Year: 2004
Language: French
Format: 35mm Colour
Runtime: 89 min
Director: Daniel Roby
Producer: Daniel Roby
Writer: Joël Champetier, Daniel Roby
Cinematographer: Eric Cayla
Editor: Yvann Thibaudeau
Sound: Martin Pinsonnault, Simon Brien, Serge Bouvier, Clovis Gouaillier
Music: René Dupéré, Martin Lord
Cast: Marc Paquet, Marianne Farley, Frédéric Pierre, Jessica Malka, Julie Le Breton
Production Company: Zone Films

One autumn evening, Thierry (Marc Paquet), a young man from the Gaspé now studying in Montreal, and his Haitian roommate and best friend Henri (Frédéric Pierre) decide to hire a pair of prostitutes to celebrate Thierry=s birthday. The fun comes to an abrupt end when the frail, red-headed prostitute nearly succeeds in cutting Henri=s throat. A few months later, Thierry falls hopelessly in love with another beautiful redhead, Claire, and gradually lets her take control of his life. Everything begins to seem very bizarre: the young woman=s sexual appetite, her mysterious illness, her strange family – all redheads. Henri begins asking questions, forcing Thierry to discover the family=s dark and deadly secret.                                       

 
Shot on HD in twenty-two days for a budget of $800,000, La Peau blanche is a fresh, genre-bending film, mixing elements of science fiction, romance and fantasy. With nods to David Cronenberg – excerpts from Rabid (1977) are cleverly utilized – and such Roman Polanski classics as Rosemary=s Baby (1968), director Daniel Roby's situations, dialogue and characters inhabit a real world gone terrifyingly askew.

 
La Peau blanche is a strikingly assured feature debut that uses atmosphere and suggestion to intrigue and terrify throughout. It received the award for Best Canadian First Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival® and was named one of Canada=s Top Ten of 2004 by an independent, national panel of filmmakers, programmers, journalists and industry professionals.

By: Stacey Donen