Rock Demers, (December 11, 1933August 17, 2021) was a Canadian
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 ...
. He was the founder of the film company ''Les Productions la Fête'' and produced the '' Tales for All'' film series for children.
Early life
Demers was born in
Sainte-Cécile-de-Lévrard, Quebec
Sainte-Cécile-de-Lévrard is a parish municipality in the Centre-du-Québec region of the province of Quebec in Canada.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Sainte-Cécile-de-Lévrard had a population ...
, on December 11, 1933. He was raised in rural Quebec, and described his childhood as "very
poor
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little
, but very happy". He initially studied to become a teacher, before obtaining a diploma in audio-visual technology at the École Normale de St. Cloud in Paris. He then travelled around Europe and Asia for two years, during which he became acquainted with Vojta Jasny, Břetislav Pojar, and Krzysztof Zanussi.
Career
After returning to Canada, Demers started his career in the film industry. He began with film distribution in 1960, before becoming manager of the Montreal World Film Festival two years later, serving in that capacity until 1967. He co-established the Cinémathèque québécoise in 1963 and started Faroun Films in 1965. Initially focusing on the distribution of children's films, the latter company eventually expanded to art and experimental film as well as production. Demers left Faroun Films in 1978, one year after being appointed president, and later director general, of the Institut Québécois du Cinéma (IQC).
Demers quit the IQC in June 1979 and went on to create Les Productions la Fête the following year. Now able to produce his own films, he developed the '' Tales for All'' (''Contes pour tous'') film series. He envisioned twelve films and had already commissioned scripts for eight of them prior to the commencement of filming for the first. The first film in the series, ''
The Dog Who Stopped the War
''The Dog Who Stopped the War'' (french: La guerre des tuques, lit. "The Tuque War") is a 1984 Canadian drama film directed by André Melançon. The film was the first in the '' Tales for All (Contes pour tous)'' series of children's movies created ...
'' (''La guerre des tuques''), was influenced by an article that Demers read in '' La Presse'' covering youth suicide. The films were eventually co-produced overseas, and translated into other languages. The series ultimately had 24 feature films, with the last (''The Outlaw League'') being released in 2014.
Awards and honors
Demers was awarded the
Albert Tessier Prize
Albert may refer to:
Companies
* Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic
* Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands
* Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia
* Albert Productions, a record label
* Albert C ...
in 1987 by the
government of Quebec
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
. He was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in November 1991, before being promoted to companion in May 2007. He received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, in 1998. Demers was also conferred the
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...
, as well as the
Giffoni Film Festival
The Giffoni International Film Festival is an Italian children's film festival which takes place annually in Giffoni Valle Piana, Campania. It began in 1971. The Giffoni International Film Festival typically has around 100,000 guests and has had ...
's
François Truffaut Award
The François Truffaut Award ( it, Premio François Truffaut) was an Italian film award, named in memory of French director François Truffaut, that was awarded from 1988 to 2014 at the Giffoni Film Festival.
Recipients
* 1988: Ida Di Benedett ...
.
Later life
Demers sold ''Les Productions la Fête'' to director Dominic James in 2015. He died shortly after midnight on August 17, 2021, at the
Montreal Heart Institute
The Montreal Heart Institute (MHI) (French: ''Institut de Cardiologie de Montréal''), in Montreal, Quebec, is a specialty hospital dedicated to the development of cardiology, which is affiliated with the Université de Montréal. The MHI is found ...
. He was 87, and suffered from
heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
complications prior to his death.
Selected filmography
* ''
The Christmas Martian
''The Christmas Martian'' (french: Le Martien de Noël) is a Canadian children's Christmas comedy film, directed by Bernard Gosselin and released in 1971.Gerald Pratley, ''A Century of Canadian Cinema''. Lynx Images, 2003. . p. 42. The film stars ...
(Le Martien de Noël)'' - 1971
* '' Maria Chapdelaine'' (1983), appeared in film as an actor
* ''
The Dog Who Stopped the War
''The Dog Who Stopped the War'' (french: La guerre des tuques, lit. "The Tuque War") is a 1984 Canadian drama film directed by André Melançon. The film was the first in the '' Tales for All (Contes pour tous)'' series of children's movies created ...
The Young Magician
is a fantasy ''shōjo'' manga written and illustrated by Yuri Narushima.
Plot
Incorporating multiple sub-plots, ''The Young Magician'' focuses on two young men—Carno Guino, a magician whose soul fuses with demons, and Ibuki Shikishima, who ...
(Le Jeune Magicien)'' (1987)
* ''
The Great Land of Small
''The Great Land of Small'' (french: C'est pas parce qu'on est petit qu'on peut pas être grand!) is a 1986 Canadian fantasy children's film. It was written by David Sigmund and directed by Vojtěch Jasný. The film starred Michael J. Anderson i ...
Vincent and Me
''Vincent and Me'' ( French-language title: ''Vincent et moi'') is a 1990 French Canadian fantasy film. The movie was directed by Michael Rubbo and is the 11th in the '' Tales for All (Contes Pour Tous)'' series of children's movies created by ...
(Vincent et moi)'' (1990)
* ''Reach for the Sky (La Championne)'' (1990)
* ''The Case of the Witch Who Wasn't (Pas de répit pour Mélanie)'' (1990), also appeared as an actor
* ''The Clean Machine (Tirelire Combines & Cie)'' (1992), also appeared as an actor
* ''The Return of Tommy Tricker'' (1994)
* ''Hathi, the Elephant'' (2000)
* '' Summer with the Ghosts'' (2003)
* '' A Cargo to Africa (Un cargo pour l'Afrique)'' (2009)