Tickets are available for the Wednesday, Oct. 2, 5 p.m. screening of A Colony, part of the popular Comox Valley Art Gallery Fall Film Series.

This Qu茅b茅cois gem, the fiction-feature debut from Genevi猫ve Dulude-De Celles, is a fresh, beautifully rendered, and radically optimistic take on the coming-of-age genre. It won the Crystal Bear at the Berlinale Film Festival, the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the Quebec Film Festival, and the awards for Best Canadian Feature, Best Director, and Best Performance at the Whistler Film Festival. The director鈥檚 latest short film, The Cut, played at Sundance in 2014 and was named one of Canada鈥檚 Top Ten short films of that year, while her debut feature documentary, Welcome to F.L., played at TIFF in 2015.

A Colony is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama about finding your voice.

Set in rural Quebec, it follows 12-year-old Mylia (Emilie Bierre), who has a history of being bullied and is trying to find her bearings at a new school while navigating a turbulent home life. She finds friends in her classmates Jacinthe, her popular older cousin, and Jimmy, who lives on a neighbouring Abenaki reserve. From there, Mylia must figure out how to handle the pressure of conformity and find her sense of self in spite of it.

An apt exploration of identity that will speak to the pre-teen in all of us, A Colony reminds us that we should aim not only to survive in live, but also to thrive.

鈥淸The film] gains in confidence and momentum as it progresses, leaving us eager to see where its young director will go now that the training wheels are off and the road up ahead is open.鈥� 鈥擩essica Kiang, Variety

The film series, an ongoing fundraiser for CVAG, screens films from the Toronto International Film Festival through TIFF 鈥� Film Circuit.

Tickets are $14 for CVAG members and $15 for non-members.

To purchase tickets over the phone call CVAG at 250-338-6211 ext 1, or drop by CVAG Shop at 580 Duncan Avenue in Courtenay.

For the full film listing, visit: