The students in Canadian Culture through Films were treated to a talk by award-winning filmmaker Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre. Born in Murdochville, Québec, Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre is a filmmaker based in Montreal, Canada. She obtained a B.F.A. Honors in Film Animation and an M.F.A. in Film Production from The Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University. Marie-Josée’s animated documentary work shows new approaches in nonfiction storytelling, blurring the lines between documentary and drama. Marie-Josée founded MJSTP Films, an animation and documentary production company in 2004. Overall, her film work has been screened at over 150 prestigious festivals around the world while receiving many awards.
During our class, the award-winning director and film animator screened several of her short animation and documentary films that she has directed, including Passages, The Sapporo Project and McLaren’s Negatives, the 2007 JUTRA award winner for best animated film – an homage to iconic Canadian filmmaker Norman McLaren. She also showed the class a short film that she co-produced, The Delian Mode (directed by Kara Blake). Marie-Josée then discussed her current projects, directing two mid-length animated documentary films: Femelles, an exploration of Quebec woman going through motherhood, as well as Jutra, a portrait of the legendary Quebec filmmaker Claude Jutra.
Marie-Josée also discussed issues related to getting funding in Canada, in order to help produce her films. Specifically, the students learned some great tips about writing grants and an artistic statement to accompany the grants. Some of the organizations that provide the most significant funding in Canada for filmmakers include SODEC, Canada Council for the Arts, and Quebec Arts Council. Overall, a very informative and enjoyable class!