Louis 19, le roi des ondes (Louis the 19th, King of the Airwaves)

Director Michel Poulette
Year 1994
Run Time 95min
Genre Comedy, Drama
In this engaging comedy, Louis Jobin (Drainville), a TV addict, wins a contest to become the subject of a “reality” television series. As the winner, Louis will be followed everywhere by a camera crew, non-stop for three months. A lonely and goofy guy, Louis is initially thrilled and expects his life to change for the better. But when a huge audience responds to the show and media frenzy starts building around him, Louis discovers that it’s not easy being a celebrity. This film was remade by Ron Howard as EDtv.

“Particularly astonishing…its commentary was both funny and telling.” — Matthew Hays, Montage

Director

Michel Poulette

Montreal writer/director Poulette’s film Louis 19, le roi des ondes earned the Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature as well as the Golden Reel Award. His feature Maïna was nominated for six Canadian Screen Awards and three Jutras. He directed Agent of Influence starring Oscar winner Christopher Plummer, several recent TV movies and the series Real Detective.

Writers

Sylvie Bouchard, Émile Gaudreault, Michel Michaud, Michel Poulette

Cast

Martin Drainville, Agathe Lafontaine, Dominique Michel, Yves Jacques, Patricia Tulasne

Producers

Jacques Dorfmann, Richard Sadler

Genres

Comedy, Drama

Interest

Arts and Culture

Original Language

French