Jacques Drouin
in Relief /Jacques Drouin en relief
Guillaume
Fortin, NFB documentary, 2009
Newly available
in French on the NFB website, this gem of a documentary examines the career of
renowned pinscreen animator Jacques
Drouin (b. 1943, Mont-Joli, PQ). Director
Guillume Fortin allows the voice of
Drouin himself take centre stage leading us through his childhood in Quebec,
his artistic beginnings at the École des
Beaux-Arts de Montréal and UCLA, his
experiences with his mentors at the NFB (Pierre
Hébert, Francine Desbiens, Maurice Blackburn, Norman McLaren, René Jodoin)
starting with his three-month apprenticeship, his first encounter with
pinscreen, his impressions of Alexandre
Alexeïeff and Claire Parker, his
decision to use the pinscreen as an instrument for his art, and his thoughts
about his work and his craft.
Jacques
Drouin is a very engaging speaker and his anecdotes and ideas about his art are
illustrated with photos and film clips from his personal archives, rare
glimpses of his UCLA student works, and archival footage and photographs from
the NFB and other media. The documentary
concludes with a look at how Drouin is fostering his legacy, showing him
running a pinscreen workshop for students as well as a glimpse of his protégée Michèle Lemieux at work on the
pinscreen.
Even if you
do not understand French, it is well worth watching for the archival footage
and photographs. The documentary is available
with English subs on the bilingual DVD Paradoxe release: Jacques
Drouin: Complete Pinscreen Works (Jacques Drouin: oeuvre complète sur écran
d'épingle, 2011).
Catherine
Munroe Hotes 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment