François Delisle
François Delisle is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor, actor, and composer.
Career
Between 1987 and 1990, Delisle directed several experimental short films, some of which were selected for various international festivals. In 1991, he was named best new director of short and medium-length films at the Rendez-Vous du cinéma québécois for his medium-length film Beebe-Plain.In 1994, Ruth, Delisle's first feature film, was named best feature of the year and best screenplay at the Rendez-Vous du cinéma québécois.
In 2002, Delisle founded the company Films 53/12 to direct and produce his second feature, Happiness is a Sad Song. After winning the award for best feature at the Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie, Happiness is a Sad Song went on to tour festivals and film events.
In 2007, Delisle released his third feature film, You.
In 2010, Twice a Woman, Delisle's fourth film, opened on Quebec screens. The film received two nominations for a Prix Iris in 2011.
Delisle's fifth feature film, The Meteor, hit Quebec screens in March 2013 after its world premiere at the Sundance Festival and the 63rd Berlin Festival.
In 2015, Chorus, Delisle's sixth feature film was in competition at the Sundance Festival and screened at the 65th Berlin Festival.
Films 53/12 is a space where Delisle champions personal, independent cinema through his involvement in both the creative and the production sides of film. He now pursues this commitment to film distribution since co-founding Fragments Distribution in 2015.
Filmography
Director, screenwriter and producer
- 1989: Who cares about the sea!
- 1990: Knife and Gun
- 1991: Beebe-Plain
- 1994: Ruth
- 2004:
- 2007: You
- 2010: Twice a Woman
- 2013: The Meteor
- 2015: Chorus
- 2019: Cash Nexus
- 2020: CHSLD
- 2025: ''Waiting for the Storms ''
Producer
- 2014: A Journey
- 2014: What are we doing here?
- 2019: ''Kinship''
Actor
- 1993: Two Can Play - Charles
- 2013: The Meteor - Pierre
Cinematographer or Camera operator
- 1989: Who cares about the sea!
- 1994: Ruth
- 2004: Happiness is a Sad Song
- 2007: You
- 2013: The Meteor
- 2015: ''Chorus''
Editor
- 1989: Who cares about the sea!
- 2013: The Meteor
- 2015: ''Chorus''
Composer
- 1989: Who cares about the sea!
- 2007: You
- 2010: Twice a Woman
- 2013: ''The Meteor ''
Style and influences
In an interview with Zack Sharf of IndieWire, Delisle talked about Chorus:"Whether we like it or not, life and death are connected in our very being. The story, which is not even loosely inspired by true events, is intended to be a kind of questioning or artistic one-on-one with death and life at the same time. So I'm tackling a fundamental, inevitable and forbidden subject, forbidden because death is Western society's ultimate taboo. In that sense, I think that the experience of Chorus can be unsettling and emotional because I always try to include the spectator in the stories I tell. Lived experience makes us richer human beings, which is what I love about cinema."