''The Bird Fancier'' (french: L'Homme aux oiseaux) is a Canadian short drama film, directed by Bernard Devlin and

Jean Palardy Jean Palardy (1905November 28, 1991) was a French-Canadian painter, art historian, ethnologist and filmmaker. Biography Born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Palardy moved with his family to Canada as a child in 1908, one of eight children. He was ...

and released in 1952. Written by

Roger Lemelin Roger Lemelin, (April 7, 1919 – March 16, 1992) was a Quebec novelist, television writer and essayist. Biography Lemelin was born in Quebec City. From 1944 to 1952, he was a Canadian correspondent for the American magazines ''Time'' and ...

, the film tells the story of a man whose passion for birds is bordering on obsession, distracting him from both his family life and his career.Gary Evans, ''In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989''. University of Toronto Press, 1991. . p. 22. The film's cast includes Camille Fournier, Annette Leclerc, René Constantineau and

Roger Lebel Roger Lebel (June 5, 1923 – June 18, 1994) was a Canadian actor. Career Label was born in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, Canada. A Québécois character actor, Roger Lebel began his career on stage and in radio. He started to show up movies in the ...

. The first French-language film made by the National Film Board of Canada as an original production rather than a straight translation of an English-language film, the film faced some internal controversy on the grounds that as a film intended for Canada's francophone minority, its production was too expensive to justify given the relatively small size of its potential audience. To resolve the controversy, the filmmakers included some English-language dialogue in the film and marketed it as an opportunity for English Canadian audiences to learn about Quebec culture. Quebec film historian Pierre Véronneau later characterized the controversy as evidence of the NFB's "assimilationist" attitude toward French Canada; conversely, English Canadian film historian Gary Evans linked the issue to the political situation in Quebec, noting that the tight controls exerted on film distribution by the government of Maurice Duplessis left the NFB without a secure outlet for screening French-language productions until the launch of Télévision de Radio-Canada in 1952, and thus made their reluctance to invest in French-language production understandable. The film won the Canadian Film Award for Best Theatrical Short Film at the 5th Canadian Film Awards in 1953.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''.

Stoddart Publishing Stoddart Publishing was a Canadian book publisher and distributor, owned by Jack Stoddart, which ceased operations in 2002.UncreditedBook giant Stoddart files for creditor protection CBC News, May 1, 2002. Retrieved 2016-01-15. History General ...

, 2000. . pp. 21–24.

References

External links

* * 1952 films 1950s French-language films Best Theatrical Short Film Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners National Film Board of Canada short films 1952 short films Canadian black-and-white films 1952 drama films French-language Canadian films Canadian drama short films 1950s Canadian films {{1950s-Canada-film-stub