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Denys Desjardins | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Concordia University |
| Occupation(s) | Director, producer, screenwriter, film historian |
Denys Desjardins (born 1966 in Montreal, Quebec), is a film director, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor and film historian for more than twenty years. After completing studies in literature, film and communications, he directed several acclaimed films.
Desjardins received the Quebec Film Critic (Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma, or AQCC) award for best short film two years in a row for La Dame aux poupées (The Doll Lady) (1996) [1] and for Boris Lehman, filmmaker (1997), a portrait of Boris Lehman the Belgian filmmaker for whom life is a reason to make films, and making films is a reason for living. He then joined the National Film Board of Canada, where he directed Almanach 1999-2000 and My Eye for a Camera – nominated for a Jutra Award for best documentary in 2003 – as well as Being Human and Rebel with a Camera , which won him the Quebec Film Critic award for best medium-length documentary.
Desjardins has also produced and co-directed the short films Me Bob Robert and Peter and the Penny; the latter received the award for best short fiction film at the 2006 Festival Images en vue. Desjardins’ third feature-length film, The Great Resistance , was nominated for a Jutra Award for best documentary in 2008. His 2011 documentary (The Private Life of Cinema) follows the path of filmmakers who never gave up on their dream to produce feature-length fictions films and create a Quebec film industry. [2] With Joanne Robertson, he created a web production, Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts, to celebrate the National Film Board of Canada's 75th anniversary in 2014. [3]
| Year | French Title | English Title | Roles | Theme | Others | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | La Dame aux poupées | The Doll Lady | director-screenwriter producer | Mme. Boudreault shares her two-story cottage with over 400 dolls, which give her free rein to dream and explore her fantasies | cinematography: Hélène Choquette, Denis-Noel Mostert editing: Vincent Guignard | Best short film, Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois [1] |
| 1998 | Contre le temps et l'effacement, Boris Lehman... | Boris Lehman, filmmaker | director-screenwriter producer cinematographer | Friends, filmmakers, critics, and crew offer their understanding of Boris Lehman, Belgian filmmaker | [4] | Best short film, Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois |
| 1999 | Almanach | Almanach 1999-2000 | director-screenwriter | At the brink of year 2000, a time when Nostradamus and other prophets predicted doomsday, a cosmic meltdown, Almanach 1999-2000 takes a humorous look at the world of divination. | ||
| 2001 | Mon oeil pour une caméra | My Eye for a Camera | director-screenwriter cinematographer | Fascinated by the power of the camera and obsessed with the theories of Russian film pioneer Dziga Vertov, a filmmaker decides to get a camera eye to replace the real eye he lost as a child. | Nominated, Jutra Award for best documentary | |
| 2003 | Moi Robert "Bob" | Me Bob Robert | director-screenwriter producer cinematographer | |||
| 2005 | Histoire d'être humain | Being Human | director-screenwriter cinematographer | [5] | ||
| 2005 | Pierre et le Sou | Peter and the Penny | director-screenwriter producer cinematographer | Celebrating his 50th birthday, intellectually challenged Peter's family want to break open his piggy bank to find a rare and valuable American penny. | Co-director, co-writer, co-producer: Stéphane Thibault Co-cinematographer: Julie Perron Editor: Stéphane Lafleur | Best short fiction film, 2006 Festival Images en vue |
| 2006 | Le direct avant la lettre | Rebels with a Camera | director-screenwriter | Where does cinéma vérité come from? Who were its predecessors and what did they create? Compelled by the urge to get closer to the people in front of the camera, cinema vérité sprouted in a context of unprecedented creative freedom. | Best medium-length documentary, Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois | |
| 2007 | Au pays des colons | The Great Resistance | director-screenwriter cinematographer | In the 1930s, in the throes of the Great Depression, the government of Quebec relocated more than 80,000 citizens to found a new settlement in the virgin forests of Quebec's Abitibi region. | Nominated, Jutra Award for best documentary [6] | |
| 2008 | Retour en Amérique | Back to the New World | director-screenwriter producer | |||
| 2009 | De l'office au box-office | From NFB to Box-Office | director-screenwriter producer | The film documents the development of Quebec cinema, from the founding of the National Film Board of Canada in 1939 to the creation of the Canadian Film Development Corporation in 1968, recounting the stories of Quebec filmmakers who never gave up on their dream to produce feature-length fiction films, and creating a Quebec film industry. | [7] | |
| 2011 | La vie privée du cinéma | The Private Life of Cinema | director-screenwriter producer | An in-depth two part exploration of the evolution of the private Quebec film industry, through the eyes of more than 50 industry professionals. | [2] | |
| 2013 | Kapadokya | Kapadokya | director-screenwriter producer cinematographer | |||
| 2014 | Mes 7 lieux | producer | ||||
| 2015 | La guerre des bleuets | The War of the Blueberries | producer | |||
| 2017 | La Zone | The Zone | director-screenwriter producer cinematographer | [8] [9] | ||
| 2020 | Le Château | The Castle | director-screenwriter producer | Nominated, Prix Iris for best editing [10] | ||
| 2021 | L'industrie de la vieille$$e | The Industry of Oldne$$ | director-screenwriter producer cinematographer | Best digital component for a documentary show or series, Prix Gémeaux | ||
| 2022 | J'ai placé ma mère | I Lost My Mom | director-screenwriter producer cinematographer | Gémeaux Awards for Best Original Production for Digital Media: Documentary and Best Canadian Feature Documentary [11] |
The history of cinema in Quebec started on June 27, 1896 when the Frenchman Louis Minier inaugurated the first movie projection in North America in a Montreal theatre room. However, it would have to wait until the 1960s before a genuine Quebec cinema industry would emerge. Approximately 620 feature-length films have been produced, or partially produced by the Quebec film industry since 1943.
Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre, born in Murdochville in 1978, is a Quebec director and producer of animated films. She is an associate professor at Université Laval, a theorist, and an author on women's animation cinema.
The Prix Iris is a Canadian film award, presented annually by Québec Cinéma, which recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly francophone feature film industry in Quebec. Until 2016, it was known as the Jutra Award in memory of influential Quebec film director Claude Jutra, but Jutra's name was withdrawn from the awards following the publication of Yves Lever's biography of Jutra, which alleged that he had sexually abused children.
Léa Pool C.M. is a Canadian and Swiss filmmaker who taught film at the Université du Québec à Montréal. She has directed several documentaries and feature films, many of which have won significant awards including the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, and she was the first woman to win the prize for Best Film at the Quebec Cinema Awards. Pool's films often opposed stereotypes and refused to focus on heterosexual relations, preferring individuality.
Benoît Charest is a Canadian guitarist and film score composer from Quebec. He is best known for the soundtrack of the animated film The Triplets of Belleville (2003), for which he won a César Award for Best Music Written for a Film as well as a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music. The song "Belleville Rendez-vous", in particular, earned him an Academy Award nomination as well as a Grammy Award nomination.
The Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma is a festival created in 1982 to celebrate the cinematographic production of Quebec, Canada.
My Eye for a Camera is a 2001 autofiction film by Quebec film director Denys Desjardins.
The Great Resistance is a 2007 documentary film by Quebec film director Denys Desjardins. This length feature is produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).
Luc Bourdon is a Canadian documentary filmmaker and video artist from Quebec known for his 2008 film The Memories of Angels. His other films have included La Grande Bibliothèque (2005), Classes de Maîtres (2009) and Une vie pour deux (2013).
François Delisle is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor, actor, and composer.
The Prix Luc-Perreault, formerly known as the Prix L.-E.-Ouimet-Molson, is an annual Canadian film award, presented by the Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma to a film deemed to be the best film of the year from Quebec, from among the films screening at that year's Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma.
Stereotypes is a Canadian fantasy short film, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and released in 1991. The film centres on a woman who turns into a monster, and plunges her husband into a surreal alternate world, after he cheats on her.
Over My Dead Body is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Brigitte Poupart and released in 2012. The film is a portrait of Dave St-Pierre, a dancer and choreographer from Montreal who is urgently awaiting a lung transplant due to his lifelong battle with cystic fibrosis.
The Prix Iris for Best Documentary Film is an annual film award presented by Québec Cinéma as part of its Prix Iris program, to honour the year's best documentary film made within the cinema of Quebec.
The Prix Iris for Best Animated Short Film is an annual film award presented by Québec Cinéma as part of its Prix Iris program, to honour the year's best animated short film made within the cinema of Quebec.
Heaven is a Canadian comedy-drama film, directed by Jean-Sébastien Lord and released in 2000. The film stars Jocelyn Blanchard as Jacques Sauvé, the owner of a failing bar in Montreal whose relationship with his girlfriend Sophie is also under strain as he is dying of cancer; meanwhile, in heaven, guardian angels are trying to help out under the supervision of Nebuchadnezzar and Ivan the Terrible while Jesus Christ, who has been the boss ever since God took retirement, is too busy trying to find his new girlfriend's g-spot to pay much attention to the actual operations of the workplace.
Félix Dufour-Laperrière is a Canadian animator, film director and screenwriter from Chicoutimi, Quebec. He is most noted for his 2021 film Archipelago (Archipel), which was the winner of the Prix Luc-Perreault from the Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma at the 2022 Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma.
Howard Jefferson Lewis is a Canadian screenwriter and film producer from Montreal, Quebec. He is most noted as the writer of the film Ordinary Magic, for which he was a Genie Award nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 15th Genie Awards in 1994.
François Dauteuil, born in 1957, is a former Canadian filmmaker and television director. He began his career in the television series La Course autour du monde and later gained wider recognition through his short and medium-length drama movies, which earned him a Best Director Award and Best Soundtrack Award at the Yorkton Film Festival.
Robert Monderie is a Canadian documentary filmmaker from Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. He is most noted for several films he co-directed with Richard Desjardins, including Forest Alert , The Invisible Nation and The Hole Story .
