Jacques Giraldeau

Jacques Giraldeau (1927-2015) was a Canadian documentary filmmaker from Quebec. He spent most of his career at the National Film Board of Canada and became known primarily for his films about the history of Quebec as seen through the eyes of its artists. He had a fondness for the avant-garde and many of his films are considered to be experimental.

Biography Giraldeau was born and raised in Montreal, and studied sociology and philosophy at the Université de Montréal where, with Jacques Parent, he co-founded Quebec's first film club. He also co-founded the Student Film Commission, acted as editor of the magazine Découpages and contributed film criticism to the newspaper Le Front Ouvrier.

Upon graduation, Giraldeau moved to Ottawa and joined the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), where he became friends with Michel Brault. In 1953, he left the NFB and set up his own company, Studio 7, through which he produced programming for Radio-Canada (CBC Quebec), including the 39-episode series for young people, Petites Médisances, which he and Brault created in the Direct Cinema style—Giraldeau called it "image journalism". In 1962, he returned to the NFB and remained there until his retirement in 1995, returning in 2007 for an NFB co-production, The Fleeting Shadow of Things, which is one of his best-known films.

With Guy L. Coté, and others, Giraldeau co-founded the Association of Quebec Directors and, in 1964, the Museum of Canadian Cinema, "Cinémathèque Canadienne", which would become the Cinémathèque Québécoise. Also in 1964, Giraldeau organized North America's first international symposium on sculpture; the Montreal event became his award-winning film The Shape of Things.

At the 1995 International Festival of Films on Art, a formal tribute was paid to Giraldeau. It was also the occasion of the NFB's release of many of Giraldeau's films in a VHS compilation; an expanded, 13-DVD compilation was released in 2009.

In 1996, Giraldeau was awarded the Prix Albert-Tessier, the lifetime achievement award in cinema from the Quebec government's Prix du Québec. In 2000, the Canada Council awarded him the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts

Filmography

National Film Board of Canada La neige a neigé - documentary short 1951 - director, co-editor with Douglas Tunstell Monastery - documentary short, Roger Blais 1951 - writer, French script The Puppeteers - documentary short 1952 - director Eye Witness No. 48: Modes by Mail, Sentinel in the Gulf, School for Test Pilots 1953 - co-cinematographer with Gordon Burwash, Jean Roy, Grant McLean and John Foster The Gold Seekers (La soif d’or) - documentary short, Robert Russell 1962 - co-cinematographer with Gilles Gascon and Jim Wilson La soif d’or - documentary short, 1962 - directed the French version of The Gold Seekers Le vieil âge - documentary short 1962 - director Lonely Boy - documentary short, Roman Kroitor and Wolf Koenig 1962 - narrator (French) Lewis Mumford on the City, Part 3: The City and Its Region - documentary short 1963 - co-cinematographer and co-director with 8 others Lewis Mumford on the City, Part 4: The Heart of the City - documentary short 1963 - co-cinematographer and co-director with 15 others Lewis Mumford on the City, Part 5: The City as Man’s Home - documentary short 1963 - co-cinematographer and co-director with 6 others Lewis Mumford on the City, Part 6: The City as Man’s Home - documentary short 1963 - co-cinematographer and co-director with 13 others Down Through the Years - documentary short 1964 - writer, director Le diable est dans la ferme - short film, Hubert Fielden 1964 - co-producer with Jacques Bobet The Shape of Things - documentary short 1965 - writer, director, co-editor with Marc Beaudet Give Me a Hand - short film 1965 - editor, director Element 3 - documentary 1966 - writer, director Gros-Morne - documentary 1967 - director Les fleurs c'est pour Rosemont - documentary 1969 - director We Are All... Picasso! - documentary 1969 - director Faut-il se couper l'oreille? - documentary short 1970 - director Zoopsie - experimental short 1973 - writer, editor, animator, producer, director La fougère et la rouille ou Collage 2 - documentary 1974 - director Puzzle - animated short 1976, writer, animator, director La Toile d'araignée - documentary feature 1979 - photography, graphics, writer, director, co-cinematographer with Thomas Vámos and Pierre Mignot, co-producer with Marc Beaudet A Québécois Rediscovered: Joseph Légaré 1795-1855 - Raymond Brousseau 1980 - producer Opéra zéro - animated short 1984 - animator, director Moving Picture - short film 1988 - writer, director Le Tableau noir - documentary feature 1989 - director La Toile blanche - documentary feature 1989 - director The Irises - animated short 1991 - co-director with Suzanne Gervais Les amoureux de Montréal - documentary feature 1992 - writer, cinematographer, director Blanc de mémoire - documentary feature 1995 - director The Fleeting Shadow of Things - documentary feature 2007 - writer, cinematographer, director, co-producer with Yves Bisaillon

Studio 7 Petites Médisances - TV series, 39 episodes, 1954-1955 - producer and director Les Bateaux de Neige - TV film 1956 - director En Roulant Ma Boule - short film 1956 - cinematographer, director Viendra le Jour - short film 1957 - producer, director

Awards

Les Bateaux de neige (1956) 12th Canadian Film Awards, Toronto: Best Film, Arts and Experimental, 1960

The Shape of Things (1965) Festival of Cultural Films, La Felguera: Silver Panera – Best Documentary Film, 1966

Element 3 (1966) Electronic, Nuclear and Teleradio Cinematographic Review, Rome: Grand Prize for Cinematographic Technique 1967 Salerno Film Festival, Salerno: First Prize – Trophy of the Festival, 1970

We Are All... Picasso! (1969) Venice Film Festival, Venice: Bronze Medal, Films on Art, 1970 National Festival of Films about Art, National Museum in Kielce Poland, Second Prize, 1972

Moving Picture (1988) International Association of Printing House Craftsmen, Montreal: Gutenberg Award, First Prize, 1988

The Irises (1991) Montreal World Film Festival, Montreal: Jury Award, Short Films, 1991

Blanc de mémoire (1995) Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Toronto: Best Direction, 1996