Julien Élie

Julien Élie is a Canadian documentary filmmaker from Quebec, most noted for his films Dark Suns (Soleils noirs) and The White Guard (La Guardia blanca).

He began his career with a supporting role as Pierre in the 1984 film The Dog Who Stopped the War (La Guerre des tuques), but later worked as a boom operator on films rather than continuing an acting career. He followed up with The Last Meal (Le Dernier repas), about prisoners on death row in Texas, in 2003.

Dark Suns and The White Guard both focused on the issue of violent crime in Mexico.

Filmography The One Who Knew (Celui qui savait) - 2001 The Last Meal (Le Dernier repas) - 2003 Dark Suns (Soleils noirs) - 2018 The White Guard (La Guardia blanca) - 2023 Shifting Baselines - 2025

Awards

Award Date Category Recipient Result DOXA Documentary Film Festival 2019 Colin Low Award Dark Suns (Soleils noirs) Filmfest Hamburg 2019 Sichtwechsel Film Award Montreal International Documentary Festival 2018 Grand Prize, National Feature 2023 Magnus Isacsson Award The White Guard (La Guardia blanca) Student Jury Award Prix Iris 2020 Best Documentary Film Dark Suns (Soleils noirs)