WHO BY FIRE begins opens with a plane landing on a lake for a friendly getaway 
at a secluded log cabin in the forest, but 
quickly becomes the site of escalating, multi-generational tensions and anxieties in this disquieting, impeccably mounted coming-of-age drama from Quebecois filmmaker Philippe Lesage (Genesis, New Directors/New Films). Ostensibly a merry reunion between well-known film director Blake Cadieux (Arieh Worthalter, 2024 César winner for 
Best Actor for The Goldman Case) and his longtime friend and former collaborator Albert Gary (Paul Ahmarani), the vacation gradually becomes something far more complex and less stable, especially with the combustible admixture of Albert’s teen son’s best friend, Jeff (Noah Parker), and Albert’s self-asserting daughter Aliocha (Aurélia Arandi-Longpré). Long-simmering middle-aged resentments surface, set against the anxieties of the young, all captured 
sensitively by Lesage, who in recent years has proven unparalleled in evoking the psychological contours of teenagers finding their paths through treacherous emotional landscapes. Featuring thrillingly choreographed dinner sequences of mounting tension, WHO BY FIRE confirms Lesage as a major contemporary filmmaker, with its assured tonal negotiation of 
the naturalistic and the oneiric, the joyous (especially an epic dance interlude to The B-52s) and the ominous. Director and writer Philippe Lesage stops by for a spirited conversation on male toxicity, simmering rivalry, sexual anxiety, betrayal, erratic canoeing and wine swapping.
For more go to: kimstim.com/who-by-fire
WHO BY FIRE opens March 14th at NY’s Film at Lincoln Center and March 21st at LA’s Laemmle Theatres followed by a national release courtesy of KimStim: To watch go to: kimstim.com/who-by-fire
About the filmmaker – Canadian director, screenwriter, producer, photographer and actor Philippe Lesage was born in Saint-Agapit (Quebec) in 1977. He worked as a Film teacher at the European Film College in Denmark. He directed the documentary films ‘Pourrons-nous vivre ensemble?’ (2006), ‘How Can You Tell If the Little Fish Are Happy’ (2009), ‘Ce coeur qui bat’ (2010, which harvested the Jutra Award for Best Documentary) and ‘Laylou’ (2012), before debuting in fiction with the feature film ‘Copenhagen: A Love Story’ (2015). That same year he participated in the Official Section of the San Sebastian Festival with ‘The Demons’, which was later invited to more than 60 international festivals. ‘The Demons’ won the San Francisco Golden Gate Award, was included in the TIFF top ten, and was named one of the top ten films of 2015 by ‘Variety’. In 2018, he directed ‘Genesis’. Premiered at the Locarno Festival in the international competition, the film has won numerous awards including the Golden Wolf (Festival of New Cinema, Montreal), the Best Film and Best Director Awards at the Valladolid International Film Festival (Spain) and the Best Film prize at the Los Cabos Film Festival (Mexico). His latest film, Who By Fire, won the Grand Prix of the Generation 14plus International Jury, Best Film at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival.
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84% on RottenTomatoes
“Lesage demonstrates a keen eye for nuance and meditative mise-en-scène, even as he eventually leads us to some explosive and wrenching events, where tables are turned and expectations reversed.” – Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Festival Today
“Lesage supplies exemplary tension and intrigue over the course of two plus hours, while at the same time suggesting to the viewer, accurately, that anything in the way of a definitive resolution is not in the cards.” – Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com
“Lesage’s characters may talk a lot, but because he avoids exposition, he ends up overloading the story with dramatically heightened episodes.” – Manohla Dargis, New York Times
“All three younger actors are terrific, with the ebullient Arandi-Longpré standing out as a teenage girl who refuses to be hemmed in by the bruised male egos surrounding her.” – Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter
“Lesage underlines his ability to carve a semblance of a horror movie from everyday domestic drama — confirming him as a filmmaker of considerable grace and daring.” – Guy Lodge, Variety
“Despite its unassuming scenario, Lesage orchestrates these various storylines like a conductor, slowly bringing each story into a solo before unleashing their collective sounds in a symphony.” – Monica Castillo, RogerEbert.com