Philippe Falardeau (born February 1, 1968 in

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

, Quebec) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter.

Early life

Falardeau was born and raised in

Hull, Quebec Hull is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of the Canadia ...

. He later studied political science at the University of Ottawa, before travelling around the world for the Quebec competitive television series ''Course Destination Monde'', on which he emerged as the Grand Prize winner.

Career

2000–2010: Early work

His first feature film, ''

The Left-Hand Side of the Fridge ''The Left-Hand Side of the Fridge'' (french: La Moitié gauche du frigo) was the first full-length feature film by Canadians, Canadian film director Philippe Falardeau, released in 2000.Gerald Pratley, ''A Century of Canadian Cinema''. Lynx Image ...

(La Moitié gauche du frigo)'' (2000) won Best Canadian First Feature at the

2000 Toronto International Film Festival The 2000 Toronto International Film Festival, the 25th annual festival, ran from September 7 to September 16, 2000. Along with special events to commemorate the anniversary, there were a total of 330 films screened. There was a special screening of ...

and received a Best Screenplay nomination at the Quebec-based

Jutra Awards The Prix Iris is a Canadian film award, presented annually by Québec Cinéma, which recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly francophone feature film industry in Quebec. Falardeau also received the Claude Jutra Award at the Canadian

Genies Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...

(now called Canadian Screen Awards), in 2001 for this film. For his work on his second film, '' Congorama'' (2006), Falardeau won a Genie Award in 2007 for Best Original Screenplay.

2011: Breakthrough with ''Monsieur Lazhar''

Falardeau received much press attention following the release of his 2011 film '' Monsieur Lazhar.'' The film premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award and the Variety Piazza Grande Award. It also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2011, the Whistler Film Festival in December 2011, and selected for the

2012 Sundance Film Festival The 2012 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 until January 29, 2012 in Park City, Utah. 64 short films were selected for the festival from 7,675 submissions, including 27 international shorts from 3,592 submissions. Non-competition ...

. Following a wave of critical acclaim, the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, and also won six Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture. At Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 97%, based on 110 reviews and an average rating of 8.1/10. ''Monsieur Lazhar'' grossed $2,009,517 in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and $4,572,398 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $6,581,915 USD. Telefilm Canada credited it, along with ''

Incendies ''Incendies'' (; "Fires") is a 2010 Canadian drama film directed by Denis Villeneuve, who co-wrote the screenplay with Valérie Beaugrand-Champagne. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's play of the same name, ''Incendies'' stars Lubna Azabal, Mélis ...

'' (2010) and other films, with doubling domestic and worldwide gross on its works in 2011.

2012–present: Further success

In 2014, he directed the film '' The Good Lie'', which stars Reese Witherspoon and premiered at the

2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin's film '' The Judge'', starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duv ...

to positive reviews. He followed this up with ''

My Internship in Canada My or MY may refer to: Arts and entertainment * My (radio station), a Malaysian radio station * Little My, a fictional character in the Moomins universe * ''My'' (album), by Edyta Górniak * ''My'' (EP), by Cho Mi-yeon Business * Market ...

'' (2015), which premiered at the

2015 Toronto International Film Festival The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's ''Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naom ...

. In 2015, Falardeau directed the film '' Chuck'', which depicts the life of the heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, played by Liev Schreiber, and his 1975 fight with the heavyweight champion,

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2016, and was subsequently released on May 5, 2017, by IFC Films. The film received positive reviews; on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 79%, based on 70 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. Falardeau's film '' My Salinger Year'' (2020), starring Margaret Qualley and Sigourney Weaver, opened the

70th Berlin International Film Festival The 70th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 20 February to 1 March 2020. It was the first under the leadership of new Berlin Film Festival heads, business administration director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director C ...

Filmography

*''

(La Moitié gauche du frigo)'' (2000) *'' Congorama'' (2006) *'' It's Not Me, I Swear! (C'est pas moi, je le jure!)'' (2008) *'' Monsieur Lazhar'' (2011) *'' In the Name of the Son'' (2012) *'' The Good Lie'' (2013) *''

'' (2015) *'' Chuck'' (2016) * '' My Salinger Year'' (2020)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Falardeau, Philippe 1968 births Living people French Quebecers Film directors from Quebec Best Screenplay Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian screenwriters in French Writers from Gatineau Best Director Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Best First Feature Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male screenwriters Best Director Jutra and Iris Award winners