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François Girard is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter, Executive producer and Set Decoration Canadien born on 12 january 1963 at Saint-Félicien (Canada)

François Girard

François Girard
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Nationality Canada
Birth 12 january 1963 (61 years) at Saint-Félicien (Canada)

François Girard (born January 12, 1963) is a French-Canadian director and screenwriter particularly noted for his innovative film Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. Born in Quebec, Girard's career began on the Montreal art video circuit. In 1990, he produced his first feature film, Cargo; he attained international recognition following his 1993 Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, a series of vignettes about the life of piano prodigy Glenn Gould. In 1998, he wrote and directed The Red Violin, which follows the ownership of a red violin over several centuries. The Red Violin won an Academy Award for Best Original Score, thirteen Genie Awards and nine Jutra Awards.

He has also directed various works for the stage, including Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, Oedipus Rex and Novencento at the Edinburgh International Festival; Kafka's The Trial, adapted for the stage by Serge Lamothe at the National Arts Centre, Ottawa; the oratorio Lost Objects at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; Siegfried in Toronto; and The Lindbergh Flight and The Seven Deadly Sins, first in Lyon and then in Edinburgh. Girard has also produced a residency show for Cirque du Soleil, Zed, in Tokyo and Zarkana, which opened at Radio City Music Hall in New York in the summer of 2011.

His television credits include Le dortoir, Peter Gabriel's Secret World and The Sound of the Carceri, one of the six episodes of Yo Yo Ma Inspired by Bach.

Biography

Girard grandit à Charlesbourg, en banlieue de Québec, au sein d'une famille aisée où l'éducation était une valeur importante.

Après un certificat en communication à l'université du Québec à Montréal, il abandonne sa carrière académique pour se lancer dans le cinéma. En 1985, il fonde sa propre compagnie avec laquelle il réalise des fictions qui reçoivent de nombreux prix. Il écrit et réalise une douzaine de courts métrages ainsi que divers vidéoclips.

En 1990, il se lance dans un premier long métrage avec Cargo. Trois ans plus tard, c'est Trente-deux films brefs sur Glenn Gould (Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould) qui obtient quatre prix Génies à Toronto et est diffusé dans plus de trente pays.

En Italie, il tourne le film du concert Peter Gabriel’s Secret World, Grammy Award du meilleur film musical en 1994.

Il réalise divers projets pour la télévision avant de lancer en 1998 son grand succès, Le Violon rouge. Acclamé à travers le monde et récipiendaire de neuf prix Jutra et de huit prix Génie. Ce long métrage est déclaré meilleur film canadien et reçoit une vingtaine de récompenses dont l’Oscar de la meilleure musique de film à Hollywood.

Il signe l’adaptation de la pièce Le Dortoir de Gilles Maheu qui récolte seize prix au Canada, aux États-Unis, en France, Belgique et Italie.

Artiste accompli, son travail ne connaît pas de frontières, François Girard voyage aisément entre l'opéra, les arts visuels, le théâtre et le cinéma.

En 1997, il met en scène Œdipus rex (Œdipe roi) et la Symphonie de Psaumes d’Igor Stravinsky. The Guardian, de Londres, la désigne « Meilleure production théâtrale de l’année » en Angleterre. En 2001, c’est Novecento : Pianiste d’Alessandro Baricco à Montréal et Édimbourg. À New York, il signe la mise en scène de l’oratorio contemporain Lost Objects puis de Siegfried de Richard Wagner au Canadian Opera Company.

En 1999, installation de La Paresse, au musée d'art contemporain de Montréal.

En 2004, il signe la mise en scène de la pièce Le Procès dans une adaptation de l'écrivain Serge Lamothe qui a été présentée au Théâtre du Nouveau Monde à Montréal et à Ottawa. «Le procès de Kafka occupe une place très particulière dans l'histoire de la littérature du XX siècle. Nous avons cherché à garder l'esprit du livre » explique-t-il.

À l’opéra de Lyon, François Girard a mis en scène Le Vol de Lindbergh et Die sieben Todsünden (Les Sept Péchés capitaux) de Bertolt Brecht et Kurt Weill en juin 2006, repris au festival international d'Édimbourg la même année. Il a d’ailleurs remporté à trois reprises le prix « Herald Angel » pour la meilleure production au festival d’Edimbourg. Cette production sera d'ailleurs présentée en février 2009 lors de l'ouverture du festival Montréal en lumière à la place des Arts.

En 2007, il tourne, au Japon et en Italie, l'adaptation du roman Soie d'Alessandro Baricco.

En 2008, François Girard signe la mise en scène de ZED, nouveau spectacle permanent du Cirque du Soleil à Tokyo.

Best films

The Red Violin (1998)
(Director)

Usually with

Don McKellar
Don McKellar
(4 films)
Niv Fichman
Niv Fichman
(5 films)
Carlo Cecchi
Carlo Cecchi
(2 films)
David La Haye
David La Haye
(2 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of François Girard (8 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Last Night
Last Night (1998)
, 1h35
Directed by Don McKellar
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Comedy, Romance
Themes Films about religion, Films set in the future, Political films, Dystopian films, Disaster films
Actors Don McKellar, Sandra Oh, Roberta Maxwell, Tracy Wright, Callum Keith Rennie, Sarah Polley
Roles Wild Guy #1
Rating70% 3.5458153.5458153.5458153.5458153.545815
Set in Toronto at an unknown date, Last Night tells the story of how a variety of intersecting characters spend their final evening on Earth. It seems the world is to end at midnight as the result of a calamity that is not explained, but which has been expected for several months. There are several scenes of an ominously glowing sun, which gets progressively larger and brighter even into the night.
Last Night
Last Night (1998)
, 1h7
Directed by Don McKellar
Origin France
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Comedy, Romance
Actors Sandra Oh, Don McKellar, Roberta Maxwell, Sarah Polley, Charmion King, David Cronenberg
Roles Wild Guy #1
Rating70% 3.5458153.5458153.5458153.5458153.545815
La fin du monde est annoncee pour le 31 decembre 1999 a minuit. Apres la panique, les habitants de Toronto ont finalement accepte cette fatalite et quelques personnages vont se demener pour organiser une fin parfaite. Des complications de derniere minute viennent brouiller leur programme. Mais le destin est la, qui bien sur bouleversara leurs previsions et decidera seul de la meilleure maniere d'en finir. Prix de la jeunesse Cannes 1998.

Director

Hochelaga, Land of Souls
Directed by François Girard
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Adventure, Historical
Actors Vincent Pérez, Siân Phillips, David La Haye, Gilles Renaud, Linus Roache, Caroline Dhavernas
Rating63% 3.1867153.1867153.1867153.1867153.186715
Pendant que se déroule à Montréal une partie de football sous la pluie, une section du terrain du stade Percival-Molson s'effondre. Baptiste Asigny, un étudiant au doctorat d'archéologie d'origine mohawk, découvre là les traces de ceux qui ont habité l'île de Montréal alors qu'elle était une bourgade nommée Hochelaga.
Boychoir
Boychoir (2014)
, 1h43
Directed by François Girard
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Josh Lucas, Debra Winger, Sissy Spacek, Garett Wareing
Rating67% 3.3508553.3508553.3508553.3508553.350855
Stet is a troubled and angry 12-year-old from the wrong side of the tracks. His single mother dies, after which his father brings him to an elite music academy, the fictitious National Boychoir Academy, which is a boarding school, because Stet can sing well, and because the father has a new wife and two daughters, and keeps it secret to them that he has a son from another woman. Stet is admitted due to his talent but also the generous amount of money the father pays them.
Silk
Silk (2007)
, 1h47
Directed by François Girard
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Historical, Romance
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films
Actors Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, Alfred Molina, Kenneth Welsh, Miki Nakatani, Martha Burns
Rating58% 2.900222.900222.900222.900222.90022
Hervé (Michael Pitt), in 19th century France, is a military officer, because that is what his father wants. He is happy when he gets the opportunity to change his profession to that of trader of silkworm eggs. Because in Europe silkworms are affected by a disease (pébrine), he is sent to Africa to get healthy eggs. (The film shows only a brief desert scene.)
The Red Violin, 2h20
Directed by François Girard
Origin Italie
Genres Drama, Thriller, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about children, Films about music and musicians, Politique, Films about classical music and musicians, Musical films, Political films, Enfant musicien, Violon
Actors Samuel L. Jackson, Colm Feore, Monique Mercure, Irene Grazioli, Don McKellar, Sylvia Chang
Rating75% 3.7984353.7984353.7984353.7984353.798435
The film frames the history of the "Red Violin" around a Canadian auction in 1997, where the violin is at the centre of multiple bids by interested parties, and a tarot card reading in 1681, where a violinmaker's wife has her future read for herself and her unborn child (and, by extension, that of the violin).

Scriptwriter

Hochelaga, Land of Souls
Directed by François Girard
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Adventure, Historical
Actors Vincent Pérez, Siân Phillips, David La Haye, Gilles Renaud, Linus Roache, Caroline Dhavernas
Roles Writer
Rating63% 3.1867153.1867153.1867153.1867153.186715
Pendant que se déroule à Montréal une partie de football sous la pluie, une section du terrain du stade Percival-Molson s'effondre. Baptiste Asigny, un étudiant au doctorat d'archéologie d'origine mohawk, découvre là les traces de ceux qui ont habité l'île de Montréal alors qu'elle était une bourgade nommée Hochelaga.
Silk
Silk (2007)
, 1h47
Directed by François Girard
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Historical, Romance
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films
Actors Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, Alfred Molina, Kenneth Welsh, Miki Nakatani, Martha Burns
Rating58% 2.900222.900222.900222.900222.90022
Hervé (Michael Pitt), in 19th century France, is a military officer, because that is what his father wants. He is happy when he gets the opportunity to change his profession to that of trader of silkworm eggs. Because in Europe silkworms are affected by a disease (pébrine), he is sent to Africa to get healthy eggs. (The film shows only a brief desert scene.)
The Red Violin, 2h20
Directed by François Girard
Origin Italie
Genres Drama, Thriller, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about children, Films about music and musicians, Politique, Films about classical music and musicians, Musical films, Political films, Enfant musicien, Violon
Actors Samuel L. Jackson, Colm Feore, Monique Mercure, Irene Grazioli, Don McKellar, Sylvia Chang
Roles Writer
Rating75% 3.7984353.7984353.7984353.7984353.798435
The film frames the history of the "Red Violin" around a Canadian auction in 1997, where the violin is at the centre of multiple bids by interested parties, and a tarot card reading in 1681, where a violinmaker's wife has her future read for herself and her unborn child (and, by extension, that of the violin).

Producer

Silk
Silk (2007)
, 1h47
Directed by François Girard
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Historical, Romance
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films
Actors Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, Alfred Molina, Kenneth Welsh, Miki Nakatani, Martha Burns
Roles Executive producer
Rating58% 2.900222.900222.900222.900222.90022
Hervé (Michael Pitt), in 19th century France, is a military officer, because that is what his father wants. He is happy when he gets the opportunity to change his profession to that of trader of silkworm eggs. Because in Europe silkworms are affected by a disease (pébrine), he is sent to Africa to get healthy eggs. (The film shows only a brief desert scene.)

Art

Cold Showers, 1h42
Directed by Antony Cordier
Origin France
Genres Drama
Themes L'adolescence, Films about children, Films about sexuality, Sports films, LGBT-related films, Martial arts films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Johan Libéreau, Pierre Perrier, Steve Tran, Salomé Stévenin, Florence Thomassin, Jean-Philippe Écoffey
Roles Set Decoration
Rating59% 2.9973252.9973252.9973252.9973252.997325
Mickael (Johan Libereau) is from a poor working class family - his father Gérard (Jean-Philippe Ecoffey) is a taxi cab driver who lost his license and then his job as a result of a police roadblock targeting drivers under the influence of alcohol. His mother Annie (Florence Thomassin) works as a cleaning woman in the high school gym: After this they have a tough time financially. Not a great student, Mickael excels in judo and his life is focused on his sport and on his girlfriend Vanessa (Salomé Stévenin). One of Mickael's teammates Clément (Pierre Perrier) is from a wealthy family: his father Louis Steiner (Aurelien Recoing) uses a wheelchair and his mother Mathilde (Claire Nebout) is a woman of the world and society. Louis decides to sponsor the judo team, buys them outfits, and asks Mickael to work with Clement to perfect his technique and prepare the judo team for a French championship.