Jean-Claude Labrecque

Jean-Claude Labrecque (1938–2019) was a Québécois filmmaker, cinematographer, and editor. He began his career at the National Film Board of Canada at the age of 18, where he learned the fundamentals of camera work. As a director of photography, he contributed to major productions by filmmakers such as Claude Jutra (À tout prendre, 1963), Gilles Groulx (Le chat dans le sac, 1964), and Gilles Carle (La vie heureuse de Léopold Z, 1965). He also made his debut as a documentary producer at the NFB with 60 Cycles, a short film about the Tour cycliste du Saint-Laurent. Over a career spanning more than 40 years, Labrecque built an impressive filmography of some forty films he directed and some twenty others he co-directed—along with three television series. Throughout his work, his passion for the life and history of Quebec never wavered. Together with Jean-Pierre Masse, he directed the landmark triptych La nuit de la poésie. Produced decades apart, each of the three films gives voice to the poets of its time. He also chronicled Quebec’s cultural life in works such as 67 Bis, boulevard Lannes (1990), André Mathieu, musicien (1993), and L’aventure des compagnons de Saint-Laurent (1997). In 2002, he directed a hard-hitting documentary on the history of the first sovereignist political party, which existed between 1960 and 1968: Le RIN. The following year, in À hauteur d’homme (2003), Labrecque filmed then–Premier Bernard Landry with unflinching candour during the final weeks of his government. A passionate advocate of cinema and culture, Jean-Claude Labrecque served as president of the Cinémathèque québécoise from 1976 to 1978, of the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois from 1991 to 1993, and of the board of directors of the Jutra Awards from 2001 to 2004. In 1992, he was awarded the Prix Albert-Tessier by the Government of Quebec in recognition of his body of work and his career in cinema.