A summer's day is darkened by a sudden rainstorm. Birds seek shelter and activity slows down as time expands. A woman determined to face the downpour tries to open an unwilling umbrella; a car refuses to start. The rain gets heavier and time seems to stand still. What if the sun never came out again? Pedestrians, cars, dogs, everything is caught in the rain, which lashes down on human vanity. Even the blinding bright sign of a bank is dimmed by the moisture. At the windows of high-rises, in traffic jams, under makeshift shelters, people succumb to a sense of eternity. But finally the clouds thin out, a bird takes flight and life continues.

Rains is a meditation on everyday life and our relationship with nature, seen by the acute eye of David Coquard-Dassault, whose simple pencil drawings render all the subtleties of scenes and actions.

David Coquard-Dassault, filmmaker

David Coquard-Dassault was born in Grenoble, France in 1977 and graduated from the Émile Cohl de Lyon art school in 2001. He has illustrated book covers (novels and textbooks) as well as posters. Before beginning Rains, his first film, he illustrated an Asian edition of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Terre des hommes for Wongjin Books. He also works in video games.

Pascal Le Nôtre (Folimage), producer

Pascal Le Nôtre is a founding member of the French production company Folimage, a film professor and a specialist in stop-motion animation. Hilltop Hospital, Mon âne and of course Léon in Wintertime are among his creations. Today he heads Folimage Studio, where he produces television series and short films.

Julie Roy (NFB), producer

Julie Roy has been a producer at the Animation and Youth Studio at the National Film Board of Canada since April 2007. She produced Hungu (2008) by Nicolas Brault, which won the award for Best Short Animation Film at the Palm Springs International ShortFest (United States), and The Necktie/Le nœud cravate (2008) by Jean-François Lévesque, winner of the Grand Prize for Short Film at the Festival des films du monde in Montreal. Working closely with emerging filmmakers, she also co-produced two short films with France’s Folimage studio: Rosa Rosa by Félix Dufour-Laperrière and Rains/L'Ondée by David Coquard-Dassault. She is currently working on Patrick Bouchard’s upcoming film, Bydlo, as well as Michèle Lemieux’s Le grand ailleurs et le petit ici.

Prior to becoming a producer, Julie Roy was responsible for marketing some sixty short animation films made at the NFB between 2000 and 2006, including Black Soul/Âme noire (2000) by Martine Chartrand, The Brainwashers/Les ramoneurs cérébraux (2002) by Patrick Bouchard, L’homme sans ombre (2004) by Georges Schwizgebel, and Accordion/Accordéon (2004) by Michèle Cournoyer. In 2006, she also headed the high-profile marketing campaign for the NFB’s 65th anniversary, coordinating the presentation of a Norman McLaren retrospective that ran in several countries and overseeing the release of the DVD box set Norman McLaren: The Master’s Edition. A graduate of the University of Montreal, Julie Roy has also written widely on women and animation film.

René Chénier, Executive Producer, Animation and Youth Studio, French Program, National Film Board of Canada

René Chénier earned a degree in Arts and Communications from Concordia University. A true man of cinema (he has been a director, production manager and line producer), Chénier headed his own production house, Arico Film Communication, before joining the NFB’s Animation and Youth Studio in 2006.

An independent producer, René Chénier credits include Philippe Baylaucq’s highly regarded musical fable Hugo et le Dragon, which was awarded, among others, the Telefilm Canada Prize for Best Independent Canadian Production in French at the 2002 Banff Television Festival, and a 2002 Gémeaux Award for Best Direction in a Youth Program or Series.

René Chénier also produced the animated series Et Dieu créa Laflaque, based on a concept by Serge Chapleau, which was awarded the Rockie Prize for Best Comedy at the Banff Television Festival. As well, he directed Gilles Carle’s Fantastica and was first assistant producer on Micheline Lanctôt’s Sonatine. Then, as production manager, he worked on several films, most notably Un Zoo la nuit, by Jean-Claude Lauzon, Sous les draps les étoiles, by Jean-Pierre Gariépy, Une épopée en Amérique, by Gilles Carle, and Souvenirs intimes, by Jean Beaudin. He was also line producer on Pierre Falardeau’s 15 février 1839 and The Favourite Game, by Bernar Hébert. More recently, Chénier produced Benoit Pilon’s film Ce qu'il faut pour vivre, which received 8 Genie nominations, 3 FFM awards, and was a semi-finalist in the Oscar® race.

Since joining the NFB’s Animation and Youth Studio, René Chénier has produced Robes of War, an animated film by Michèle Cournoyer, and Facing Champlain: A Work in 3 Dimensions, directed by Jean-François Pouliot. NFB 70 years is his most recent production.