Netflix acquires French-Canadian film Les Affamés
David Farnor | On 02, Feb 2018
Netflix has acquired award-winning French-Canadian film Les Affamés.
Written and directed by Robin Aubert (Saint Martyrs of the Damned, Crying Out), the acclaimed film stars Marc-André Grondin, Monia Chokri, Micheline Lanctôt, Brigitte Poupart, Charlotte St-Martin, Marie-Ginette Guay Luc Proulx and Édouard Tremblay-Grenier.
The film sees Aubert return to his horror roots to tell the story of a changed small and remote village in upstate Quebec. Locals are not the same anymore – their bodies are breaking down and they have turned against their loved ones. A handful of survivors goes hiding into the woods, looking for others like them.
“Les Affamés enraptured audiences in Canada and we’re delighted to bring this unique Québécois voice to other countries around the world,” says Scott Stuber, head of Netflix’s film group. “From the US to Japan to France, millions of Netflix members will be able to stream Robin Aubert’s extraordinary thrill ride. This is another exciting example of the investment the company is making in Canadian culture and bringing its stories and artists to the world.”
Les Affamés premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2017 where it won Best Canadian Feature, and later played Fantastic Fest, Montreal Festival du nouveau cinéma where it won the Temps Ø Audience Award, The Sitges – International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, and Torino Film Festival. Les Affamés is a Les Films Christal presentation of a La Maison de Prod production. The film is produced by Stéphanie Morissette and C.S. Roy of La maison de prod (Montreal) and Sara May of Paris-based Alma Cinema handled international sales.
“I am so excited that viewers around the world will get the chance to watch Les Affamés. I’m also proud for the Netflix audience to experience its thrills and chills in its original Québécois version, my mother tongue, which is so rich and colorful, full of history and mystery, something that fully characterizes my universe as a filmmaker,” adds writer/director Robin Aubert. “Even if I truly believe in mankind, I’m terrified when rage and hate get the best of us. Les Affamés echoes the current state in western societies. Making a zombie movie was my own personal way of expressing both my fears and hopes about what’s lying ahead of us.”
The movie was released theatrically in Canada in October 2017 and is now nominated for five Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture. In December, TIFF named the film to its list of 2017’s ten best Canadian films. Les Affamés will be available March 2, 2018, on Netflix in markets around the world, with the exception of Canada, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
Here’s a clip: