Comme le feu

Who by Fire
Jeff is invited by his friend Max to travel deep into the woods and stay with them at the isolated wilderness lodge of acclaimed film director Blake Cadieux. Jeff has high expectations for the trip: Cadieux is an artist he greatly admires – plus Max’s older sister Aliocha, with whom Jeff is secretly in love, is also coming. The hostile virgin forest and the director’s huge log cabin become the territory where the youthful search for ideals and freedom comes up against the wounded egos of the adults.
by Philippe Lesage
with Noah Parker, Aurélia Arandi-Longpré, Antoine Marchand-Gagnon, Arieh Worthalter, Paul Ahmarani, Sophie Desmarais, Laurent Lucas, Irène Jacob
Canada / France 2024 French 161’ Colour World premiere recommendation: 14 years and up

With

  • Noah Parker (Jeff)
  • Aurélia Arandi-Longpré (Aliocha)
  • Antoine Marchand-Gagnon (Max)
  • Arieh Worthalter (Blake)
  • Paul Ahmarani (Albert)
  • Sophie Desmarais (Millie)
  • Laurent Lucas (Eddy)
  • Irène Jacob (Hélène)

Crew

Director Philippe Lesage
Screenplay Philippe Lesage
Cinematography Balthazar Lab
Editing Mathieu Bouchard-Malo
Sound Design Frédéric Cloutier
Sound Maxime Gavaudan
Production Design Geneviève Huot
Producer Galilé Marion-Gauvin
Co-Producer Thomas Ordonneau
Co-Production Shellac Marseilles

Produced by

Productions l’Unite Centrale

Philippe Lesage

The director began his career in documentary and made The Heart That Beats, filmed in a hospital in Montreal shortly after he himself had surgery there. He then moved into fiction though a major part of his work is autobiographical. The Demons, which explores his troubled childhood, premiered at San Sebastian in 2015 and went on to screen at 50 further festivals. Genesis, about adolescence, premiered at Locarno in 2018 and was presented at over 70 festivals.

Filmography

2006 Pourrons-nous vivre ensemble? 2009 Comment savoir si les petits poissons sont heureux? 2010 Ce cœur qui bat (The Heart That Beats) 2012 Laylou 2015 Les démons (The Demons) 2016 Copenhague a Love Story 2018 Genèse (Genesis) 2024 Comme le feu (Who by Fire)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2024