A short film from a Concordia University student won the silver medal at this year’s Student Academy Awards. Antoine Boulanger’s dark comedy was selected from nearly 3,000 entries worldwide. La Pichenotte was written, produced, filmed and edited entirely by Boulanger, who says the storyline is based on his life experience. “The film first came through my father’s suicide attempts, and then I tried to build a world around it. What if someone wants to die? But can’t? And what if death is a person? That this is his 9 to 5 job.” One of 16 winning films from thousands, La Pichenotte, or “the flick,” is the only Canadian film to be awarded a Student Academy Award this year. Boulanger thinks the emotion in the short caught the academy’s attention. “The originality of the concept and the authenticity of the story behind it,” he said. Boulanger was hands-on for every step of the production. “Just drawing your next shot, just storyboarding, just writing the script, speaking with all the crew and just create something, despite limitations. Make this film on a really small budget really, really tight budget, $10,000, which is a peanut really in this industry,” Boulanger said. He noted the Academy Award recognition has changed his life dramatically in a matter of months. “Now I have so many doors that are opening up for me. That really changed my life. It changed my career. That changed the next years.” Past student SSA finalists have gone on to receive 15 Oscars. Alumni include star filmmakers like Robert Zemeckis and Spike Lee. But Boulanger remains grounded. He’s paused his Concordia studies and is focused on the next challenge. “I already won so much in the last few months that maybe it’s okay to pass to the next project, too.”
