Claude Jutra

Claude Jutra
Born Claude Jutras
(1930-03-11)March 11, 1930
Montreal, Quebec
Died November 5, 1986(1986-11-05) (aged 56)
Montreal, Quebec
Occupation Film director
Screenwriter
Actor
Years active 1949 - 1985

Claude Jutra (French pronunciation: ​[klod ʒytʁa]; March 11, 1930 – November 5, 1986) was a Canadian actor, film director and writer.[1]

The Prix Jutra, and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's Claude Jutra Award, were named in his honor because of his importance in Quebec cinema history.[2] The awards were renamed in 2016 following the publication of allegations that he had sexually abused underage children during his lifetime, as were streets named for him.[3]

Life and career

Jutra was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec as Claude Jutras.[1] His father, Albert Jutras, was a noted radiologist and a director of the Collège des médecins du Québec.[1] He made the short films Dément du lac Jean-Jeunes and Mouvement perpétuel before graduating from the Université de Montréal with a degree in medicine,[1] but turned to filmmaking instead of medical practice after completing his degree.[1] He went to work at the National Film Board of Canada where he trained in all facets of filmmaking, although his first film for the NFB, 1953's Trio-Brio, was permanently lost when the organization moved its head office from Ottawa to Montreal.[1] As a filmmaker, he dropped the s from his surname, a common Québécois surname, because the Jutra spelling was more unique and distinctive.

In 1958 he went to France to work with François Truffaut and Jean Rouch.[1]

With financing and production provided by the National Film Board, Jutra co-wrote and directed the acclaimed 1971 film Mon oncle Antoine as well as directing several cinema vérité shorts such as Wrestling and The Devil's Toy. He also co-directed with Norman McLaren and starred in the pixilation short A Chairy Tale. He was offered the Order of Canada in 1972 but declined because he was a Quebec separatist.[4]

In 1984, he was awarded the Prix Albert-Tessier, given to individuals for an outstanding career in Québec cinema.

Death

Jutra was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease in the early 1980s.[5] He was reported missing on November 5, 1986.[6] His body was found in the St. Lawrence River in April 1987, with a note in his pocket reading "Je m'appelle Claude Jutra" ("My name is Claude Jutra");[5] an autopsy later confirmed drowning as his cause of death.[5]

Controversy

In 2016, thirty years after Jutra's death, journalist Yves Lever wrote in the book Claude Jutra, biographie that Jutra was a pederast.[7] Lever said that "one of Jutra's victims was under 14 years old."[7] He also maintained that Jutra's proclivities were known by many people in the industry, but nobody made a big deal out of it.[7] Lever's allegations were not officially proven, as no victims publicly came forward; however, in the wake of the allegations, Québec Cinéma held an emergency meeting to discuss changing the name of the Prix Jutra.[8]

On February 17, 2016 La Presse published an interview with an alleged victim of Jutra, who requested to remain anonymous, relating sexual contact ranging from embrace to oral sex from the time the victim was 6 to 16.[9] On the same day and based on the information in the same article, the Minister of Culture of Quebec, Hélène David, asked Cinéma Québec to remove the name Jutra from its prizes recognizing cinematic achievements in Quebec, which they did.[2][10] She also mandated the Commission de toponymie (Quebec Toponymy Commission), a sub-agency of Office québécois de la langue française which reports to the Minister of Culture, to assemble a list of all streets and public places in the province bearing the name Jutra.[10] On the same day, Montreal mayor Denis Coderre announced that the city will remove Jutra's name from streets and parks in its jurisdiction.[11]

Selected films

As actor

As director

Jutra made his debut as a director with Le dément du lac Jean-Jeunes - it explored themes that remained throughout his work, a nostalgia for childhood, madness, and troubled waters.

His collaboration with Michel Brault began at this early period. Mouvement perpétuel was influenced by Jean Cocteau's Le Sang d'un poète. L'École de la peur (1953) was the first television film made in Quebec. Towards the end of the 1950s he moved to France and François Truffaut, who became a friend, asked him to direct a Cocteau scenario, Anna la Bonne(1959). In 1960 Jutra returned to Canada.

Fiction

Documentaries

Awards (Won)

Canadian Film Awards

Awards (Nominated)

Genie Awards

Film Festival Award Nominations

Moscow International Film Festival

Film Festival Wins

Venice Film Festival

Film about Claude Jutra

Jutra's close friend, filmmaker Paule Baillargeon, directed the feature documentary Claude Jutra: An Unfinished Story in 2002.[14]

Legacy

Besides the film awards (Claude Jutra Award and Jutra Award), a number of places bear or bore Jutra's name, all found in Quebec:[15]

Multiple parks and streets are scheduled to be renamed.[3]

See also

Further reading

Books and thesis

Articles

References

External links

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