Francine Allaire

Francine Allaire has worked in Quebec’s television, film, digital media, and cultural sectors for nearly five decades. While studying Communications at Concordia University, she co-directed Une bien belle ville (1976), a documentary exploring housing issues in Montreal’s working-class neighbourhoods. In 1978, she co-directed The Big Sweep with Sylvie Groulx. She subsequently worked with women’s groups and citizens’ committees that used film and video as tools for community engagement. Throughout her career, she has contributed to numerous films, television series, and documentaries reflecting her social, humanitarian, and cultural concerns. At Galafilm, she served as both executive producer and producer on twelve documentary and fiction projects, including La classe de Madame Lise, a film by Sylvie Groulx. Francine Allaire is also a co-founder of Cinéma Libre and the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois. From 1979 to 1984, she founded and presided over Films Transit alongside Jan Rofekamp. She subsequently worked at Telefilm Canada, where she was responsible for festivals and served as Director of International Marketing, before joining the Cinémathèque québécoise as Director of Communications and Special Projects. Throughout the 1990s, she undertook several consulting assignments for various organizations, including the National Film Board of Canada, Max Films Communications, and Rogers Communications. She later became Director of Educational Services at L’inis. She continued her career at Radio-Canada as Director of Drama and Feature Films, followed by Senior Director of Television Cultural Strategy, a position she held until March 2018.