Occupations in Film Industry (33)

Stunt Family
Lois Siegel 1978 3 min
This short film from the Canada Vignettes series profiles a unique French-Canadian family, the Fourniers, 12 of whom work as stunt men and women for films.
Labrecque from Film to Memory

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Michel La Veaux 2017 1 h 33 min
Michel La Veaux (Hôtel La Louisiane), a man who describes himself as being “passionate about light,” wanted to share his love of movie making with one of the pioneers of Quebec cinema: Jean-Claude Labrecque (À hauteur d’homme). At once a respectful tribute and a touching portrait, Labrecque From Film to Memory plays out like a conversation between two friends.
Making Movie History: Anne Claire Poirier
Denys Desjardins 2013 7 min
Anne Claire Poirier blazed a trail for women filmmakers, introducing a distinctly female gaze into Quebec cinema with compelling personal films that balanced rigorous filmcraft with feminist analysis. Beginning her career in the ’60s, when few women were making films, she persevered, insisting on directing her own work. The experience of making De mère en fille (1968), Quebec’s first feminist film, would steel her resolve—to bring more women into the NFB. Tenacious and generous, she initiated and produced En tant que femmes (1972), a six-film series directed by various women. Her own work, including the unrelentingly powerful Mourir à tue-tête (1979), continues to resonate. Her final film for the NFB, perhaps her bravest and most painful, was Tu as crié LET ME GO, dealing with the tragic loss of her own daughter.
Making Movie History: Claude Fournier
Denys Desjardins 2013 7 min
A master of Quebec comedy, Claude Fournier has directed such memorable films as Deux femmes en or (1970), a hit that pulled in two million veiwers, and the more recent J'en suis! (1997). Originally a journalist, he was drawn to cinema, and documentary in particular, through an interest in cinematography, a passion he shared with friend Michel Brault. He collaborated with Brault and his contemporaries on the NFB's early forays into Direct Cinema, contributing to the groundbreaking La lutte (1961). Fournier left the NFB to work in New York, honing his craft alongside Robert Drew, Richard Leacodk, and D.A. Pennebaker--the pioneering figures behind such seminal films as Primary (1960). The multi-talented Fournier would become a leading figure in Quebec's film and TV industry. He reunited with Michel Brault in 1994, co-writing the screenplay for Mon ami Max.
Making Movie History: Claude Godbout
Denys Desjardins 2013 6 min
Claude Godbout was a young actor in experimental theatre when he caught the eye of Gilles Groulx, who cast him in Le chat dans le sac (1964). Captured on celluloid by cinematographer Jean-Claude Labrecque, Godbout became an iconic figure for young French Canadians, caught up in the throes of the Quiet Revolution. Le chat dans le sac, along with Claude Jutra's À tout prendre (1963), came to epitomize the energy of Direct Cinema: together they propelled Quebec film into modernity. Turning away from acting, Godbout tried his hand at directing before founding Productions Prisma with friends. The company produced important features like Les ordres (Brault, 1974) and Les bons débarras (Mankiewicz, 1980). Godbout's recent produciton credits include the series Cinéma québécois (2008) and the documentary Le rêve américain (Boulianne, 2014).
Making Movie History: Jacques Drouin
Denys Desjardins 2013 5 min
Jacques Drouin's artistic trajectory is closely tied to the Alexeïeff-Parker pinscreen. No other filmmaker has employed the device with such dedication since Alexeïeff himself, who created the design in 1931. Consisting of a perforated board with 240,000 adjustable pins, the pinscreen can be manipulated to create evocative moving images. Having made a series of notable pinscreen films with his wife Claire Parker, Alexeïeff gave one of his 10 prototypes to the NFB. Intrigued by its creative potential, Drouin made good use of the precious item--to the great pleasure of its elderly inventor--crafting remarkable animation like Mindscape (1976) and Imprints (2005). Now recognized as the leading master of the technique, Drouin was called upon by the French Film Archives in Paris to oversee the 2007 restoration of their own pinscreens.
Making Movie History: Michael Spencer
Denys Desjardins 2013 5 min
A young Englishman abroad, Michael Spencer was stranded in Canada when World War II began in 1939. He would make Canada his home--and help establish the country's film industry. He arrived at the NFB in 1941, starting as a cameraman and becoming a producer in 1945. While NFB Commissioner John Grierson favoured documentaries, viewing film as an educational tool, Spencer wanted to make dramatic features. He was intent on creating a domestic movie industry, independent from Hollywood, and in 1966, NFB management tasked him with devising a system of public film financing. Receptive to the plan, the federal government created the Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)--precursor of Telefilm--and appointed Spencer as its first Executive Director. He occupied the post from 1968 to 1978, overseeing the production of such films as Les ordres (Brault, 1974) and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Kotcheff, 1974).
Making Movie History: Michel Brault
Denys Desjardins 2013 7 min
Back in 1947, while still making amateur movies with Claude Jutra, could Brault have known that he would mark film history? His defiant experimentalism shook things up at the NFB, and films like Les raquetteurs (1958) would launch an irreversible movement. Alongside US filmmakers such as Richard Leacock, the young Québécois was at the forefront of the Direct Cinema revolution--and his "walking camera" would influence Jean Rouch. He collaborated with Pierre Perrault and the inhabitants of Île-aux-Coudres on the landmark film Pour la suite du monde (1963), a key moment in vérité cinema. Restlessly creative, Brault continued investigating both reality and fiction. His own feature, Les ordres (1974), honoured at Cannes, remains ingrained in Quebec's collective memory, as does his cinematography in legendary films like Mon oncle Antoine and Les bons débarras. It is impossible to imagine Quebec cinema without him. Michel Brault died in 2013 at the age of 85.
Making Movie History: Co Hoedeman
Denys Desjardins 2013 6 min
An undisputed master of puppet animation, Co Hoedeman would captivate TV audiences with The Sand Castle (1977), a film that went on to win an Oscar for Best Animated Short. He had emigrated from Holland in 1965, aged, 25, in the hopes of finding work at the NFB. Canada's public film producer would become his creative base. Experimenting with an astounding range of techniques--paper cut-outs, papier-mâché, sand, and an array of puppets--Hoedeman conjures up fantastic worlds, finding inspiration in Inuit legend, ecology and his own vivid imagination. Artisan animator par excellence, he crafts all elements himself and operates his own camera. A devoted father and grandfather, he excels in making films for young audiences, and his Ludovic series, featuring an adventurous and amiable teddy bear, was a hit with children of all ages.
Making Movie History: Jacques Giraldeau
Denys Desjardins 2013 5 min
Art lover and cinephile Jacques Giraldeau established Quebec's first film club in 1948, the year of the Refus Global, an anti-establishment manifesto championed by his art-world peers. He got early film training at the NFB alongside comrade-in-arms Michel Brault and then cut loose for a few years to experiment with the 16mm Bolex, the new lightweight alternative to heavy 35mm cameras. He and Brault collaborated on Petites médisances (1953-1954), a series of 39 shorts that foreshadowed Direct Cinema. Returning to the NFB in 1960, he thrived in the creative atmosphere that soon gave birth to French Program. In 1963, Giraldeau co-founded the Cinémathèque québécoise. In a career spanning over 50 years, from La neige a neigé (1951) to L'ombre fragile des choses (2007), he has created an extraordinary body of work, bearing witness to the evolution of Quebec culture.
Making Movie History: Jacques Godbout
Denys Desjardins 2013 7 min
In the late '50s and early '60s, Jacques Godbout was part of a brilliant young gang who would transform the NFB's French Program. They came from diverse backgrounds and most had no previous film training. For his part, Godbout had just returned from Ethiopia, where he'd been teaching French, when he was hired in 1958. He would soon be collaborating with some of the most inventive artists of his generation: Hubert Aquin, Claude Jutra, Michel Brault, Fernand Dansereau, Gilles Carle and others. Active on many cultural fronts, Godbout launched the magazine Liberté, founded the Mouvement laïque de langue française, and served as the first president of the Union des écrivans du Québec. He would display a spirit of experimentation in both documentary and fiction, and his many credits include YUL 871, Kid Sentiment and Ixe-13, now considered a cult classic.
Making Movie History: Jean-Claude Labrecque
Denys Desjardins 2013 7 min
The NFB would be Jean-Claude Labrecque's school. Arriving in 1959, the dedicated young cinephile quickly grasped the essentials of cinematography, leaving a bold mark on early Quebec films like Le chat dans le sac (Groulx, 1964) and La vie heureuse de Léopold Z (Carle, 1965). A cinematographer of singular talent, Labrecque went on to direct his own films: 60 cycles (1965) and Jeux de la XXIe Olympiade (1977). Keenly tuned to the evolution of Quebec society, he would capture important cultural events on film in Nuits de la poésie (1970, 1980) and André Mathieu, musicien (1993), and document key historical moments like de Gaulle's "Vive le Québec libre!" and Bernard Landry's 2003 electoral campaign. Prolific and erudite, Labrecque produced a body of work that constitutes a richly detailed and deeply humane record of modern Quebec history.
Making Movie History: Monique Fortier
Denys Desjardins 2014 6 min
Monique Fortier was one of the few women to make her way in the male world of the NFB in the 1950s. But make her way she did. Beginning as a secretary, she graduated to editing and in 1963 she became the first francophone woman to direct her own film, À l'heure de la décolonisation. Her NFB colleague Anne Claire Poirier would make her first film the same year. Fortier subsequently returned to editing, quietly labouring at the Steenbeck, shaping films that helped define Direct Cinema.
Making Movie History: Jacques Leduc
Denys Desjardins 2014 5 min
Schooled in the creative freedom of Direct Cinema, Jacques Leduc would excel in documentary-inflected drama like On est loin du soleil (1970), composed entirely of long shots, as well as sensitive vérité-style projects like Chroniques de la vie quotidienne (1977–1978), an imaginative series of seven films corresponding to the days of the week. Audacious and endlessly inventive, Leduc explored the terrain between fiction and documentary in films such as Albédo (1982) and Le dernier glacier (1984). His critically acclaimed feature Trois pommes à côté du sommeil (1988) paved the way for further work in fiction film. A gifted cinematographer, he has collaborated with directors like Tahani Rached, Jean Chabot, Paule Baillargeon and Yves Dion. In 1993, he co-founded Casa Obscura, a Montreal-based, artist-run space where he hosts regular film-related events.
Making Movie History: Robert Verrall
Joanne Robertson 2012 5 min
Robert Verrall recalls coming to Ottawa to join the NFB and the early days in the animation studio including his work on the Oscar winning Romance of Transportation.
Making Movie History: Monique Mercure
Denys Desjardins 2013 6 min
From Festin des morts (Dansereau, 1965) to Naked Lunch (Cronenberg, 1991), Monique Mercure has played an astonishing range of roles, both large and small, with distinctive intensity and character. Launching her career at a time when the profession of film actress was hardly recognized in Quebec, she quietly established her powerful presence. Her friend Claude Jutra cast her in À tout prendre (1963), and Deux femmes en or (Fournier, 1970) would consolidate her popularity. Winning the Best Actress Award at Cannes for her extraordinary performance in J.A. Martin photographe (Beaudin, 1976), she went on to work with the biggest names in Quebec film--Jutra again, Labrecque, Poirier, Pool, Lepage, Aubert--crossing generational and linguistic divides. In La brunante (2007), she reunited with director Fernand Dansereau, reprising the role of Madeleine 40 years after she first played the character in Ça n'est pas le temps des romans.
Making Movie History: Léonard Forest
Alexandre Chartrand 2014 6 min
Dreaming of a life in cinema, the young Acadian arrived at the NFB in 1953. He displayed a unique sensiblity from the start, sharing a script credit with Anne Hébert on La femme de ménage. He went on to collaborate with Roger Blais on Les aboiteaux, a film that brought him back to Acadian New Brunswick — where he would return frequently in subsequent years. At 29, with full support from colleagues, he became the NFB ’s first French-speaking producer. As head of Studio F, he oversaw the rapid expansion of French-language production. It was a period of remarkable creativity that gave birth to films like Les brûlés. Forest gave vivid cinematic expression to the movement for Acadian emancipation: Les Acadiens de la dispersion was the first installment in a landmark trilogy. His pioneering activist impulse lead to the 1974 foundation of the NFB Acadian Studio, where subsequent generations of filmmakers have advanced his vision. He retired to Moncton, continuing to write with habitual verve.
Making Movie History: Sylvia Hamilton
Joanne Robertson 2014 4 min
Director Sylvia Hamilton reflects on her work with the NFBs Atlantic Studio and the birth of New Initiatives in Film - A Studio D initiative for women of colour and aboriginal women.
Making Movie History: Edouard Davidovici
Joanne Robertson 2012 4 min
In a long and happy career at the NFB, master editor Edouard Davidovici witnessed the evolution of editing techniques. Before non-linear digital technology became the norm, Davidovici and his colleagues were adept at handling the raw material of cinema, cutting and splicing film on stand-up Moviolas or flatbed Steenbecks. As chief editor at the NFB, he oversaw the picture and sound edit of hundreds of productions in a range of genres.
Making Movie History: Bonnie Sherr-Klein
Joanne Robertson 2012 5 min
Bonnie Sherr-Klein recalls the early days of Studio D, the women's studio, and the birth of the seminal film Not a Love Story which she co-directed.
Making Movie History: André Melançon
Denys Desjardins 2013 6 min
Having fallen under the spell of Fellini in the movie theatres of his native Abitibi, André Melançon wandered into the NFB at a time when anything could happen. He nabbed a role in Clément Perron's Taureau (1973), a gig that led to another offer--to direct children's films. With no directing experience, he forged ahead, drawing upon his natural ease with kids and previous experience as a school counsellor. 1978 would be a banner year: Melançon's documentary Les vrais perdans earned widespread praise and Comme les six doigts de la main was hailed as the year's best Quebec feature film. La guerre des tuques (1984) consolidated his stature in the growing genre of children's film. He went on to direct other features, along with TV series and theatrical productions, returning to the theme of childhood with the touching documentary Printemps fragiles (2005).
Making Movie History: Jean Roy
Denys Desjardins 2013 6 min
A keen cinephile, Jean Roy arrived at the NFB with an amateur film under his arm. He was only 20 in 1949 when he went to the Arctic to shoot a series on Inuit culture. He worked with all the major NFB directors of the ’50s and ’60s—Devlin, Dansereau, Garceau, Giraldeau, Koenig, Kroitor, Palardy, Portugais and others. Michel Brault and Georges Dufaux would learn their craft as his assistants. One of eight cinematographers to collaborate on Jour de juin (1959), an early exercise in Direct Cinema, Roy later participated in Coopératio, a collective venture launched by Pierre Patry, and directed photography on Trouble-fête (1963), one of Quebec cinema’s first hits. As head of the NFB camera department, Roy established a program of institutional support for independent filmmakers—Aide au cinéma indépendant (ACIC)—which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2013.
Making Movie History: Fernand Dansereau
Denys Desjardins 2013 6 min
History placed Fernand Dansereau in the right place at the right time. In 1960, at the age of 32, after a few years as writer and director, he was named producer at the NFB. It was the dawn of the Quiet Revolution and the agency was in creative foment. Dansereau produced seminal early work by Lamothe (Bûcherons de la Manouane, 1962); Groulx and Gosselin (Voir Miami, 1963); Arcand (Champlain, 1964); and Brault and Perrault (Pour la suite du monde, 1963). A well-rounded artist, he became a driving force in Quebec's private film and TV industry, returning to the NFB to direct Quelques raison d'espérer (2001), a profile of his cousin, ecologist Pierre Dansereau. The tireless Dansereau recently directed La brunante (2007), a feature film that reunited him with actress Monique Mercure 40 years after their collaboration on Ça n'est pas le temps des romans.
Making Movie History: Paule Baillargeon
Denys Desjardins 2013 6 min
Paule Baillargeon was among the members of the Grand Cirque Ordinaire, an adventurous theatre collective that burst onto the scene in 1969. Shifting to cinema, she had roles in Entre tu et vous (Groulx, 1969) and Le temps de l'avant (Poirier, 1975), in which her character confronts the issue of abortion. The role set the tone for her career: feminist by necessity, she would approach cinema as a form of rebellion. With La cuisine rouge (1979), she directed her first feature film, and with Vie d'Ange, she shared a writing credit with Pierre Harel. The '80s brought a string of strong roles--in films by Jutra, Pool, Rozema, Leduc--but she gravitated to directing with Sonia (1986) and Le sexe des étoiles (1993). Her most recent documentary is Trente tableaux (2011), an autobiographical work that draws upon her multiple talents.
Making Movie History: Marcel Carrière
Denys Desjardins 2013 6 min
Marcel Carrière is to sound what Michel Brault is to image. Between 1958 and 1964, art and technology were interacting in exciting new ways at the NFB, and young filmmakers like Carrière embraced the creative possibilities with energy and imagination, transforming the language of cinema. With a determined sense of invention, Carrière refined the art of sound recording, liberating soundmen from bulky and unwieldy technology. He collaborated on many of French Program's early Direct Cinema films, beginning with Les raquetteurs (1958) through the masterful Pour la suite du monde (1963). He went on to direct his own films, working in both documentary and fiction, and infusing every project with charateristic humour and good will.
Making Movie History: André Lamy
Denys Desjardins 2013 5 min
André Lamy and his brother Pierre played an active role during the 60s heyday of Quebec's private film industry. Founding Onyx Films in 1962, they began by making TV programs and commercials, moving into feature production with films like Viol d'une jeune fille douce (1968), directed by Gilles Carle. In 1970, Lamy, whose experience had primarily been in the private sector, was surprised to be offered the position of Assistant Film Commissioner at the NFB. Named NFB Commissioner in 1975, he oversaw a period of expansion, boosting distribution efforts at home and abroad, and earning new international recognition for the agency. In 1980, he became head of the Canadian Film Development Commission, precursor of Telefilm Canada, another organization that underwent major growth under his watch. The age of downsizing was still to come! André Lamy died on May 2, 2010.
Making Movie History: Claude Pelletier
Denys Desjardins 2013 5 min
Claude Pelletier witnessed the radical transformation of recording technology in the course of his career: from heavy, unwieldy gear that needed to be trucked to location to lightweight, portable Nagras. The new technology would spark an aesthetic revolution, liberating soundmen from old constraints and nurturing a new era of experimentation. Pelletier worked alongside Gilles Groulx and Arthur Lamothe, contributing to seminal Direct Cinema titles like Golden Gloves (1961) and Bûcherons de la Manouane (1962). He would collaborate on over 100 productions, including important Quebec films like De mère en fille (Poirier, 1968) and Où êtes-vous donc? (Groulx, 1969). Fascinated by genealogy, Pelletier found time to explore local parish archives during film shoots, compiling a list of close to 90,000 names linked to his family surname. Since they retired, he and his wife, Laura Gauthier, have become certified genealogists.
Making Movie History: Michèle Cournoyer
Denys Desjardins 2013 6 min
Michèle Cournoyer came to the NFB with a background in the fine arts. During the 1970s, she made her own independent shorts, including a striking experimental collage films. Arriving at the NFB in the early 1990s, she would make inventive use of the rotoscope, a technique that allows animators to draw over live-action footage. She turned to a new medium with The Hat (1999), a work executed in ink. Rendered in minimalist black and white, the film addressed the difficult visual metaphors. The Hat won worldwide acclaim-and Cournoyer went on to tackle similarly challenging subjects with Accordion (2004) and the chilling Robes of War (2008). Mastering the art of film without words, she has left us speechless.
Making Movie History: Colin Low
Joanne Robertson 2012 5 min
Colin Low reflects on leaving art school in Calgary to join the NFB and his early days in the NFB's animation department.
Making Movie History: Grant Munro
Joanne Robertson 2012 5 min
In this short interview, Grant Munro, the celebrated animator, actor and director recalls being recruited by Norman McLaren to join the NFB's legendary animation studio.
Making Movie History: Alanis Obomsawin
Joanne Robertson 2012 5 min
Alanis Obomsawin talks about how she got her start at the NFB and the overarching importance of sound/story in her work.
Robert Lantos: A Meta Narrative, Abridged
Jill Sharpe 2016 4 min
In this short collage-like documentary that celebrates Robert Lantos’ career - memory, dream and story collide in a flickering state of imagination. Scenes from Lantos’ landmark films are playfully re-purposed to underscore a few of the key moments that have motivated him to be a producer.
A Return to Memory

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Donald McWilliams 2024 1 h 58 min
When Canada entered World War II, the National Film Board suddenly had an urgent new mission—and hundreds of women stepped forward, helping to create Canadian cinema as we now know it.

Occupations in Film Industry (33)

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