François Girard (born January 12, 1963) is a

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

director and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

from

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 ...

. Born in

Saint-Félicien, Quebec Saint-Félicien () is a city in the Canadian province of Quebec. The town is located within the Le Domaine-du-Roy Regional County Municipality in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region. Its population as of 2021 is 10,089. History The town was f ...

, Girard's career began on the

art video circuit. In 1990, he produced his first feature film, ''

Cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

''; he attained international recognition following his 1993 '' Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould'', a series of vignettes about the life of

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

prodigy Glenn Gould. In 1998, he wrote and directed ''

The Red Violin ''The Red Violin'' () is a 1998 anthology Drama (film and television), drama film directed by François Girard and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Carlo Cecchi and Sylvia Chang. It spans four centuries and five countries telling the story of a myster ...

'', which follows the ownership of a red

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

over several centuries. ''The Red Violin'' won an

Academy Award for Best Original Score The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by ...

, thirteen

Genie Awards The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculpt ...

and nine

Jutra Awards Jutras may have several meanings : * Claude Jutra: an award-winning French Canadian filmmaker **Jutra Award: Film awards formerly given in the Canadian province of Quebec, named after the filmmaker and now known as Prix Iris **The Claude Jutra Awa ...

. He has also directed various works for the stage, including Stravinsky's '' Symphony of Psalms'', ''

Oedipus Rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' (, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed , this is highly uncertain. Originally, to ...

'', and Alessandro Baricco's ''Novecento'' at the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...

; Kafka's '' The Trial'', adapted for the stage by

Serge Lamothe Serge Lamothe (born February 15, 1963) is a French-Canadian writer. Education He holds a master's degree in literature from Laval University in Quebec City. Career He was a member of the board and vice president, in 2005, of UNEQ (Quebec Write ...

at the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

, Ottawa; the oratorio '' Lost Objects'' at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...

; ''

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

'' in Toronto; and '' The Lindbergh Flight'' and '' The Seven Deadly Sins'', first in Lyon and then in Edinburgh. Girard has also produced a residency show for

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...

, '' Zed'', in Tokyo and '' Zarkana'', which opened at

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...

in New York in the summer of 2011. In 2013, the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

in New York opened a new production of Richard Wagner's '' Parsifal'' directed by Girard. The production received near universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike. His television credits include '' Le dortoir'', ''

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

's Secret World'' and ''The Sound of the Carceri'', one of the six episodes of '' Yo Yo Ma Inspired by Bach''.

Filmography

*''

'' (1990) *'' Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould'' (1993) *''

'' (1998) *''

Silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

'' (2007) *'' Boychoir'' (2014) *'' Hochelaga, Land of Souls'' (2017) *'' The Song of Names'' (2019)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Girard, Francois 1963 births Living people Film directors from Quebec Best Director Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Grammy Award winners Canadian male screenwriters Best Screenplay Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian theatre directors Best Director Jutra and Iris Award winners Officers of the Order of Canada People from Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Screenwriters from Quebec Best Screenplay Jutra and Iris Award winners