Jean-François Laguionie (born 10 October 1939 in

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerla ...

) is a French animator,

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, ...

and

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

of animation.

Biography

Laguionie was originally interested in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

but his encounter with Paul Grimault gave him the opportunity to learn the techniques of animated film. Though they were very close to each other, Paul Grimault and Jean-François Laguionie rarely worked together (though Grimault produced Laguionie's first three shorts). Jean-François Laguionie then directed several short films, climaxing with the now famous '' La Traversée de l'Atlantique à la rame'' (''Rowing across the Atlantic'') (1978), which the

Short Film Palme d'Or The Short Film Palme d'Or (french: Palme d'Or du court métrage) is the highest prize given to a short film at the Cannes Film Festival. Since the creation of the Cinéfondation section in 1998, a common Official Jury awards the Short Film Pal ...

at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival, the Grand Prize at the 1978

Ottawa International Animation Festival The Ottawa International Animation Festival is an annual animated film and media festival that takes place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The OIAF was founded in 1975, with the first festival held from August 10 to 15 in 1976. Initially organized by ...

and the César Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 4th César Awards. He has also been a friend of

Michel Ocelot Michel Ocelot (born 27 October 1943) is a French writer, designer, storyboard artist and director of animated films and television programs (formerly also animator, background artist, narrator and other roles in earlier works) and a former presid ...

, whose short film ''Les Trois inventeurs'' was shot in Laguionie's home studio and used the magnet-aided method of

cutout animation Cutout animation is a form of stop-motion animation using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or photographs. The props would be cut out and used as puppets for stop motion. The world's ...

invented by him. While working on his first feature-length animated film, ''

Gwen, or the Book of Sand ''Gwen, or the Book of Sand'' (french: Gwen, ou le livre de sable) is a 1985 French animated science fiction film written and directed by Jean-François Laguionie, using gouache. It is alternatively known as ''Gwen'', ''Gwen and the Book of Sand ...

'' (''Gwen, le livre de sable'') in 1985, "Jef" founded the animation studio "La Fabrique". Though appreciated by critics, ''Gwen'' only received rather limited popular acclaim.

Later works

His second feature film, ''

Le Château des singes ''A Monkey's Tale'' (french: Le Château des singes; literally "The Castle of Monkeys") is a feature-length animated film directed by Jean-François Laguionie. It was released in 1999, and won the Award for Best Animated Feature Film at the fifth ...

'' (''A Monkey's Tale''m co-directed with Xavier Picard) premiered in 1999. It received the Award for Best Animated Feature Film at the 5th

Kecskemét Animation Film Festival Kecskemét Animation Film Festival () (KAFF) is an animated film festival held biennially during the month of June in Kecskemét, Hungary. Although the bulk of the festival is oriented toward efforts in Hungarian animation, the associated KAFF-s ...

. His third feature '' L'Île de Black Mór'' (''The Island of Black Mór''), appeared in 2003. In 2011, Laguionie completed work on '' Le Tableau'' (''The Painting''), a feature-length film which utilized a blend of animation and

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

. The film won the award for Best Feature Film at the 8th Festival of European Animated Feature Films and TV Specials.

Filmography

* 1965: ''La Demoiselle et le violoncelliste'' (''The Lady and the Cellist'') (short) * 1969: ''Une Bombe par hasard'' (''A Random Bomb'') (short) * 1971: ''Plage privée'' (''Private Beach'') (short) * 1978: '' Rowing Across the Atlantic'' (''La Traversée de l'Atlantique à la rame'') (short) * 1985: ''

'' (''Gwen, le livre de sable'') (feature film) * 1999: '' A Monkey's Tale'' (''Le Château des singes'') (feature film) * 2003: ''

Black Mor's Island ''Black Mor's Island'' () is a 2004 French animated adventure film directed by Jean-François Laguionie. Set in 1803, it follows a 15-year-old boy who sets out to find a buried pirate treasure. The film was released in France on 11 February 2004. ...

'' (''L'Île de Black Mór'') (feature film) * 2011: ''

The Painting ''The Painting'' (french: Le Tableau) is a 2011 French animated film directed by Jean-François Laguionie. Plot For mysterious reasons, a Painter has left a work incomplete - causing conflict between the Toupins (Allduns), who are entirely pai ...

'' (''Le Tableau'') (feature film) * 2016: ''

Louise by the Shore ''Louise by the Shore'' (; ) is a 2016 French animated drama film directed by Jean-François Laguionie and starring Dominique Frot. It follows an elderly woman who spends the winter in an empty French seaside town, with only her memories and imagin ...

'' (''Louise en hiver'') (feature film) * 2019: ''The Prince's Voyage'' (''Le Voyage du Prince'') (feature film)Languionie's 'Prince Voyage' Journeys to U.S. with Shout! Studios, Animation Magazine
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References

External links

*
Jean-François Laguionie
at La Fabrique
Jean-François Laguionie
at association française du cinéma d'animation

(interview)
Commentary on ''Rowing Across the Atlantic'' on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laguionie, Jean-Francois 1939 births Living people French comics writers French animators French animated film directors French animated film producers Film people from Besançon French male writers