RETROSPECTIVE JEANNINE GAGNÉ
Jeannine Gagné has been devoting her life to film since the 1980s, and her involvement in this milieu started when she founded Cinéma femmes and began defending film and independent video. Her uninhibited style is testament to her dedication to the notion of the individual and each individual's particular path. Above all, she encourages the sharing of emotions and the exploration of certain aspects of humanity. Gagné proves herself to be admirably authentic in her approach to film, her intelligence and her flexibility in choosing her subjects and her dedication to her work.

In 1986, Gagné, a director who explores several different aesthetics, completed her first professional film, Entre temps, the story of a young pregnant woman. She then directed the NFB film Drôle de fille (1987), and after acting as assistant director for several films, signed on as director for Bébé bonheur, a documentary about teen mothers, and Aube urbaine, a poetic documentary that mingles fact with fiction. This film didn't pass unnoticed, and in 1995 it won Best Short Film at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois as well as at the Festival international du cinéma documentaire de Nyon, Visions du Réel.

At the end of the 1990s, Gagné joined the Les Films de l'Autre collective and completed her transformation into a producer who risks creating meaningful, original films, including Rosaire et la Petite Nation (1996) with Benoit Pilon and La Position de l'escargot (1999) with Michka Saäl. While making La Position de l'escargot, she founded Amazone Film, giving her more freedom and independence in her work. In 2002, ce qui lui donne plus de liberté et d'indépendance dans son travail. En 2002, she produced and directed her first full-length film, Au fil de l’eau. She also produced several documentaries including Benoit Pilon's Roger Toupin (Gémeau 2005, Jutra 2004) and Gilles Carle ou l'indomptable imaginaire, directed by Charles Binamé (winner of the Best Documentary Jutra in 2005). Her latest production, Jennifer Alleyn's L’Atelier de mon père, won the award for Best Canadian Work at FIFA in 2008. Her next film, a full-length feature co-written with Jacques Marcotte, is currently in preproduction.

It is an honour for the Festival to have the opportunity to present this look back at Jeannine Gagné's career in short film, and to highlight the huge influence this producer and director has had on the short film genre.

I FILMS FEATURED IN THE RETROSPECTIVE I

SANS FAIRE D’HISTOIRE (1978)
Best Documentary at the Canadian Student Film Festival ›16 min 10 s
This direct style documentary, created with director Michel Lamothe, is a portrait of an era. While following the daily doings of a young girl living in Montreal's Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood, we are introduced to the area and its people.
Presented at the beginning of the Competition 6 program

AUBE URBAINE (1995)
Essay documentary ›16 min 22 s
This film takes the viewer on a winter stroll with a young woman in the awakening city.
Presented at the beginning of the Competition 3 program

SOLITUDES (2005)
Essay documentary › 22 min
In several North American cities, the number of single-person homes are quickly surpassing family homes. Solitudes takes us to the homes of 64 people of all ages and backgrounds, offering touching glimpses into single life with an ever-present television linking these people together.
Played in a loop on the rue Racine . Urban Drive-In

TURBULENCE À LA PÉRIPHÉRIE D’UNE RENCONTRE (AMOUREUSE?) (2008)
Fiction › By Jeannine Gagné, written by Jacques Marcotte
A writer – who doesn't write – meets a woman out of the blue. This accidental, improbable meeting resurrects the demons in his life. A gently ironic story about the difficulty of being with others, of life and of loving one another.
Presented at the beginning of the Competition 8 program


Over the last editions, the Festival presented some looks back at :
2008 : Pierre Hébert
2007 : Jean-François Rivard
2006 : Les courts des grands _ Les grands courts
2005 : Rétrospective animée – Cinéastes belges francophones à l’honneur
2004 : Pierre Falardeau
2002 : Robert Morin
2001 : Guillaume Demers
2000 : Patrick Boivin
1999 : Francis Leclerc