200 festivals worldwide. In 2023, his first feature Richelieu was presented at Karlovy Vary, Tribeca, Palm Springs and Namur where it won the Bayard for Best First Feature. He is currently developing his follow-up feature.

    FILMOGRAPHY

    MERCENAIRE | 2024

    RICHELIEU (feature) | 2023

    BAIT | 2020

    REBEL | 2019

    VÉTÉRANE | 2017

    LA VISITE | 2015

    TALA | 2014

    FESTIVALS AND AWARDS

    • TIFF Top Ten (Canada)

    • Clermont-Ferrand (France) — Prix Spécial du Jury

    • Festival international du Film Francophone de Namur / FIFF Campus (Belgique) — Prix Marion Hansël

    • Busan (Corée du Sud)

    • Palm Springs (USA)

    • Internationale Kurzfilmwoche Regensburg (Allemagne)

    • Rio de Janeiro Curtas Cinema (Brésil)

    • OFF Odense International Film Festival (Danemark)

    • FILMETS Badalona Film Festival (Espagne) — Best Screenplay

    • Off-Courts Trouville (France) — Mention du jury

    • Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (Inde)

    • Minikino Film Week (Indonésie)

    • Tehran International Short Film Festival (Iran)

    • IndieCork (Irlande)

    • Beirut Shorts International Film Festival (Liban)

    • Tangier Film Festival (Maroc)

    • Shnit Shortsfestival (Pays-Bas / multi-pays) — Audience Award

    • FEST New Directors New Films (Portugal)

    • International Festival Signs of the Night (Lisbon) (Portugal)

    • Regard (Québec)

    • Festival du nouveau cinéma (Québec)

    • Aesthetica Film Festival (Royaume-Uni)

    • Bolton International Film Festival (Royaume-Uni)

    • International Festival Signs of the Night (Bangkok) (Thaïlande)

    • Brooklyn Film Festival (USA)

    • Hollyshorts Film Festival (USA)

    • St Louis International Film Festival (USA)

    • Santa Fe International Film Festival (USA)

    • Gala Québec Cinéma (Québec) — 2 nominations

    • Izmir Short Film Festival (Turquie)

    • Vimeo Staff Picks

    • KO:SH Film Festival (Albanie)

    • Festival du court métrage de Lille (France)

    • Festival du Film Francophone de Grèce (Grèce)

    • Festival International du Film de l’Université d’Ottawa (Canada)

    • Festival Plein(s) Écran(s) (Québec)

    • Festival International du Film d’Amiens (France)

    • Festival de cinéma de la ville de Québec (Québec)

    • Festival du cinéma international en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (Québec)

    • Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma (Québec)

    • Festival du film court de Saguenay (Québec)

    • Festival du Film Francophone de Vancouver (Canada)

    • Calgary International Film Festival (Canada)

    • Vancouver International Film Festival (Canada)

    • Festival du Film de l’Outaouais (Québec)

    • Festival du Film de la Montérégie (Québec)

    • Sudbury Cinefest International Film Festival (Canada)

    • ImagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival (Canada)

    • Festival de cinéma de Baie-Comeau (Québec)

    • Festival du Film Étudiant de Chicoutimi (Québec)

    • Cinéfest Sudbury (Canada)

    • Reelworld Film Festival (Canada)

    • Festival du Film de Mont-Tremblant (Québec)

    • Longue Vue sur le court (Québec)

    • Festival du Film Étudiant de Montréal (Québec)

    • Festival du Film de Gaspé (Québec)

    • Les Percéides (Québec)

    • Festival de cinéma de la ville de Matane (Québec)

    • Carrousel International du Film de Rimouski (Québec)

    • CinéCampus Trois-Rivières (Québec)

    • Festival du Film Jeunesse de Montréal (Québec)

    • Festival du Film Indépendant de Montréal (Québec)

    • Festival du Film de Sherbrooke (Québec)

    • Cinémania (Québec)

    • Festival international du film francophone de Tübingen (Allemagne)

    • Festival international du film de l’Île de Ré (France)

    • Festival du Film de Biarritz (France)

    • Festival du Film Francophone de Kinshasa (Congo)

    • Festival du Film Francophone de La Rochelle (France)

    Prev
    Next