Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette (born 1979) is a Canadian novelist, film director, and screenwriter from Quebec. Her films are known for their "organic, participatory feel." Barbeau-Lavalette is the daughter of filmmaker Manon Barbeau and cinematographer Philippe Lavalette, and the granddaughter of artist

Marcel Barbeau Marcel Barbeau, (February 18, 1925 – January 2, 2016) was a Canadian painter, sculptor, graphic and performance artist who used different forms of abstraction and art techniques and technology to express himself. Career Born in Montreal, he st ...

. Originally prominent as a child actor, her credits included the series '' Le Club des 100 Watts'' and '' À nous deux!''. She later began making documentary films, including ''Les Petits princes des bidonvilles'' (2000), ''Buenos Aires, no llores'' (2001)"Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette nommée Artiste pour la paix"

Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...

, February 14, 2013. and ''Si j'avais un chapeau'' (2005),"Five Questions with Inch'Allah Director Anais Barbeau-Lavalette"
''

Filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

'', September 8, 2012. before releasing her first feature film, ''

The Ring The Ring may refer to: Arts and entertainment *The Ring (franchise), ''The Ring'' (franchise), a Japanese horror media franchise Literature * ''The Ring'', a 1967 novel by Richard Chopping * ''The Ring'', a 1988 book by Daniel Keys Moran * ''The R ...

'', in 2007. In 2010, she also published ''Je voudrais qu'on m'efface'' (translated as ''Neighbourhood Watch''), a novel which revolves around some of the same characters as ''The Ring''. In 2015, her second novel, ''La femme qui fuit'' (translated as ''Suzanne''), inspired by the life of her grandmother, artist Suzanne Meloche, was short-listed for the 2016

Governor General's Award for French-language fiction The Governor General's Award for French-language fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a fiction book written in French. It is one of fourteen Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit, seven each ...

, in addition to winning a number of other prizes and being a best-seller. Barbeau-Lavalette is best known to international audiences for her award-winning 2012 film '' Inch'Allah''.

Early life

Barbeau-Lavalette was born on February 8, 1979, in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, the daughter of Manon Barbeau, a filmmaker and director, and Philippe Lavalette, a cinematographer. She is the granddaughter of the Canadian artist

, who studied under

Paul-Émile Borduas Paul-Émile Borduas (November 1, 1905 – February 22, 1960) was a Québécois artist known for his abstract paintings. He was the leader of the avant-garde Automatiste movement and the chief author of the Refus Global manifesto of 1948. B ...

, and is known for being one of the first

non-figurative Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...

painters in Canada. As a young adult, Barbeau-Lavalette lived and studied in the occupied

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

area. In 2000, after finishing her first full-length documentary, ''Les Petits princes des bidonvilles'' (2000), Barbeau-Lavalette enrolled at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

, where she majored in International Studies. She then went on to study Film Production at the

INIS The International Nuclear Information System (INIS) hosts one of the world's largest collections of published information on the peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology. History One of the founding purposes of the International Atomic Ene ...

. Following her time at INIS, Barbeau-Lavalette travelled to Ramallah, Palestine to attend

Birzeit University Birzeit University () is a public university in the West Bank, Palestine, registered by the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs as a charitable organization. It is accredited by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Mini ...

Film career

Documentaries

Barbeau-Lavalette started her film career as a documentary director. Following a year spent in

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, Barbeau-Lavalette directed ''Les Petits princes des bidonvilles'' (2000), which followed young Hondurans growing up in Montreal. In 2002, Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette represented Canada in the United Nations Volunteers' Odyssey (Odyssée du voluntarist), in which she traveled the world creating 15 short documentaries on the theme of volunteerism. On her return, Barbeau-Lavalette directed more documentaries, including the features ''Si j'avais un chapeau'' (2005), which detailed the lives of children across four different countries, and ''Tap-Tap'', a "poetic portrait of Montreal's Haitian community."

Fiction features

In 2007, her debut fiction ''The Ring'' came out and was received warmly by critics. Her second fiction feature film, '' Inch'Allah'', has become her most recognizable piece of work. Her 2020 film, '' Goddess of the Fireflies (La déesse des mouches à feu)'', is an adaptation of the novel by Geneviève Pettersen. In 2022, she released '' White Dog (Chien blanc)'', an adaptation of

Romain Gary Romain Gary (; 2 December 1980), born Roman Kacew () and also known by the pen name Émile Ajar, was a French novelist, diplomat, film director, and World War II aviator. He is the only author to have won the Prix Goncourt twice (once under a ps ...

's 1970 novel '' White Dog''.

Short films

Barbeau-Lavalette has created many short films spanning across different mediums and genres. Barbeau-Lavalette directed and shot 15 documentary short films during her time with the United Nation's Volunteers' Odyssey, and has continued to release short films throughout her career. Her filmography includes such short films as ''Seven Hours Three Times A Year'' (2012), '' Ina Litovski'' (2012), and an 11-minute animated short film, ''Take Me'' (2014).

Videoclips

Barbeau-Lavalette is part of the Wapikoni Mobile audiovisual adventure. Through this Barbeau-Lavalette has directed videoclips for musicians, including Canadian singers Catherine Major and

Thomas Hellman Thomas Hellman (born 1975) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, radio columnist, and author. Born to an American father and a French mother, he sings both in French and English. Music and writing Hellman's M.A thesis in French literature in McGill ...

and hip hop artists

Samian Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greece, Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...

and Dramatik.

Bibliography

* ''Je voudrais qu'on m'efface'' (2010). ''Neighbourhood Watch'', trans. Rhonda Mullins (Coach House, 2020). * ''Embrasser Yasser Arafat : chroniques palestiniennes'' (2011). * '' La Femme qui fuit'' (2015). trans. Rhonda Mullins (Coach House, 2017).

Awards and nominations

''Si j'avais un chapeau'' (2005) was nominated for the "Best Social Documentary and Best Research" at the

Prix Gémeaux The Prix Gémeaux () or Gémeaux Awards honour achievements in Canadian television and digital media that is broadcast in French. It has been sponsored by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television since 1987. Introduced as a French-language eq ...

in 2006. Her feature film, ''Le Ring'' (2007) was extremely well received by critics. The critically acclaimed film, was chosen in the Pusan and Berlin film festivals in 2008. ''Le Ring'' received international awards including the New Talent Grand Prize and the Golden Lion Award at

Taipei Film Festival The Taipei Film Festival (TFF; ) is a film festival promoted by the city of Taipei, Taiwan, through the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Taipei City Government. It was first held in 1998, from September 28 to October 5. Currently chaired by ...

, the Special Jury Award at Vladivostok Film Festival in Russia, and the Best Director Award at Miradas Madrid Film Festival. A

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

, human rights and

international development International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic development, economic or human development (economics), human development on an international sca ...

activist, Barbeau-Lavalette was named artist of the year for 2012 by Les Artistes pour la paix, a

-based organization that honors works of art involving themes of peace, in February 2013. In the same month, ''Inch'Allah'' was awarded the

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...

Prize for the Panorama section of the

2013 Berlin International Film Festival The 63rd annual Berlin International Film Festival took place in Berlin, Germany, between 7 and 17 February 2013. Chinese film director Wong Kar-wai was announced as the president of the jury and his film '' The Grandmaster'' was the opening fil ...

."Inch'Allah wins the FIPRESCI prize at the Berlin Film Festival"
. '' The Gazette'', February 15, 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbeau-Lavalette, Anais 1979 births Activists from Montreal Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette Canadian child actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian documentary film directors Canadian women film directors Canadian women novelists Film directors from Montreal Actresses from Montreal Living people Canadian pacifists Canadian women human rights activists Canadian human rights activists 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian women screenwriters Canadian screenwriters in French 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian novelists in French 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Best Director Jutra and Iris Award winners Canadian women documentary filmmakers Screenwriters from Quebec Novelists from Montreal