Gilles Carle

Gilles Carle OC GOQ July 31 1928 November 28 2009 was a French Canadian director screenwriter and painter Gilles Carle who was a key figure in the development of a commercial Quebec cinema worked as a graphic artist and writer before he joined the National Film Board of Canada in 1960 His innovative debut feature La Vie heureuse de Léopold Z tracked the adventures of a snowplough operator during a madcap Christmas Eve But after the NFB rejected several of his projects he began working independently In 1971 Carle joined forces with Pierre Lamy to form Les Productions CarleLamy which produced Claude Jutras epic Kamouraska Denys Arcands early features and all his early films The quirkily paced protofeminist La Vraie Nature de Bernadette widely regarded as his best film and Le Mort dun bûcheron eventually led to the more mainstream but graceful Les Plouffe and the epic love story Maria Chapdelaine both classics of Quebec cinema In 1972 Carle won the Canadian Film Award for best Director for his The True Nature of Bernadette In 1990 he was awarded the Government of Quebecs Prix AlbertTessier In 1997 Carle received a Governor Generals Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement Canadas highest honour in the performing arts In 1998 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada In 2007 he was made a Grand Officer of the Ordre National du Quebec Description above from the Wikipedia article Gilles Carle licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia