A tender and mystical coming-of-age drama about displacement
It is 1975, during the carnival celebrations of a small Haitian port town nine-year-old Rico delights in the festivities but returns home to find his schoolteacher mother under attack. They flee together to rural Quebec where they are taken in by a kindly couple. Struggling to adjust to Canada, with its snow, racist villagers, and school bullies, Rico begins to slip into an imaginary world, inventing a half-animal, half-human friend from Haitian myth who becomes his guiding light.
A mystical and empathetic look at childhood which doesn’t shy from addressing the challenges of being Black in Canadian society. Screen newcomer Rayan Dieudonné excels as the shy yet mischievously spirited Rico in this engaging story about family, displacement, and finding his way in a new country.
In celebration of Francophonie Month 2024, the Canadian Embassy in Luxembourg would like to graciously offer a preferential rate for the Canadian francophone film Kanaval. The film is a vibrant tribute to diversity, including Francophone diversity in Canada and beyond.
With the support of Délégation Générale du Québec à Bruxelles
Amplify Voices Award for Best Film, Honorable Mention for Best Canadian Film, Toronto International Film Festival, 2023, af
Henri Pardo
Born in New Brunswick to Haitian parents, Henri Pardo is the writer and director of Kanaval. This film won the Air Canada Audience Award at the 2023 Cinémania Film Festival. Kanaval also won the 2023 Amplify Voices Award for best BIPOC Canadian Feature and an honorable mention for best Canadian film at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.
Henri is co-producer, director and co-writer of Afro-Canada, a documentary series on the history of Afro-Canadians, nominated for the 2023 Gémeaux.
In 2020 and 2021, he filmed the feature documentary, Dear Jackie, in partnership with Documentary Channel (CBC) and produced by CatBird Productions. The film is screened in 2021 and 2022 in theaters and festivals, and won the Magnus Isacsson Prize at the 2021 RIDM. The film has been broadcast on CBC/Gem since February 2023 and received three nominations at the 2023 Canadian Academy Awards.
In 2019, Henri produced and directed his first documentary series entitled Black Wealth Matters. He also directed the documentary Afro-Prospérité broadcasted on ICI Télé and Tou.tv, produced by Black Wealth Media, a production company he founded in 2016.
Henri is a graduate of the National Institute of Image and Sound (INIS) and is a founding member of Black on Black Film.
