Filmmakers and Making-Of

Guy Edoin completes a certificate in Screenwriting at UQÀM in 2000 and shifts to a Major in Film studies at Université de Montréal in 2003, where he directs his two first experimental short films: Comme une image and Placebo. Those two films were in competition in the 4th International Independant Film Festival of New York in 2003

He then undertakes the writing of a short film trilogy: Les Affluents. In 2004, he signs with Le Pont his first fiction short film, later nominated at the Jutra awards in 2005. This film was selected in over twenty international film festivals. It would win the CSC Award for best canadian picture. Les eaux mortes, his second film, also took part in twenty international festivals, including the 31st Toronto International Film Festival as well as the 21st International Francophone film Festival in Namur, Belgium, and the 22nd Interfilms of Berlin. In 2007, this film won the Jutra award for best short film.

La Battue, last part of the trilogy, had been, like the two first parts, filmed at the family farm, and is currently in selection at the prestigious Locarno Film Festival, The Toronto International film festival and at the International Francophone film Festival of Namur.

Michèle Gauthier is a young filmmaker. She discovers her passion for movies at the age of 14 when she starts taking pictures of the world surrounding her and putting her own personal universe into image. A few years later, she begins her studies in cinema at Cégep Saint-Laurent. She then pursues her studies with a Baccalauréat specialized in film studies at Université de Montréal. She directs three short films, including Humeur Latente for which she receives the award for best director and best film at the 2005 Retrospective of Université de Montréal. In 2007, she completes her studies in the film directing program of INIS and directs Empreintes, her seventh short film. Michèle Gauthier is one of the creators and co-comissioner of the 8 Courts 1 Collectif project in which she also takes part as a filmmaker.

A bachelor Graduate in Coms (UQAM), with a B.F.A. in Film Production (Concordia) and a minor in Film Studies (UdM), some might say that Alex just passed too much time studying at Universities. Anyhow, these long studies transformed Alex into a relentless film buff. Therefore, Alex was just craving for new movies to watch, ranging from cult masterpieces to “directly to video” flops.

It’s fairly simple: from the stylized music videos of Sednaoui, Romanek and Chris Milk, to the visually stunning TV ads from Glazer, Neill Blomkamp and Zack Snyder, Alex is watching about everything. He particularly likes the movies directed by Wong Kar-Wai, P.T. Anderson and Leos Carax.

After visiting every cinema schools in town, Alex finally had time to concentrate on some projects that kept his mind from studying. Since then, he directed many shorts, documentaries and music videos. In addition to finalizing the writing of his next short, Alex is currently working on the conception of short commercials.

Yan Giroux spent many years perfecting his poetry before turning to cinema, producing several student and independent shorts. In 2001, after cinema studies in France, he founded the production house ALT together with producer Jérôme Couture. In 2003, he produced Autoportrait à la dent, an intimate video that was screened at the Rendez-vous du Cinéma Québécois.

After three years of work, he completed his first full-length documentary on the Cuban identity, called Cubanos. Selected for several international festivals, the film is now being distributed internationally by DER, with Filmoption International handling distribution in French-speaking territories. Also in 2007, he directed the short feature I need to talk to my father screened at the Rendez-vous du Cinéma Québécois.

Yan is now working on two projects for ALT COLLECTION: Elegant, a documentary about the rock band Chocolat touring the Magdalen Islands and, The park a short movie he wishes to direct in collaboration with teenagers living in a low-income neighborhood of Sherbrooke.

Sophie Goyette, young screenwriter and director, introduces with her first short movie En Parallèle a shift toward the creative spectrum, to which her apprenticeship next to Quebec's famed Marc-André Forcier predestined her. The first female director whose short was chosen as the heralding movie during the Longue Nuit du court 5th edition, Sophie benefited of having her work presented in a dozen Canadian cities through this event, and to later partake in several other festivals.

Swept away by the docufiction genre as found in Arcand's Le comfort et l'indifference, enraptured by the inner world of directors Nanni Moretti and Fernando Meirelles, she is moved by the social awareness canvas that inspire their artistic journeys. She is equally partial to Carlos Reygada's dream-like universe and poetry, and to Michelangelo Antonioni's great directing mastery.

Introduced to practical photography in college, she adds training in cinematic studies from the University of Quebec in Montréal to direct working experience of stage and television media through coordination. She also been involved in several cultural events inside wich she provided technical and organizational support, as well as in several post-production projects.

Benjamin Gueguen studied Screenwriting for 3 weeks at UQÀM and one full year of Film production at Concordia.

His last film, Babylone, produced during his time at Concordia, was selected in the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma 2008 and found a distributor, Vidéographes Ditribution.

Previously, Benjamin Gueguen took part in the Young Filmakers Contest with his film Les Cravatiers en Fleurs, where he won many awards, including best picture.

This director really appreciates the works of Alessandro Jodorowsky, Andrei Tarkovsky, Jacques Tati, Alexander Sokurov, Bela Tarr, Gaudi, Magritte…

Abeille first studied photography in Montréal before pursuing her studies in cinematography at l'Insa (Bruxelles), where she graduated in 2002. Since, she has collaborated in numerous projects either behind de camera, directing or editing, producing independently her own short films.

Her short film, Asphyxie, was in competition at the Film Festival of Port-Neuf on the Environment in 2006 and Sirop d'Arabes, a documentary short film, was projected in numerous festivals in Quebec, Algeria and Morocco. It won the award for best quebecer short film, in the « Regards d'Ici » section of the Festival Vues d'Afrique in 2008.

After graduating in Film Production at Concordia University, Anh Minh Truong directs in the fields of fiction, advertising and videoclips. His extensive background in visual arts allowed him to create video concepts for different cultural and theatrical events. Starting to produce and broadcast his own films at a young age, he rapidly developed a moving director's touch, striking aesthetics and his very own poetic universe. At age 26, he has won close to thirty awards and honours ( Silence on Court at Cannes, Vidéastes recherchés, Court en Web, etc...) and his fifteen films traveled around the world in close to 80 festivals and tv stations in over ten different countries. Recently, he made a noticable appearence in the first season of the Fais ça court tv show at Télé-Québec, where he went to the finals with his films Allée 12 and Les désordres symétriques.