Léonard Forest (January 17, 1928 – March 19, 2024) was an American-born Canadian filmmaker, poet and essayist.

Life and career

Léonard Forest was born in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, United States, and grew up in

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, Canada. Forest worked at the

National Film Board The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

from 1953 to 1980 and was involved in about 130 films, either as director, producer or script-writer. Forest died on March 19, 2024, at the age of 96.

Filmography

As director

* '' The Charwoman (La femme de ménage)'' – 1954 * '' The Dikes (Les aboiteaux)'' – 1955, co-directed with Roger Blais * '' Fishermen of Pubnico (Pêcheurs de Pomcoup)'' – 1956 * '' Le monde des femmes'' – 1956 * ''

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

(Amitiés haïtiennes)'' – 1957 * '' The Whole World Over'' – 1957 * '' Bonjou' soleil'' – 1957 * '' In Search of Innocence (À la recherche de l'innocence)'' – 1964 * ''

Walls of Memory ''Walls of Memory'' () is a Canadian short documentary film, directed by Léonard Forest for the National Film Board of Canada and released in 1964.Christian Rasselet, "Travelling arrière". ''Objectif'', February/March 1965. pp. 55-56. The film ...

(Mémoire en fête)'' – 1964 * '' Les Acadiens de la dispersion'' – 1968 * '' Acadie libre'' – 1969 * ''Out of Silence'' – 1970 * '' La noce est pas finie'' – 1971 * '' A Sun Like Nowhere Else (Un soleil pas comme ailleurs)'' – 1972 * '' Far from Away: The Arts in St. John's (Saint-Jean-sur-ailleurs)'' – 1980 * ''Portrait: Gerald Squires of Newfoundland'' – 1980

As script writer

* ''Les aboiteaux'' (1955) * ''Les midinettes'' (1955) * ''Pêcheurs de Pomcoup'' (1956) * ''La vie est courte'' (1956) * ''Amitiés haïtiennes'' (1957) * ''Bonjou' soleil'' (1957) * ''L'héritage'' (1960) * ''À la recherche de l'innocence'' (1964) * ''Mémoire en fête'' (1964) * ''Les Acadiens de la dispersion'' (1968) * ''Un soleil pas comme ailleurs'' (1972) * ''Saint-Jean-sur-ailleurs'' (1980) * ''Portrait: Gerald Squires of Newfoundland'' (1980)

As producer

* ''Panoramique'' six films made for television (1957–1958) including: :* '' The Promised Land (Les Brûlés)'' :* '' Le maître du Pérou'' :* '' Il était une guerre'' :* '' Les mains nettes'' :* '' Les 90 jours'' * ''Le monde du travail'' five films (1957–1958) * ''L'Urbanisme'' (1957–1958) * ''La drave''(1957–1958) * Series «Profils et Paysages» (1958–1959) including: :* ''Germaine Guèvremont, romancière'' :* ''John Lyman, peintre'' :* ''Félix Leclerc, troubadour'' :* ''Charles Forest, curé-fondateur'' :* ''Fred Barry, comédien'' :* ''Henri Gagnon, organiste'' :* ''Marius Barbeau, anthropologue'' :* ''Pierre Beaulieu, agriculteur'' :* ''Lionel Groulx, historien I'' :* ''Lionel Groulx, historien II'' :* ''Les Petites Sœurs, religieuses cloîtrées'' :* ''Georges Vanier, soldat, diplomate et gouverneur-général'' :* ''Édouard Simard, industriel I'' :* ''Édouard Simard, industriel II'' :* ''St-Denys Garneau, poète'' :* ''Wilfred Pelletier, musicien'' :* ''Alfred Desrochers, poète'' :* ''Cyrias Ouellet, homme de science'' * ''La canne à pêche'' (1959) * ''Normétal'' (1959) * ''L'immigré'' (1959) * ''La canne à pêche'' (1959) * ''Au bout de ma rue'' (1960) * ''L'héritage'' (1960) * ''La misère des autres'' (1960)

Published works

* ''Saisons antérieures'' poetry (1973) at Éditions d'Acadie * ''Comme en Florence'' poetry (1980) was awarded the

prix France-Acadie Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who ...

* ''La jointure du temps'' essays (1998) at Éditions Perce-Neige, was awarded the Prix Champlain 1999 * ''Le pommier d'août'' poetry (2001) at Éditions Perce-Neige * ''Les trois pianos'' children's book (2003) at Éditions Bouton d'or Acadie * ''Ni queue ni tête'' children's book (2004) at Éditions Bouton d'or Acadie

Bibliography

Josette Déléas, ''Léonard Forest ou le ragard pionnier'', Centre d'études acadiennes, Moncton, 1998

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forest, Leonard 1928 births 2024 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Canadian screenwriters in French Canadian children's writers in French Canadian poets in French Writers from Moncton National Film Board of Canada people Acadian film Acadian writers American male screenwriters Canadian male essayists 20th-century Canadian essayists 20th-century Canadian male writers Screenwriters from Massachusetts Film directors from New Brunswick American emigrants to Canada Film producers from New Brunswick Canadian documentary film directors Screenwriters from New Brunswick Poets from New Brunswick