Bernard Gosselin


Bernard Gosselin was a Canadian cinematographer and documentary film director. He is known for his work with the National Film Board of Canada. He was an early adopter of the direct cinema documentary style.

Early life and education

Gosselin was born in Drummondville, Quebec. He studied at the Institut des arts graphiques in Montreal.

Career

Gosselin worked as a printer. He joined the National Film Board's title department in 1956 to design titles and credits. The French team was in the process of expanding, and he met with many of the filmmakers and technicians working there. He then worked as an assistant cameraman, location manager and assistant editor before photographing his first film, Gilles Groulx's Golden Gloves, in 1961.
After photographing many Quebec films in the 1960s, he directed his first feature film, the children's science fiction movie The Christmas Martian , in 1971; it was his only fiction film outside of his documentary output. He worked as cinematographer on many films by Pierre Perrault, including Pour la suite du monde and Un royaume vous attend. He developed a special interest in the Aboriginal and folk cultures of Quebec, which led to his two best-known important films as a director: César et son canot d'écorce and Jean Carignan, violoneux. From 1977 to 1980 Gosselin in collaboration with Léo Plamondon photographed and/or directed a series of short films on traditional Quebecois craftspeople for the NFB titled La belle ouvrage.
Gosselin won a Canadian Film Award in 1968 for Best Black-and-White Cinematography, for his work on Perrault's The Times That Are . He died on March 20, 2006, in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec

Filmography

Short film
  • Le jeu de l'hiver
  • Les voyageurs
  • Le beau plaisir
  • Capture
  • L'odyssée du Manhattan
  • Passage au Nord-Ouest
  • César et son canot d'écorce
  • Les raquettes des Atcikameg
  • Les boeufs de labour
  • Le pain d'habitant - Construction du four
  • Le pain d'habitant - La caisson
  • Armand Hardy, menuisier-tonnelier
  • Le discours de l'armoire
  • La fonderie artisanale
  • Léo Corriveau, maréchal-ferrant
  • Les meuniers de Saint-Eustache
  • Les bottes sauvages
  • Le canot à Renald à Thomas
  • Extraits de la veillée des veillées
  • Vues de l'île d'Anticosti
  • Dire de compagnons
  • En r'montant l'escalier
  • L'aventure Biodôme
Feature film