Gabrielle

Written and directed by Louise Archambault (FAMILIA) and from micro_scope, the company that produced MONSIEUR LAZHAR and INCENDIES, GABRIELLE is the heartwarming story of a young woman’s determination to overcome the world’s prejudices to experience love for the first time.

Gabrielle (Gabrielle Marion-Rivard) is a 22-year-old woman with Williams syndrome, a genetic disorder that often slows cognitive skills while increasing sociability and musical talent. She sings in a Montréal choir with other disabled adults, where she meets and falls in love with the dashingly handsome Martin (Alexandre Landry). The bliss of first love is interrupted, however, by Martin’s interfering mother, who worries that special needs individuals aren’t sufficiently fit for romantic relationships. What emerges in Archambault’s sweet, unassuming and confidently directed film is the portrait of a young woman fighting, in her own way, for acceptance and independence, and for her right to experience life’s highs and lows– with joy, pain, confusion and eventual understanding.

GABRIELLE was Canada’s official entry for the 2013 Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film. The film premiered at the 2013 Locarno International Film Festival, where it won the Piazza Grande Audience Award, and screened at the 2013 Toronto, Vancouver and Seattle film festivals, the 2013 AFI Fest and the 2014 Palm Springs International Film Festival. It won two Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Marion-Rivard, and was nominated in four other categories.