Léa Pool

Léa Pool
CM
Born (1950-09-08) 8 September 1950
Soglio, Switzerland
Occupation Film director, screenwriter
Years active 1978–present

Léa Pool C.M. (born 8 September 1950) is a Swiss-Canadian filmmaker who also teaches film at UQAM. She has directed several feature films, including Anne Trister (1986) and Set Me Free (Emporte-moi) (1999), both of which screened at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival, where the latter won the Special Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.[1][2]

Early life

Pool was born in Soglio, Switzerland in 1950,[3] and raised there, in Lausanne.[4] Her father was Jewish, and was a Holocaust survivor from Poland; her mother's family was Christian and Swiss.[5][6] She immigrated to Canada in 1975 to study communications at the Université du Québec à Montréal[3]. She became a well-known filmmaker, director, producer, and screen writer, who infuses her passion and emotions into films about exile, wandering, uprooting, states of mind and the quest for identity. Léa Pool does not make "popular" cinema, she opposes stereotypes and prefers individuality while rejecting the focus of heterosexual relations.

Career

In Pools early career she has always been inspired by the works of author Marguerite Duras. Which she draws on the notions of expression and themes of exclusion. In 1975, Pool traveled to Canada to study film and video production, there she graduated with a degree in communications from the University of Quebec. Shortly after, Pool started focusing on several student films until she produced her first solo film, Strass Café, at the National Film Board of Canada in 1980.[7] Her film Straight for the Heart (À corps perdu) (1988) was selected for official competition in the Venice Film Festival and her film Desire in Motion (Mouvements du désir) (1994) was screened at the Sundance Film Festival.[8] She has been nominated 3 times for the Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction for her films A Woman in Transit (La Femme de l'hôtel) (1984), Desire in Motion (Mouvements du désir) (1994), and Set Me Free (Emporte-moi) (1999).

In 2006 she was awarded the Prix Albert-Tessier. In 2011, Pool completed the National Film Board of Canada documentary film Pink Ribbons, Inc., partly based on the 2006 book Pink Ribbons, Inc: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy, which is premiering at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.[9]

In 2015, Pool released La passion d’Augustine. In an interview, Pool spoke of how this film taught her about Québec culture and issues, specifically pertaining to nuns:

I discovered what the nuns contributed to Québec society. We should remember that it was they who founded the first schools and hospitals in Québec. They accomplished some remarkable things. They symbolize Québec’s national heritage, and we should not simply brush them aside.[10]

Pool was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2013.[11]

Personal life

Léa Pool is a lesbian.[12] Pool has always had a personal connection with her work, many themes that have been appearing in her films include her passion and emotions, the exploration of identity and exile, as well as that of Jewishness and sexualities, which Pool was dealing with in her personal life. In 1989 Pool expanded her focus by producing Hotel Chronicles which pushed her outside her comfort zone to understand what was taking place in the “real world”. She sticks to the philosophy “that every film must have its own signature”. In her successive productions, she challenges existing views on the role of filmmakers and the creative process. Most of her films that contribute to this idea reflect on woman's view of the female experience.

Filmography

Awards and accolades

Léa Pool has had more than several successes to her credit and has won several awards, both from the press and the public. In 2006 Pool received the Prix Albert-Tessier. [14] Later, Pool then won the Vancouver Women in Film and Television Artistic Merit Award at the 2017 Vancouver International Film Festival.[15]


See also

References

  1. ↑ "Berlinale: 1986 Programme".
  2. ↑ "Berlinale: 1999 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  3. 1 2 "ARCHIVED - Léa Pool - Themes - Film - Celebrating Women's Achievements - Library and Archives Canada". www.collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  4. ↑ "Canadian Film Encyclopedia - Léa Pool".
  5. ↑ http://www.jewishjournal.com/arts/article/lost_no_more_20010706/
  6. ↑ http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Lea+Pool%3A+no+frontiers.-a030138183
  7. ↑ {{Felando, Cynthia. (1999). St. James Women Filmmakers Encyclopedia. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved from http://content.ebscohost.com/ContentServer.asp?T=P&P=AN&K=55505749&S=R&D=f3h&EbscoContent=dGJyMNLr40SeqLM40dvuOLCmr1CeprBSrqu4SrOWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGutlC1qbVRuePfgeyx44Dt6fIA (p. 338-340).}}
  8. ↑ "Léa Pool - Northern Stars".
  9. ↑ Barnard, Linda (30 August 2011). "TIFF reviews: 34 films and counting". Toronto Star. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  10. ↑ Gagnon, Annie Joan. "Léa Pool". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2017-01-16.
  11. ↑ "Order of Canada: Léa Pool". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  12. ↑ Matthew Hays, The View from Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers
  13. ↑ "Et au pire, on se mariera". Zurich Film Festival. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  14. ↑ {{"Les Prix du Québec." Gouvernement du Québec. http://www.prixduquebec.gouv.qc.ca/.}}
  15. ↑ "Indian Horse Wins Coveted VIFF Super Channel People's Choice Award" (Press release). Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society. 13 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
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