
Directing
Jean-Claude Labrecque
Born 1938-06-19 · Québec City, Québec, Canada
Jean-Claude Labrecque, CM CQ (June 19, 1938 – May 31, 2019) was a director and cinematographer who learned the basics of filmmaking at the National Film Board of Canada. Jean-Claude Labrecque was born in Quebec City, Quebec, and trained as a camera assistant at the NFB. As a cinematographer, he shot many of the early key films of Claude Jutra (À tout prendre), Michel Brault (Entre la mer et l’eau douce), Gilles Carle (La vie heureuse de Léopold Z), Gilles Groulx (Le Chat dans le sac) and Don Owen (Notes for a Film About Donna and Gail, The Ernie Game). He turned to directing in 1965 with 60 Cycles, about a long-distance bike race on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence River, which has been described as a virtual encyclopedia of camera techniques. It won 22 international awards and was nominated for a BAFTA. He left the NFB in 1967 to set-up his own production company, although he continued to freelance with the Board.
Acting credits
NRNo synopsis available yet.
From Office to Box-Office
2009
NRA two-part in-depth exploration of the evolution of the private film industry, seen through the eyes of more than 50 industry professionals. Part One (1939-1979) : Artists and professionals from the social and commercial film sectors recount the struggle to build a film industry that is privately operated yet publicly funded. Part Two (1980-2010) : Executives, policymakers, and industry professionals trace the origins of the major funding institutions and discuss the unintended consequences of building a cultural industry around performance metrics, revenue generation, and private profit.
The Private Life of Cinema
2011
9.0A genuine encounter with filmmaker Jean-Claude Labrecque, this feature-length doc underscores not only the importance of his work (especially in the documentary medium) but also his passion for film. The bond between Labrecque and director Michel La Veaux allows us to see beyond the images and discover the smaller story hidden within the larger one. La Veaux shares with us his own love for film and the humanistic perspective from which Labrecque has used his camera to etch the great moments of Quebec’s culture and history into Quebecers’ collective memory.
Labrecque, une caméra pour la mémoire
2017
9.0This feature documentary by Jean-Claude Labrecque recounts the bold and astounding enterprise of French filmmaker Julien Duvivier, who shot a film adaptation of Louis Hémon’s classic novel Maria Chapdelaine in Péribonka, a village in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, in 1934. What was the impact of the original film’s production on the life of the community? What memories remain? What town secrets lie hidden in those memories?
Remembering Maria Chapdelaine
2015
About De Gaulle's eventful visit to Québec in 1967
Le chemin du Roy
1997
7.0An anthology of sequences from the best films that the National Film Board of Canada produced since its beginnings. Divided by themes and presented by a trio of actors-signers (including Carle's wife Chloé Sainte-Marie) who sings the same song in between the movie excerpts. This movie celebrated the anniversary of the National Film Board in 1985.
Cinéma, cinéma
1985
NRThanks to the development of techniques and the adventurous spirit of pioneering filmmakers, among whom Michel Brault occupies a central place, a new way of making cinema was born at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s. This film relevantly retraces the history of a collective movement which revolutionized production and filming methods in Quebec and the world.
Rebels with a Camera
2006
Behind the camera
6.6In this French Canadian film, when the provincial government tries to move two young farmers from their land to make way for development, the two fight back, accidentally killing a policeman and becoming outlaws in the process.
The Wise Guys
1972
6.6In this French Canadian film, when the provincial government tries to move two young farmers from their land to make way for development, the two fight back, accidentally killing a policeman and becoming outlaws in the process.
The Wise Guys
1972
No synopsis available yet.
Le frère André
1987
7.0Although he is something of a layabout, and is still living with his mother, her death comes as something of a shock to Louis Pelletier (Gilbert Sicotte). Still, he has hopes of some sort of legacy and believes that his relatives will help him find a job. All his hopes are dashed when, before the funeral, his three aunts come to Quebec City to settle their sister's estate. As grasping and efficient a crew as ever strode a parlor, by the time they leave, the estate has been cleaned to the bones, as if by vultures.
Les vautours
1975
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Félix
2009
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Félix
2009
No synopsis available yet.
La vie
1968
NRA Canadian documentary depicting Quebec City as it celebrates its 400th anniversary.
Forever Québec
2008
NRA Canadian documentary depicting Quebec City as it celebrates its 400th anniversary.
Forever Québec
2008
7.3On your marks. Follow cyclists from 13 countries as they cover 2.400 km of Gaspé countryside in 12 days-a course longer than those of Italy, Belgium or Spain. The long shots of curving landscape and open road are set to a mesmerizing soundtrack in this documentary, and the results are spellbinding.
60 Cycles
1965
No synopsis available yet.
Michèle Lalonde
1977
No synopsis available yet.
Le RIN
2002
9.0This feature documentary by Jean-Claude Labrecque recounts the bold and astounding enterprise of French filmmaker Julien Duvivier, who shot a film adaptation of Louis Hémon’s classic novel Maria Chapdelaine in Péribonka, a village in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, in 1934. What was the impact of the original film’s production on the life of the community? What memories remain? What town secrets lie hidden in those memories?
Remembering Maria Chapdelaine
2015
8.0No synopsis available yet.
Québec fête juin '75
1976
NRA moving documentary about a poet not far from being a legend.
Claude Gauvreau - Poète
1974
6.8Filmed for the most part from a low-flying aircraft, this documentary short presents a breathtaking view of Canada from coast to coast. Showing the varied terrain, from craggy coast to towering glacier, the film illustrates Canada’s pristine wilderness as well as today's industrial and urban realities. Canada the Land was specially commissioned for the Canada Pavilion at the Osaka World Fair in 1970.
Canada the Land
1971
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Chronique de la nuit de la poésie 1970
2015
5.1Edited from almost 100 km of film footage shot during the Games, this feature documentary is a breathtaking portrait of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Much more than a simple record of the Games, the film approaches each event with the intention of revealing the athlete - whether winner or loser - as a unique individual.
Games of the XXI Olympiad
1977
NRThis short documentary revisits the 1976 Olympic Marathon. A modern-day addition to the Games, the marathon commemorates the soldier who ran cross-country, in 490 B.C., to announce the Greek victory at Marathon and then died. Here, great film footage of the 1976 Summer Olympics captures the physical demands of the race, while its emotional counterpart is related by Waldemar Cierpinski, the event’s 1976 gold medalist. This emotion-charged film proves that although the winner of the Decathlon is the best all-round athlete, the “toughest” is the winner of the Marathon
26 Times in a Row
1978
No synopsis available yet.
On s'pratique... c'est pour les Olympiques
1976
9.0Reflections on writing, life and death with French Canadian poet Marie Uguay, who would die of bone cancer shortly after the making of this film.
Marie Uguay
1982
9.0In 1953, in the Gaspé forest, there are three bodies half eaten by bears. Fearing repercussions on tourism and investment, Prime minister Maurice Duplessis decided to make an example accusing Wilbert Coffin.
The Coffin Affair
1980
9.0In 1953, in the Gaspé forest, there are three bodies half eaten by bears. Fearing repercussions on tourism and investment, Prime minister Maurice Duplessis decided to make an example accusing Wilbert Coffin.
The Coffin Affair
1980
No synopsis available yet.
Chronique de la nuit de la poésie 1980
2017