After making his striking feature film debut with the effects-laden vision of the future, Mars and April (2012), Martin Villeneuve here makes a more personal short film based on a simple character. Not only did he write, direct and produce the film, but he also makes his acting debut with Imelda - impersonating his own paternal grandmother who passed away at the age of 101 years old.
The short was made in a hurry, with no money and in a single day. The idea was to bring Martin Villeneuve's grandmother back to life for one last day, the day before her house was sold. The character was shot in her true environment, among her furniture and objects, and the actor-director even got to wear her real dresses.
Prior to shooting, Martin Villeneuve did not write any script. The filmmaker performed the character from memory, based on stories his grandmother used to tell him. He decided to talk directly to the camera simply because he didn't have any other actor to interact with.
At the 12th Prends ça court ! Gala, Martin Villeneuve received, to his great surprise, the award for Best Actor from Martin Dubreuil and the Union des Artistes for the role he plays as Imelda, while it was his first experience as an actor. The short had a good ride in festivals and won two more awards: Quebec's Best Short Film Award at Festival Images en vues 2014, as well as a Special Mention from the jury in the category Best Canadian Short Film at the FICFA.
This won't be the last time audiences will get to see Imelda on the silver screen, since Martin Villeneuve shot two sequels: Imelda 2: le notaire (2020) and Imelda 3: Simone (2020), as well as a feature film: Les 12 travaux d'Imelda (2022) starring Robert Lepage, Ginette Reno, Michel Barrette, Lynda Beaulieu, Antoine Bertrand, Marc-François Blondin, Anne-Marie Cadieux, Yves Jacques and himself in the role of Imelda.