Arthur Lamothe, (December 7, 1928 – September 18, 2013) was a French-Canadian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

Biography

Born in Saint-Mont, France, Lamothe immigrated to Canada in 1953 and immediately got a job as a lumberjack in the Abitibi region of northern Quebec. In 1954 he began studying economics at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...

. During his time as a student he became interested in cinema and began writing for several film publications. After graduating in 1958, he was immediately hired as a writer for

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

. In 1961 he was hired by the NFB and wrote ''Dimanche d'Amérique'', his first screenplay, which became the first film by

Gilles Carle Gilles Carle, (July 31, 1928As fully funny, Carle had pleasure to always give himself one year less, and to let people think wrongly that he was born in 1929, "The Year of the Big World Crash": see on the Quebec French newspapers that many writer ...

. In 1962 he directed his first film, a short documentary entitled ''Bûcherons de la Manouane''. He directed his first feature-length fiction work in 1965, ''Poussière sur la ville''; the film was not successful and Lamothe returned to documentary films. Lamothe has only made a handful of fiction films during his career, and he is best known and most respected for his documentaries. In his films, Lamothe most frequently explored social and economic themes, as well as activism for issues he passionately supported, especially with regard to Aboriginal people. In 1980 he was awarded the

Prix Albert-Tessier The Prix Albert-Tessier is an award by the Government of Quebec that is part of the Prix du Québec, given to individuals for an outstanding career in Quebec cinema. It is awarded to script-writing, acting, composing music, directing, producing a ...

and in 1995 was made a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

Gilles Vigneault Gilles Vigneault (; born 27 October 1928) is a Canadian poet, publisher, singer-songwriter, and Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist. Two of his songs are considered by many to be Quebec's unofficial anthems: " Mon pays" and " Gens du pays", ...

's "

Mon Pays "Mon pays" ("My Country", or "My Homeland", in English) is a song composed by Quebec singer-songwriter Gilles Vigneault in 1964.Suzanne Thomas, Stephen C. Willis and Hélène Plouffe"Mon Pays" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', November 20, 2011. T ...

" was written for Lamothe's 1965 film ''

The Snow Has Melted on the Manicouagan ''The Snow Has Melted on the Manicouagan'' (french: La neige a fondu sur la Manicouagan) is a Canadian dramatic docufiction film, directed by Arthur Lamothe and released in 1965.Gerald Pratley, ''A Century of Canadian Cinema''. Lynx Images, 2003. ...

(La neige a fondu sur la Manicouagan)''.Suzanne Thomas, Stephen C. Willis and Hélène Plouffe
"Mon Pays"
''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

'', November 20, 2011.

Selected filmography

Features

*''

(La neige a fondu sur la Manicouagan)'' - 1965 *''

Dust from Underground ''Dust from Underground'' (french: Poussière sur la ville) is a Canadian drama film, directed by Arthur Lamothe and released in 1968.Gerald Pratley, ''A Century of Canadian Cinema''. Lynx Images, 2003. . p. 67. Adapted from the novel by André ...

(Poussière sur la ville)'' - 1968 *''

Equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...

(Équinoxe)'' - 1986 *''Ernest Livernois, photographe'' - 1988 *''Silencing the Guns (Le silence des fusils)'' - 1996

Documentaries

*''

Manouane River Lumberjacks ''Manouane River Lumberjacks'' (french: Bûcherons de la Manouane) is a Canadian short documentary film, directed by Arthur Lamothe and released in 1962. Considered an important milestone in the Cinema of Quebec,Marc-André Lussier"Arthur Lamoth ...

(Bûcherons de la Manouane)'' (Short, 1962) *''De Montréal à Manicouagan'' (Short, 1963 *''La moisson'' (Short, 1966) *''Le train du Labrador'' (Short, 1967) *''Au-delà des murs'' (Short, 1968) *''Ce soir-là, Gilles Vigneault...'' (1968) *''Actualités québécoises'' (Series, 1969) *''Pour une éducation de qualité'' (Series of 6 Shorts, 1969) *''Le mépris n'aura qu'un temps'' (1970) *''Un homme et son boss'' (Short Co-Directed with Guy Borremans, 1970) *''Révolution industrielle'' (Short, 1970) *''Le train du roi'' (Short, 1970) *''La machine à vapeur'' (Short, 1971) *''Le monde de l'enfance'' (Short, 1971) *''Le technicien en arpentage minier'' (Short, 1971) *''A bon pied, bon oeil'' (Short, 1972) *''Les gars de Lapalme'' (Short Co-Directed with François Dupuis, 1972) *''Special Delivery'' (Short Co-Directed with François Dupuis, 1972) *''La route du fer'' (Short, 1972) *''Le système de la langue française'' (Series of 7 Shorts, 1972) *''A propos de méthodes'' (Series of 5 Shorts, 1973) *''Chronique des indiens du Nord-est du Québec'' (Series, 1973-1980) *''Carcajou et le péril blanc'' (Series of 3 Features and 5 Shorts, 1973-1980) *''La terre de l'homme'' (Series of 4 Features and 1 Short, 1973-1980) *''Qui? Quoi? Pourquoi?'' (Short, 1973) *''Te promènes tu souvent sur un lapin?'' (Short, 1973) *''Ti-Louis mijote un plan...'' (Short, 1973) *''Voyage sans détour'' (Short, 1974) *''La chasse aux Montagnais'' (Short, 1974) *''C'est dangereux ici'' (Short, 1978) *''Le collet à lièvre'' (Short, 1978) *''Le piège à martre'' (Short, 1978) *''La raquette'' (Short, 1978) *''Montage de la tente'' (Short, 1978) *''Géographie Montagnaise'' (Short, 1978) *''Vous avez droits, les autres aussi'' (Short, 1980) *'' Thunder Drum (Mémoire battante)'' (Series of 3 Features, 1982-1983) *''Cultures amérindiennes'' (Series of 80 videos, 1984-2004) *''La conquête de l'amérique'' (Series of 2 Features, 1990-1992) *''L'écho des songes'' (1993) *''Dix portraits'' (Series, 1998) *''La terre mère'' (1998) *''Du rêve au libéralisme'' (1999) *''Mémoire antérieure'' (Series of 13 Shorts, 2005) *''Les pêcheurs acadiens de l'Île Lamèque'' (2007)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamothe, Arthur 1928 births 2013 deaths Canadian documentary film directors Canadian documentary film producers Canadian screenwriters in French French emigrants to Quebec Film directors from Quebec National Film Board of Canada people Canadian television directors Members of the Order of Canada People from Gers Université du Québec à Montréal alumni Canadian Broadcasting Corporation people Prix Albert-Tessier winners