Fridae

A Secret Heart has received Montréal’s first Queer Louve award. Directed by Tom Fontenille, the documentary follows his parent Lilou’s transition in her sixties. Lightdox, which handles the film’s sales, has added the prize to its list of awards.

Fontenille filmed over four years as Lilou began living openly as a woman. The synopsis on Lightdox’s film page describes a family finding a new place for each of its members. It also introduces Lilou through things she enjoys: gardening, cycling, making things and caring for her grandchildren.

The film runs for 88 minutes and carries the French title Cœur secret. Its world premiere was in the ACID selection at Cannes.

Recommend a documentary about queer life in later years, and tell us one detail that stayed with you.

The Festival du nouveau cinéma set up the Queer Louve with the Queer Palm this year. The partnership takes the Cannes-based award’s work outside France for the first time. Queer Palm has been recognising films at Cannes since 2010.

In Montréal, the new competition brought together films with LGBTQIA+ themes, feminist perspectives or approaches that question gender norms. The inaugural selection included a film from Nepal and works involving filmmakers from China and Iran. Filmmaker Eli Jean Tahchi, writer and actor Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay, and drag performer Sami Landri formed its first jury.