Philippe Lesage

Philippe Lesage is a Canadian film director and screenwriter from Quebec. Originally a documentary filmmaker, he moved into narrative feature filmmaking in the 2010s with the films Copenhague: A Love Story, The Demons (Les Démons) and Genesis (Genèse).

Born in Saint-Agapit, Quebec and raised in Longueuil and Montreal,

The Demons premièred at San Sebastian International Film Festival in Official Competition. It has since been selected in more than 70 festivals around the world and has won several awards. The Demons was selected in Guy Lodge's Top Ten Films of 2015 in Variety and in the Toronto International Film Festival Canada's Top Ten. It won the Golden Gate New Director Prize at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 2016 and the Quebec Film Critic Association honoured the film with its two annually awards: Best Canadian film of 2015 and Best Film from the International Competition of the Montreal Film Festival of New Cinema.

In 2018, he directed Genesis (Genèse). Premiered at the Locarno Festival in the International Competition, the film has won numerous awards including the Golden Wolf (Festival of New Cinema, Montreal), Best Film and Best Director Awards at Seminci in Valladolid (Spain) and Best Film at Los Cabos International Film Festival'(Mexico) festivals. The film was also selected at the renowned Museum of Modern Art and Film Society of Lincoln Center's New Directors/New Films Festival, AFI FEST, and Rotterdam Film Festival. It ranked #16 best films of 2019 by Metacritic.

His next film, Who by Fire (Comme le feu) was selected in the Generation 14plus section at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 17 February and won the Grand Prix of the International Jury of Generation.

Lesage has also taught documentary filmmaking at the European Film College in 2008–2009.

Films

2006: Pourrons-nous vivre ensemble? 2009: How Can You Tell If the Little Fish Are Happy? (Comment savoir si les petits poissons sont heureux?) 2010: The Heart that Beats (Ce cœur qui bat) 2012: Laylou 2015: The Demons (Les Démons) 2016: Copenhague: A Love Story 2018: Genesis (Genèse) 2024: Who by Fire (Comme le feu)

Awards and nominations

2010: Award for Best National Documentary, RIDM 2010: Award for Best New Director, RIDM 2012: Jutra Award 2012, Best Documentary 2015: Critic Award (AQCC) for Best Film, International Competition, Festival of New Cinema, 2015 2016: Nomination for Best Film, Gala du Cinema Quebecois 2016: Nomination for Best Director, Gala du Cinéma Québécois 2016: Gilles-Carles Award for Best First or Second feature fiction film 2016: Luc-Perreault Award / AQCC for Best Film from Quebec 2016: Nomination for Best Film, Canadian Screen Awards 2016: Nomination for Best achievement in Directing, Canadian Screen Awards 2016: Nomination for The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award 2016: Titanic Award for Best Film, International Competition, Budapest 2016: Golden Gate New Director Prize, San Francisco International Film Festival 2018 : Golden Wolf for Best Feature Film International Competition Festival du nouveau cinéma 2018 : Golden Spike for Best Feature Film International Competition Valladolid International Film Festival 2018 : Best Director Valladolid International Film Festival 2018 : Best Feature Film Award International Los Cabos International Film Festival