Martin Villeneuve

Why you should listen

The musician who plays otherworldly music on one-of-a-kind instruments, the genius who designs the instruments inspired by a woman's body, and the photographer they both love. An old-fashioned love triangle is at the heart of Mars et Avril, a bold and dreamy sci-fi story set in a future Montreal where the Champ-de-Mars subway line takes you right out to Mars. While many sci-fi films have budgets exceeding 100 million dollars, this incredible arthouse version was made for just two million dollars thanks to the bold creativity of filmmaker Martin Villeneuve.

By taking his time on the project, asking the best creatives for favors and approaching problems as exciting challenges, Villeneuve has made a movie that seemed impossible. The film has shown at festivals, was sold to the US and is now available online. Villeneuve made the movie based on his two eponymous graphic novels.

Villeneuve is the former artistic director for the ad agency Sid Lee that works with Cirque du Soleil. In 2014, he won an award for his performance in his short film Imelda, for which he shot two sequels released in 2020. His second feature film, The 12 Tasks of Imelda, hit festivals and theaters in Fall 2022. Among other projects, he is now directing Red Ketchup, an animated series for Adult Swim.