The story of these three women named Madeleine was born six years ago when I was vacationing at a friend's house in Biot, a small village a few kilometres away from Cannes," says director Guylaine Dionne. "For me, this film has been one of the most interesting and fascinating challenges of my young career. I carried this film with me, inside me, for so long, looking to instill into each detail of it a sparkle of life... One day, after so many years of hard work, this cinematic expression was born. And it was speaking through the mouths of the three Madeleines." What more can be said of Les Fantômes Des Trois Madeleines (The Phantoms Of Three Madeleines), save that it's not very often an entry for the Camera d'Or prize for best debut film was conceived almost in its entirety just a little way down the road from Cannes itself?

Dionne was born in Quebec, studied cinema at Concordia University in Montreal and spent 10 years making short films and documentaries, mostly for television. Her short feature Les Frissons D'Agathe (Agatha's Shivers) (1989) received the Panavision Canada Award, among other honours. Her documentary series Amérique 500 (1991-93), filmed in 10 countries across the Americas, received the Gémeaux Award for Best Documentary Series, and her other documentaries include Les Rêves Secrets Des Tarahumaras (The Secret Dreams Of The Tarahumaras) (1993), the documentary series Iles d'Inspiration: Felix Léclerc (Isles Of Inspiration: Félix Leclerc) (1999) and Jess Goes West (2000) from the documentary series Les Histoires Oubliées (Forgotten History).

The Three Madeleines is the story of three generations of women. During a trip from Montreal to the Gaspé region, each member of the family talks openly about their pasts and their dreams. Grandmother Mado (France Arbour) is searching for traces of the one man she loved when she was a young woman. Marie-Madeleine (Sylvie Drapeau), the liberated and strong-minded mother, wants to face her fears and open herself to some of life's little pleasures. And 17-year-old Mado (Isadora Galwey) ­ a child of the 1990s in love for the very first time ­ recalls her past as a carefree blithe spirit.

"We talk about family ­ a broken family, true, but one that is full of poetry and hope," says Dionne.

Ron Holloway