''La Florida'' is a

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

comedy film, released in 1993.

Gerald Pratley Gerald Arthur Pratley (September 3, 1923 – March 14, 2011) was a Canadian film critic and historian. Piers Handling"Gerald Arthur Pratley" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', September 18, 2011. A longtime film critic for the Canadian Broadcasting Cor ...

, ''A Century of Canadian Cinema''. Lynx Images, 2003. . p. 79. The film was directed by

George Mihalka George Mihalka (born 1953) is a Hungarian-born Canadian filmmaker. He is known for his 1981 slasher film '' My Bloody Valentine'' which was remade in 2009. Career In Canada since 1963, George Mihalka studied film at Concordia University in Mo ...

, and written by

Suzette Couture Suzette (; oc, Suseta) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. See also * Dentelles de Montmirail *Communes of the Vaucluse department The following is a list of the 151 commu ...

and

Pierre Sarrazin Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French language, French form of the name Peter (given name), Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via ...

Synopsis

The film stars

Rémy Girard Rémy Girard (born August 10, 1950) is a Canadian actor and former television host from Montreal, Quebec. Acting career Girard played the role of Rémy, the main character, who is dying of terminal cancer, in the Canadian film ''The Barbarian In ...

and Pauline Lapointe as Léo and Ginette Lespérance, a married couple who, after facing one too many

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

winters, move their family to

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, where they buy a motel catering to "

snowbird Snowbird is a common name for the dark-eyed junco (''Junco hyemalis''). Snowbird may also refer to: Places *Snowbird, Utah, an unincorporated area and associated ski resort *Snowbird Lake, a lake in the Northwest Territories, Canada *Snowbird ...

s". However, their new business runs afoul of "Big Daddy" (

Raymond Bouchard Raymond Bouchard (born March 7, 1945 in Lauzon, Quebec, Lauzon, Quebec) is a Canadians, Canadian film, television and stage actor. He is most noted for his performances in the film ''Seducing Doctor Lewis (La Grande séduction)'', for which he rec ...

), an established motel operator and local crime boss, who makes it his mission to drive the Lespérances out of business. The Lespérances may, however, have an ally in Jay Lamori (

Jason Blicker Jason Blicker is a Canadian film and television actor.Rita Zekas, "Expats: Ice work if you can get it". ''Toronto Star'', July 19, 2003. He has had several small roles in television series including recurring roles on '' Robocop'', '' F/X: The S ...

), a local businessman of uncertain motives who may or may not be what he seems.

Award nominations

The film received eight

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

nominations at the

14th Genie Awards The 14th Genie Awards were held on December 12, 1993."Glenn Gould Still Scoring Prizes". ''The Globe and Mail'', March 13, 1993. In a bid to increase the visibility of the Genie Awards in the francophone market in Quebec, the ceremony was held in ...

, including Best Motion Picture,

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

, Best Actor (Girard),

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

(Lapointe), Best Supporting Actor (Yvan Canuel),

Best Screenplay Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

(Couture, Sarrazin), Best Overall Sound (Dino Pigat, Lou Solakofski, Douglas Ganton, David Appleby) and

Best Sound Editing This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awa ...

(Marc Chiasson, Terry Burke,

Jane Tattersall Jane Tattersall is a Canadian sound editor, most noted as a six-time Genie Award and Canadian Screen Award winner for Best Sound Editing.Jim Bawden, "Award-winning editor gives audiences a real earful ; Jane Tattersall is getting noticed for her ...

, Sean Kelly, Drew King, Tony Currie, Diane Boucher).Craig MacInnis, "Does anyone dream of Genie?". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', December 11, 1993. The film did not win any of the awards. It was, however, given the Golden Reel Award as the top-grossing Canadian film of the year with a gross of C$1.6 million.

References

External links

* * 1993 films Canadian comedy films Quebec films 1990s French-language films Films directed by George Mihalka Films set in Florida 1993 comedy films 1990s Canadian films Foreign films set in the United States {{1990s-Canada-film-stub