The Festival de la BD francophone du Québec (The Francophone Comic Book Festival from Quebec - FBFQ) announced its program for its 22 second annual edition. The festival will be held in Quebec City, Canada, from April 15 to April 19 will run concurrently with the Quebec City International Book Fair, for the fifth year at the Gabrielle-Roy Library, the Museum of Civilizations, le Cercle and the Faubourg Gallery.
This year, attendees will be treated to retrospective exposition on the work of cartoonist Michel Rabagliati and an homage to French comic book series Astérix for its 40 year anniversary. The ten years of Quebec comic book publisher La Pastèque and the 30 years of the satirical comic book magazine Croc are also planned.
L’Officiel, a subsection of the festival, will continue to celebrate alternative comic books and graphic arts. The FBFQ will also host the awards for the 2009 winners of the Bédéis Causa, celebrating Quebec cartoonists. This year’s nominees for the various prizes include:
Prix Réal-Fillion (First time creator)
- Maryse Chouinard, pour Soeur mon âme (Monet Éditeur)
- Francis Desharnais, pour Burquette (Éditions les 400 coups)
- Yvon Roy, pour Agaguk (Éditions Adonis)
Grand prix de la Ville de Québec (Best French language graphic novel published in Quebec)
- Burquette, de Francis Desharnais (Éditions les 400 coups)
- Les Ravins, de Philippe Girard (Mécanique générale)
- Voyage en zone d'exploitation, de Louis Rémillard (Éditions les 400 coups)
Prix Albéric-Bourgeois (Best foreign graphic novel published outside Quebec by a Quebec-based cartoonist)
- Les Nombrils t. 3 : Les liens de l’amitié, de Delaf et Dubuc (Dupuis)
- Les Druides t. 4 : La ronde des géants, de Jacques Lamontagne (Soleil Productions)
- L'ordre des dragons t. 1 : La lance, Denis Rodier (Soleil Productions)
Prix Maurice-Petitdidier (Favourite foreign French language graphic novel)
- Spirou, Journal d'un ingénu, d’Émile Bravo (Dupuis)
- Tout seul, de Chabouté (Vents d’Ouest)
- Le combat ordinaire, t. 4 : Planter des clous, de Manu Larcenet
The Albert-Chartier Prize will also be awarded to an individual or organization that stood out in the French-speaking comic book industry in the province of Quebec.
It is not clear from the information provided, if the awards also include Francophone Canadians living outside of Quebec. There are a million of them in other parts of Canada. For more information on the FBFQ, please visit their Web site at www.fbfq.com. Please note that the Web site is in French only.
