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 Switzerl ...

) is a French

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video gam ...

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 producer 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 perform ...

but his encounter with

Paul Grimault Paul Grimault (; 23 March 1905 – 29 March 1994) was one of the most important French animators. He made many traditionally animated films that were delicate in style, satirical, and lyrical in nature. His most important work is ''Le Roi et l' ...

gave him the opportunity to learn the techniques of animated film. Though they were very close to each other,

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 La ''Cinéfondation'' is a foundation under the aegis of the Cannes ...

at the

1978 Cannes Film Festival The 31st Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 30 May 1978. The Palme d'Or went to the L'albero degli zoccoli by Ermanno Olmi. This festival saw the introduction of a new non-competitive section, 'Un Certain Regard', which replaces 'Les Yeux ...

, 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 The César Award for Best Animated Short Film is a French film award, that was awarded by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma from 1977 to 1990. Combined with the César Award for Best Animated Film from 2011 to 2013, this award has ...

at the

4th César Awards The 4th César Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, honoured the best French films of 1978 and took place on 3 February 1979 at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. The ceremony was chaired by Charles Vanel and ho ...

. He has also been a friend of

Michel Ocelot Michel Ocelot (born 27 October 1943) is a French Screenwriter, writer, Production designer, designer, storyboard artist and Film director, director of animation, animated films and television programs (formerly also animator, background artist, n ...

, 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 ea ...

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''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-spo ...

. 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 A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival con ...

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 ''Rowing Across the Atlantic'' () is a 1978 French animated short film directed by Jean-François Laguionie. The film was scripted by Laguionie and Jean-Paul Gaspari and features the voices of Charlotte Maury and Jean-Pierre Sentier. It premiered ...

'' (''La Traversée de l'Atlantique à la rame'') (short) * 1985: ''

'' (''Gwen, le livre de sable'') (feature film) * 1999: ''

A Monkey's Tale ''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 ...

'' (''Le Château des singes'') (feature film) * 2003: '' Black Mor's Island'' (''L'Île de Black Mór'') (feature film) * 2011: '' The Painting'' (''Le Tableau'') (feature film) * 2016: '' Louise by the Shore'' (''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