The films of Jean-François Lesage
After studying law, Jean-François Lesage began his career as a journalist for Radio-Canada television in Alberta and British Columbia. At the end of the 90s, everything changed: shaken by the discovery of Chinese cinema, he flew to Beijing. He lived there for six years and made his first creative documentary, Sweet Nights Sour Nights (2004), then with his brother Philippe Lesage, How Can You Tell if the Little Fish are Happy? (2009). Back in Montreal, he directed A Mile End Tale (2013), closing film for Visions du Réel 2014, then A Summer Love (2015), winner of the Grand Prize for Best Canadian Feature at the RIDM. This was followed by The Hidden River (2017), Special Jury Prize Canadian feature at the RIDM, and his sixth film, Prayer for a Lost Mitten (2020), Best Canadian Feature Film Award at Hot Docs.
3 products
A Summer Love
It’s summer in Montreal and everyone is in love… except you. Late at night, on the mountain that overlooks the city, couples lay in the grass and linger in after-hours picnics, bodies move in closer towards one another, glances are exchanged. You roam from gathering to gathering, from budding couple to budding couple, never able to feel this fever, nor to embrace it. You want to feel their wond...
A Mile End Tale
When the human soul experiences a rupture, it can seem irreconcilable. Is there an antidote to heartbreak? Wandering through his neighbourhood after dusk, a young man, searching for answers, inspires friends and strangers to open their hearts to him. Encounters, confessions, slips: the autumn night sheds inhibitions.
The Hidden River
In the heart of a deep forest runs a river. On its banks, men and women sit and talk, opening up to one another. In this remote setting conducive to reflection, they wonder what it takes to attain inner peace, debate the wisdom of passing something on to future generations, and realized that, in love, the perfect "soulmate" is a near-impossible ideal. The sun sets behind the mountains and the s...
A Summer Love
It’s summer in Montreal and everyone is in love… except you. Late at night, on the mountain that overlooks the city, couples lay in the grass and linger in after-hours picnics, bodies move in closer towards one another, glances are exchanged. You roam from gathering to gathering, from budding couple to budding couple, never able to feel this fever, nor to embrace it. You want to feel their wond...
A Mile End Tale
When the human soul experiences a rupture, it can seem irreconcilable. Is there an antidote to heartbreak? Wandering through his neighbourhood after dusk, a young man, searching for answers, inspires friends and strangers to open their hearts to him. Encounters, confessions, slips: the autumn night sheds inhibitions.
The Hidden River
In the heart of a deep forest runs a river. On its banks, men and women sit and talk, opening up to one another. In this remote setting conducive to reflection, they wonder what it takes to attain inner peace, debate the wisdom of passing something on to future generations, and realized that, in love, the perfect "soulmate" is a near-impossible ideal. The sun sets behind the mountains and the s...
