Noël Mitrani (born 11 November 1969 in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

) is a Canadian-born French film director, producer and screenwriter."In film and life, all roads lead to Montreal"
''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', January 15, 2007.

Biography

1999–2005: Early work in France

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

from French parents, he went back to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

age of 5. A graduate of history and philosophy at the Sorbonne, and for some time a press

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

, Noël Mitrani entered cinema as a writer. He directed his first short film ''After Shave'' in 1999, a comedy set in a suburban supermarket, broadcast on

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

. Three other short films followed, the last of which ''Les Siens'' (broadcast on

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air Public broadcasting, public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming. France 3 is structured as a Region ...

in 2003) addresses the confusion possible between dream and reality.

2006: Breakthrough with '' On the Trail of Igor Rizzi (Sur la trace d'Igor Rizzi)''

In 2005, Mitrani established his own production company, StanKaz Films, and produced his first feature-length film '' On the Trail of Igor Rizzi (Sur la trace d'Igor Rizzi)'', a black comedy starring

Laurent Lucas Laurent Lucas (born 20 July 1965) is a French actor. Life and career A student of the Charles Dullin school, Lucas soon became one of the most admired young performers in the Strasbourg National Theatre. He first emerged on the scene with his r ...

and

Isabelle Blais Isabelle Sophie Emilie Blais (born June 21, 1975) is a Canadian film and television actress and singer. History Isabelle Blais was born on June 21, 1975, in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. She is a graduate of the Montreal campus of the Conservatoi ...

. The film won the

Toronto International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film The Toronto International Film Festival Best Canadian Discovery Award is an annual film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to a film judged to be the best Canadian first or second feature film by an emerging Canadian direct ...

at the

2006 Toronto International Film Festival The 31st Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 7 to September 16, 2006. Opening the festival was Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn's '' The Journals of Knud Rasmussen'', a film that "explores the history of the through the eyes of ...

. In Cahiers du cinéma Charles-Stéphane Roy underlines the "quirky humor" of a film which "won the admiration of critics". The Toronto Film Review ranks the film among the top 100 Canadian films. According to the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

, "Mitrani's first feature, On the Trail of Igor Rizzi has all the earmarks – pink from cold though they may be – of a confidently assured and dangerously promising new talent". Thanks to the critical success of his first film, Mitrani obtained a significant budget to direct '' The Kate Logan Affair'' (2010), a dark and mysterious thriller starring

Alexis Bledel Kimberly Alexis Bledel ( ; born September 16, 1981) is an American Actor, actress and Model (person), model. She is best known for her roles as Rory Gilmore on the television series ''Gilmore Girls'' (2000–2007) and Emily Malek in ''The Handm ...

playing a psychologically unstable police woman who makes a big mistake and tries to clean it up. This film explores the seemingly harmless lines we sometimes cross, and the consequences which those actions ultimately have on those around us; and ourselves.

2013–present: An independent filmmaker

His third picture '' The Military Man (Le Militaire)'', released in 2014, is a drama about a former French soldier, whose trauma caused by his memories of conflict leads him towards an unhealthy relationship with women. An entirely independent production shot guerrilla-style in two weeks on the streets of

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 ...

Super 16 Super 16 may refer to * 16 mm film * Super16 (film school), a film school in Copenhagen, Denmark * "Super 16", a song the second studio album, ''Neu! 2'', by the krautrock band Neu! * A proposed expansion of the southern hemisphere Super Rugby rug ...

, ''The Military Man'' pulls the audience into a troubling downward spiral of

paranoia Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of co ...

. In his 2017 film '' Afterwards (Après coup)'', Mitrani dissects the insidiousness of guilt as well as the unsuspected possibilities of survival. Noël Mitrani, who shot four films with actor

, defines their collaboration as follows : “We have incredible coordination when it comes to emotions and feelings. I give him actions to do without needing to give him the reasons for it. You never need to intellectualize roles. I make the characters and Laurent gives them all their humanity thanks to his sober and finesse play ”. '' Cassy'' (2019) focuses on sexual harassment, and features Natacha Mitrani, the director's daughter, as Cassy. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, he participated in the

Greetings from Isolation Greetings from Isolation is a Canadian film project, launched in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Created by film programmer Stacey Donen as an "online film festival", the project features short films by Canadian film directors, created ...

project which brings together many Canadian filmmakers who testify to their experience of confinement by making a short film. In 2020, Mitrani filmed '' Between Them (Toutes les deux)'', a romantic comedy between two women, against a backdrop of male jealousy.Charles-Henri Ramond
"Noël Mitrani en montage"
''Films du Québec'', September 22, 2020. In 2022, he wrote and directed '' Emma Under Influence (Emma sous influence)'', the story of a toxic friendship between two teenage girls, the filmmaker's most personal film to date.

Filmography

(feature-length films) *'' On the Trail of Igor Rizzi (Sur la trace d'Igor Rizzi)'' - 2006 *'' The Kate Logan Affair'' - 2010 *'' The Military Man (Le Militaire)'' - 2013 *'' Afterwards (Après coup)'' - 2017 *'' Cassy'' - 2019 *'' Between Them (Toutes les deux)'' - 2021 *'' Emma Under Influence (Emma sous influence)'' - 2024 *''After Shave'' - broadcast on

, 1999 *''The Caudine Forks (Les Fourches caudines)'' - (as a screenwriter) - 1999 *''Bad Start (Mal barré)'' - 2000 *''Underground Parking (Viol à la tire)'', ''(alternative title : Le Parking souterrain)'' - 2001 *''His (Les Siens)'' - broadcast on

, 2001 *''To Limit the Spread'' - The

Project - 2021

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitrani, Noel Canadian emigrants to France Franco-Ontarian people French film directors University of Paris alumni Canadian male screenwriters Canadian screenwriters in French French male screenwriters 1969 births Living people Film directors from Toronto Screenwriters from Toronto 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian screenwriters