Jean-Daniel Lafond


Jean-Daniel Lafond is a French-Canadian filmmaker, teacher of philosophy, and the husband to the former Governor General Michaëlle Jean, making him the viceregal consort of Canada during her service.

Biography

Lafond was born in France during the liberation of Paris from the Nazis. After attending the class of Michel Foucault and Michel Serres, he taught philosophy from 1971 "while pursuing research in audio-visual training and communications". In 1974 Lafond left France for Quebec and became a Canadian citizen in 1981. After teaching at the Université de Montréal he left the university to focus on film-making, radio and writing.
From his first marriage Lafond has two daughters, as well as two grandchildren. With his current wife, former Governor General Michaëlle Jean, he has an adopted daughter.

Books

Images d'un doux ethnocide, with Arthur Lamothe, Montréal, Ateliers audio-visuels du Québec, 1979.Vidéo-communication, with Claire Meunier, Montréal, Publications Grerdave, 1979.Pratique et analyse des médias en milieu éducatif, Montréal, Publications Grerdave, 1980.Le film sous influence : un procédé d'analyse, Paris, Édilig, "Médiathèque", 1982.Les traces du rêve, Montréal, L'Hexagone, 1991.La manière nègre ou Aimé Césaire, chemin faisant : genèse d'un film, Montréal, L'Hexagone, 1993.La liberté en colère : le livre du film, Montréal, L'Hexagone, 1994.Iran : les mots du silence, with Fred A. Reed, Laval, Les 400 Coups, 2006.Conversations in Tehran, with Fred A. Reed, Vancouver, Talon Books, 2006.Marie de l'Incarnation ou la déraison d'amour, with Marie Tifo, Montréal, Leméac, 2009.Un désir d'Amérique. Fragments nomades, Montréal, Édito, 2015.

Introduction

Filmography

La Liberté en colèreTropique NordHaïti dans tous nos rêvesDream Tracks la Manière nègre ou Aimé Césaire chemin faisantL'Heure de CubaSalam IranLe Cabinet du docteur FerronLe Fugitif ou les vérités d'HassanFolle de Dieu
  • ''Un film avec toi''

Distinctions

Controversy

When in 2005 his wife was nominated by Prime Minister Paul Martin as the next Governor General, controversy arose when his past resurfaced. While the personality of Michaëlle Jean was mostly accepted throughout Canada, Lafond himself had early on been suspected of being a Quebec separatist because of some of his movies. When an article in a sovereigntist journal made its way to the press, alleging that Lafond had befriended a former FLQ member who had built for him a cache "to hide weapons" in his library. Later in August, his wife reacted to this in a formal letter announcing she and her husband "had never adhered to a political party or to the sovereigntist ideology".
Confusion continues to surround his loyalties. In his book, La manière nègre, he wrote, "So, a sovereign Quebec? An independent Quebec? Yes, and I applaud with both hands and I promise to be at all the St. Jean parades." However, in October 2005, in an interview with Radio-Canada he said, "I never believed that I could become a separatist. I have a great deal of difficulty with nationalism in general." He also called members of the sovereigntist movement who had called him a traitor, terrorists. At the same time he affirmed that he was a Québécois before a Canadian. He believes that he has always fought for the "cultural independence" of Quebec, but nothing further.
Lafond's 2006 film American Fugitive: The Truth About Hassan, a documentary about American political activist, David Belfield, who has admitted to assassinating an Iranian diplomat in 1980 also stirred controversy. The National Post asserted that the film was too sympathetic to the activist.

Honours

In 2010, he was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
As the consort of the then Governor General, in 2005 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada and was awarded the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal. During his wife's term of office, he held the courtesy style of ''His Excellency.''