Michel Brault

Michel Brault
Born (1928-06-25)25 June 1928
Montreal, Canada
Died 21 September 2013(2013-09-21) (aged 85)
Toronto, Canada
Occupation Cinematographer
Film director
Screenwriter
Years active 1958–2013

Michel Brault, OQ (25 June 1928 – 21 September 2013)[1] was a Canadian cinematographer, cameraman, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He was a leading figure of Direct Cinema, characteristic of the French branch of the National Film Board of Canada in the 1960s. Brault was a pioneer of the hand-held camera aesthetic.[2]

Career and death

In the 1960s, Brault collaborated with the French Nouvelle Vague, notably with Jean Rouch, and introduced the cinéma vérité techniques in Europe. He directed his first documentary short film for the National Film Board, the influential Les Raquetteurs in 1958.[3] He was also the cinematographer for a number of key Canadian films of the 1970s such as Claude Jutra's Kamouraska and Mon Oncle Antoine and Francis Mankiewicz's Les Bons débarras.

In 1974, Brault directed Les Ordres, about the 1970 October crisis and won the 1975 Cannes Film Festival award for best director and the 1975 Canadian Film Award for best direction. His 1989 film The Paper Wedding was entered into the 40th Berlin International Film Festival.[4]

Brault died of a heart attack on the afternoon of 21 September 2013, while en route to the Film North – Huntsville International Film Festival, where he was to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.[5] According to festival founder Lucy Wing, Brault had arrived at Pearson International Airport after a flight from his home in Montreal, accompanied by his son, Sylvain. Brault had begun the drive north to Huntsville by limousine when he began to feel ill, approximately one hour after his arrival in Toronto.[6]

Honours and distinctions

Selected films

Over the course of his career, Brault worked as a director or cinematographer on over 200 films.[7] Some of the most notable of these films include:

As director

Fiction

Documentaries

As cinematographer

References

  1. ↑ (French) "Le cinéaste Michel Brault s'est éteint" Radio Canada. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "Michel Brault". Film Reference Library. 2003. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  3. ↑ "Introduction for the 2007 Canadian Retrospective". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  4. ↑ "Berlinale: 1990 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
  5. 1 2 Howell, Peter (22 September 2013). "Quebec film legend Michel Brault, who directed Mon oncle Antoine, dies". Toronto Star. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  6. ↑ Vézina, François (22 September 2013). "Michel Brault s’éteint à l’âge de 85 ans". The Canadian Press (in French) (Montreal: Métro). Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "Michel Brault - Oeuvres 1958-1974 Works". National Film Board of Canada.

External links

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