The films of Fernand Dansereau

Fernand Dansereau is a Quebec filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter born in 1928 in Montreal. In 1950, after completing his classical studies, he became a journalist at Le Devoir, where he was in charge of labor relations. Dansereau joined the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in 1955. There, he held various roles in the film industry, including on-screen host, screenwriter, director, producer, and finally, head of French-language production. As a producer, he contributed to several landmark works of the golden age of direct cinema: Golden Gloves by Gilles Groulx, Bûcherons de la Manouane by Arthur Lamothe, and Pour la suite du monde by Pierre Perrault, Michel Brault, and Marcel Carrière.

In 1968, he directed Saint-Jérôme, one of the first documentaries made within the Social Research Group. He continued this approach with a film scripted and performed by thirteen Montreal residents, Tout le temps, tout le temps, tout le temps... ? (1969) and Comité d'expression populaire (1970). He then left the NFB for the private sector, continuing to produce or direct more than fifty films. He also contributed to the development of foundational Quebec cinema institutions, serving as the president of the Institut Québécois du Cinéma (now SODEC) and founding INIS (National Institute of Image and Sound). He also made his mark on Quebec television by writing for four series, including the adaptation of Arlette Cousture’s work Les filles de Caleb (1990-1991).

In the early 2000s, he made a portrait of his aging cousin, the ecologist Pierre Dansereau (Quelques raisons d'espérer). Old age then marked a new phase in his career, leading him to create a documentary trilogy on the subject. As a true elder statesman of Quebec cinema, Dansereau remains creatively active, notably painting and preparing a film as an artistic testament.