Making Movie History: The Women

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.

This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts.

As a young man, Denys Arcand had his heart set on history. He fell into cinema by happenstance, only to become Quebec's most famous director--a winner several times over at Cannes and recipient of the 2003 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. His beginnings wer auspicious. While making a student film in 1961, Arcand was assigned an extraordinary crew that included Brault, Groulx, Carrière and Gosselin. His new friends found a place for him at the NFB, and the agency became his school. He honed his craft alongside cameraman Bernard Gosselin and watched as Pour la suite du monde took form in a neighbouring editing suite. Inspired by this creative foment, he went on to make a remarkable series of films. Referencing Machavielli, classical tragedy, or biblical scripture, the iconoclastic Arcand challenges and stimulates, exploring contemporary Quebec with fearlessness and humour.

This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts.

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).

This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts.

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.

This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts.

One of the overlooked giants of Canadian film and broadcasting, Pierre Juneau played a key role in NFB history and in ensuring the place of the francophones within the agency. He arrived in 1949, having been involved in film clubs through a Catholic youth group. By 1954, at the age of 32, he was Assistant Regional Supervisor and official French Advisor. He was instrumental in the decision to relocate NFB headquarters to Montreal in 1956, a move that played a vital role in the evolution of Quebec cinema. When a fully independent French program was established in 1964, Juneau was appointed its first director. In 1968, he was appointed President of the Bureau of Broadcast Governors, later renamed the CRTC, and in 1982 he became President of the CBC, Canada's public broadcaster. He is remembered as one of Canadian culture's great public servants.

This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts.

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.

This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts.

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.

This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts.

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).

This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts.

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.

This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts.

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.

This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts.

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).

This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts.