Alumna wins big at film fest

Manon Briand (BFA 89) won four top prizes at the Montreal World Film Festival on Monday night for her engaging movie about a bicycle courier, 2 Secondes.

Cinema Professor Tom Waugh remembers Briand well. "She's a smart, talented filmmaker, witty and original," he said. "I hope her film gets general distribution, and with [English] subtitles."

Briand won awards for best director, best first feature, best Canadian director and the people's-choice Telefilm Canada Award, which carries a $25,000 prize.

Concordia students won prizes, too. Michel Simonsen took the Norman McLaren Award for director of the best film in the 29th Canadian Student Film Festival, part of the larger Film Festival. (More
next issue.)