Fernand Bélanger

Born in 1943 in Rivière-du-Loup, the experimental Quebec filmmaker Fernand Bélanger seamlessly blends fiction, documentary, improvisation, and animation techniques in his works. Between 1969 and 1985, he directed seven films for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). His first creation, the short film Ti-cœur (1969), mixes fiction and documentary to paint a portrait of Montreal and its inhabitants. His next project, the dramatic feature film Ty-Peupe (1971), illustrates the disillusionment of Quebec youth with the society in which they live. Bélanger's third film, the feature-length documentary De la tourbe et du restant (1979), co-directed with Louise Dugal and Yves Angrignon, focuses on the exploitation of boglands in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. A few years later, he directed L’émotion dissonante (1984), a feature-length documentary that takes an original approach to the topic of drug use among young people. In 1984, he reunited with Dugal and Angrignon for the short film L’après-cours, a satellite project to the previous film. Love Addict (Offenbach), a complex and magnificent tribute to the legendary Quebec rock band, followed in 1985. Co-directed with animation filmmaker Pierre Hébert, the film was selected for the Annecy Festival. He then co-directed Passiflora (1985) with Dagmar Gueissaz-Teufel, presenting an experimental portrait of otherness in Montreal. Outside of the NFB, Fernand Bélanger directed two other films: Bandes-hommages 100 ans de cinéma (1996) and À voir Cuba (2005). He passed away in 2006.