''Tar Angel'' (french: L'Ange de goudron) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

drama film, released in 2001. Directed by

Denis Chouinard Denis Chouinard (born 1964 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He has a degree in Filmmaking from Cégep de Saint-Laurent and a degree in Communications from UQAM. He is a close friend and collaborator of filmma ...

, the film stars

Zinedine Soualem Zinedine Soualem (born 17 April 1957) is a French actor. He has appeared in at least five films directed by Cédric Klapisch. Personal life Soualem is Algerian by ancestry, and was at one point married to the actress Hiam Abbass Hiam Abba ...

as Ahmet Kasmi, the patriarch of a family of

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

n refugees in

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 ...

whose values are tested when his oldest son Hafid ( Rabah Aït Ouyahia) joins an

anti-globalization The anti-globalization movement or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...

activist group, sparking Ahmet's fears that the family may be denied

Canadian citizenship Canadian nationality law details the conditions in which a person is a national of Canada. With few exceptions, almost all individuals born in the country are automatically citizens at birth. Foreign nationals may naturalize after living in Ca ...

. The film's cast also includes

Hiam Abbass Hiam Abbass ( ar, هيام عباس, he, היאם עבאס; born 30 November 1960), also Hiyam Abbas, is a Palestinian actress and film director. Personal life Hiam Abbass was born in Nazareth, Israel, to a Muslim Arab family. She was raised ...

Catherine Trudeau Catherine Trudeau (born May 4, 1975) is a Canadian actress. She was born in L'Assomption, Quebec, Canada. Filmography * 1995 : '' 4 et demi...'' (TV) : ''Nancy Fugère (2000)'' * 2000 : '' Hochelaga'' : ''Louise'' * 2001 : ''Tar Angel (L'Ang ...

, Kenza Abiabdillah, Marc Beaupré, Raymond Cloutier, François Papineau and Maude Guérin. The film premiered at the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...

in 2001, where it won the award for Best Canadian film. The film garnered three

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

22nd Genie Awards The 22nd Genie Awards were held in 2002 to honour films released in 2001. The ceremony was hosted by Brian Linehan. In advance of the Genie Award ceremony on February 7, all of the Best Picture nominees were screened at the Bloor Cinema in the we ...

in 2002, for

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...

(Soualem),

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 ...

(Chouinard) and Best Original Score ( Bertrand Chénier). The film also garnered eight

Jutra Award The Prix Iris is a Canadian film award, presented annually by Québec Cinéma, which recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly francophone feature film industry in Quebec.Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', January 24, 2002.

References

External links

* 2001 films Canadian drama films Films directed by Denis Chouinard French-language Canadian films 2000s Canadian films {{2000s-Canada-film-stub