Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre (born 1978 Murdochville, Québec) is a French Canadian documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

maker and film animator based in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Canada.

History

Born in Murdochville, Québec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre is a French Canadian

French Canadian

French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...

 filmmaker based in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Saint-Pierre obtained a Bachelors of Arts with Honors in Film Animation and an Master of Arts

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in Film Production from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema

Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema

The Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, a division of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Concordia University, is a film school located in Montreal, Quebec. It is informally identified as MHSoC, and accepts 200 students a year, for study in the fields of animation, film production and film studies...

 at Concordia University

Concordia University

Concordia University is a comprehensive Canadian public university located in Montreal, Quebec, one of the two universities in the city where English is the primary language of instruction...

. Saint-Pierre's animated documentary work shows new approaches in nonfiction storytelling, blurring the lines between documentary and drama. The award-winning director and film animator has directed several short animation and documentary films including Post-Partum, Passages, The Sapporo Project and McLaren’s Negatives, the 2007 JUTRA award winner for best animated film. She is also the co-producer of The Delian Mode, directed by Kara Blake.

Saint-Pierre is directing two mid-length animated documentary films: Femelles, an exploration of Quebec woman going through motherhood, as well as Jutra, a portrait of the legendary Quebec filmmaker Claude Jutra

Claude Jutra

Claude Jutra was a Canadian actor, film director and writer. The Prix Jutra are named in his honor because of his importance in Quebec cinema history. He was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec....

.

Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre founded MJSTP Films, an animation and documentary production company in 2004. Overall, her film work has been screened at over 150 prestigious festivals around the world while receiving many awards.

She has lectured on the art of the animated documentary filmmaking in Europe, Asia and in Canada. She has also been a jury member for the Canada Arts Council, the Ottawa International Animation Festival

Ottawa International Animation Festival

-History:In 1976, the Canadian Film Institute founded the biennial Ottawa International Animation Festival . First held August 10 to 15, 1976, the OIAF created a gathering place for North American animation professionals and enthusiasts to ponder the craft and business of animation...

 as well as the London International Film Festival.

In 2008, she was selected as the international artist in residency for the S-AIR Inter-cross Creative Center in Sapporo, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 where she created the film The Sapporo Project.

She lives in Montreal where she spends her time making film and raising her three daughters.

Films

Her award winning films include:

• The Sapporo Project
• Passages
• McLaren's Negatives
  McLaren's Negatives
  McLaren's Negatives is a 2006 short animated documentary directed by French Canadian filmmaker Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre. The film is a study of the Canadian animator Norman McLaren, and his personal view of film making. The short film won several awards, including the 2007 Jutra Award for best...
  
  
• Post-Partum

Awards for Passages (2008)

• Best Documentary Film, Sapporo International Shortfest 2009 (Japan)
• Best Animation Film, Brooklyn International Film Festival 2009 (USA)
• Public Award for Best Foreign Short Film Public, Créteil’s Woman Film Festival 2009 (France)
• Special Jury Award, Personal Expression and Advocacy, Austin Festival 2008 (USA)
• Honorable Mention, Best Canadian Short Film, Atlantic Film Festival 2008 (Canada)
• Special Mention, Golden Key Award, Kassel Dokumentarfilm und Videofest 2008 (Germany)
• PASSAGES was nominated for the 2010 GENIE for Best Short Documentary Film (Canada)
• PASSAGES was selected for the Canada Top Ten, Best Short Films, by the Toronto International Film Festival Group, 2009 (Canada)

Awards for McLaren's Negatives (2006)

• JUTRA for Best Animated Film 2007 (Québec)
• Sterling Short Honorable Mention, Silverdocs 2006 (USA)
• Best Debut Film, Animation, Message to Man International Film Festival 2006 (Russia)
• Best Short Contemporary Film, Sapporo International Shortfest 2006 (Japan)
• Bar in Gold, Festival Der Nationen 2006 (Austria)
• Best Short Documentary Film, Animation Block Party New York 2006 (USA)
• Best Animation Film, Dokufest 2006 (Kosovo)
• Best International Documentary, Santiago International Short Film Festival 2006 (Chile)
• Best Director Animation, Monstramundo 2006 (Brazil)
• Best Script Animation, Monstramundo 2006 (Brazil)
• Youth Jury Award for Most Inspirational Short Film, Real 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth 2007 (Canada)
• First Prize in the Documentary Section, 10 Mostra Internacional de Curtmetratges de Sagunt 2007 (Spain)
• Best Documentary, PA Film Institute Festival 2007 (USA)
• Platinum Remi, Best Animation, Worldfest Houston 2007 (USA)
• Special Jury Prize, Outstanding Direction Documentary, Indianapolis Film Festival 2007 (USA)
• Best Documentary, Arizona International Film Festival 2007 (USA)
• Special Jury Award for Best Animated Film, Ismailia International Film Fesitval 2007 (Egypt)
• Best Documentary, Filmest Badalona Festival 2007 (Spain)
• Honorable Mention, Best Short International Film, Festival International de Curtas de Belo Horizonte 2006 (Brazil)
• Honorable Mention, International Animation Competition, Monterrey International Festival 2006 (Mexico)
• Special Mention Animation, Seddicorto International Festival 2006 (Italia)
• Special Mention Animation, Luciana Film Festival 2006 (Italia)

Awards for Post-Partum (2004)

• Special Jury Prize for Most Innovative Approach, Guangzhou International Documentary Festival 2005 (China)
• Gold Special Jury Award, Worldfest Houston 2005 (USA)
• GAIA Award, Moondance International Film Festival 2005 (USA)
• Shoestring Award, Rochester International Film Festival 2005 (USA)
• Artistic Development Award, Imperial Tobacco Canada Arts Council 2004
• J.A. De Sève Graduate Award 2004, Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema (Canada)

External links

• http://www.mjstpfilms.com/