HOLLYWOOD – The award-winning French-Canadian film Les Affamés has been picked up by Netflix and will be available internationally starting next month, though not in Canada.
Written and directed by Robin Aubert (Saint Martyrs of the Damned, Crying Out), Les Affamés premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2017 where it won Best Canadian Feature, and later played Fantastic Fest, Montreal Festival du nouveau cinéma where it won the Temps Ø Audience Award, The Sitges – International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, and Torino Film Festival.
The film was released theatrically in Canada last October and is now nominated for five Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture. In December, TIFF named the film to its list of 2017’s ten best Canadian films.
Netflix said Thursday that Les Affamés will begin streaming March 2 in markets around the world, with the exceptions of Canada, Latin America and Eastern Europe. It will be available to Canadian Netflix members starting next year.
In Les Affamés, Aubert returns to his horror roots to tell the story of a small and remote village in upstate Quebec where locals are not the same anymore – their bodies are breaking down and they have turned against their loved ones. A handful of survivors escape to hide in the woods and search for others like them.
“I am so excited that viewers around the world will get the chance to watch Les Affamés”, said Aubert, in the news release. “I'm also proud for the Netflix audience to experience its thrills and chills in its original Québécois version, my mother tongue, which is so rich and colorful, full of history and mystery, something that fully characterizes my universe as a filmmaker. Even if I truly believe in mankind, I’m terrified when rage and hate get the best of us. Les Affamés echoes the current state in western societies. Making a zombie movie was my own personal way of expressing both my fears and hopes about what's lying ahead of us.”
“Les Affamés enraptured audiences in Canada and we’re delighted to bring this unique Québécois voice to other countries around the world,” added Scott Stuber, head of Netflix’s film group. “From the U.S. to Japan to France, millions of Netflix members will be able to stream Robin Aubert’s extraordinary thrill ride. This is another exciting example of the investment the company is making in Canadian culture and bringing its stories and artists to the world.”
