Aimée Danis (September 19, 1929 - May 8, 2012) was a Canadian film director and producer from

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Guy Fournier Guy Fournier, CM (born 23 July 1931 in Waterloo, Quebec) is a Quebec author, playwright, and screenwriter. From 8 September 2005 to 19 September 2006 he was chairman of the board of directors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Career Fr ...

Le Journal de Montréal is a daily French-language tabloid newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Quebec and is also the largest French-language daily newspaper in North America. Established by Pierre Pé ...

'', May 16, 2012. She produced the films ''

Léolo ''Léolo'' is a 1992 Canadian coming-of-age film, coming-of-age fantasy film, fantasy comedy-drama written and directed by Jean-Claude Lauzon. The film tells the story of a young boy named Léo "Léolo" Lauzon, played by Maxime Collin, who engages ...

'' and '' My Friend Max (Mon amie Max)'', both of which were

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

nominees for

Best Motion Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film an ...

. Originally from

Maniwaki Maniwaki is a town in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is situated north of Ottawa, Ontario, on the Gatineau River, at the crossroads of Route 105 and Route 107, near Route 117 (Trans-Canada Highway). The town is the administrative centre fo ...

, Quebec, she worked as a script assistant for Télévision de Radio-Canada, and later for

Jacques Godbout Jacques Godbout, OC, CQ (born November 27, 1933) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, children's writer, journalist, filmmaker and poet. By his own admission a bit of a dabbler (''touche-à-tout''), Godbout has become one of the most important wr ...

on his film ''

YUL 871 ''YUL 871'' is a Canadian drama film, directed by Jacques Godbout and released in 1966.Gerald Pratley, ''A Century of Canadian Cinema''. Lynx Images, 2003. . p. 246. The film stars Charles Denner as an unnamed Romanian Jewish engineer who is in Mo ...

'', before becoming the first woman in Quebec's film and television industry to direct television commercials. Her advertising work included spots for

Hydro-Québec Hydro-Québec () is a Canadian Crown corporations of Canada#Quebec, Crown corporation public utility headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. It manages the electricity generation, generation, electric power transmission, transmission and electricity ...

Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

, Desjardins and

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

. In the 1970s she directed a number of short documentary films, including '' KW+'' (1970), ''Gaspésie oui, j'écoute'' (1972), ''Joie de vivre au Québec'' (1974) and ''Patrick, Julie, Félix et tous les autres'' (1974), the narrative television film ''Souris, tu m'inquiètes'' (1973), and episodes of the television series ''Vingt ans Express'' (1967), ''La feuille d’érable'' (1969) for

Onyx Films Onyx Films was a film production business in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1962 by Pierre Lamy and his brother André Lamy. Their films include ''Le Viol d'une jeune fille douce'' ('The Rape of a Sweet Young Girl')'','' a satire. Gil ...

and ''Jo Gaillard'' (1975). She won a

Canadian Film Award The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

for Best Short Documentary at the

22nd Canadian Film Awards The 22nd Canadian Film Awards were held on October 3, 1970 to honour achievements in Canadian film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . pp. 89-91. The ceremon ...

, for ''KW+''. In 1973, she was one of the 14 filmmakers from Quebec who signed the boycott letter protesting poor treatment of films from Quebec. The protest resulted in the cancellation of the

25th Canadian Film Awards The 25th Canadian Film Awards were announced on October 12, 1973, to honour achievements in Canadian film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . pp. 111-114. Q ...

ceremony, and the postponement of the

26th Canadian Film Awards The 26th Canadian Film Awards were held on October 12, 1975 to honour achievements in Canadian film. The ceremony was hosted by radio personality Peter Gzowski. The CFAs were expanded into a week-long event in Niagara-on-the-Lake which included al ...

to 1975. She moved into production in the 1980s. ''Léolo'' was a Best Picture nominee at the

13th Genie Awards The 13th annual Genie Awards were held on November 22, 1992, to honour Canada, Canadian films released in late 1991 and 1992. They were dominated by David Cronenberg's ''Naked Lunch (film), Naked Lunch'', Jean-Claude Lauzon's ''Léolo'', and Jean B ...

in 1992, and ''My Friend Max'' was a nominee at the

15th Genie Awards The 15th Genie Awards were held on December 7, 1994 to honour Canadian films released in 1993. Actor Graham Greene hosted the ceremony. Building on the success of its Genie specials of the last two years, the academy and the CBC produced two show ...

in 1994. Her other credits as a producer included the films ''Le diable à quatre'' in 1987, ''Les heures précieuses'' in 1989, '' The Paper Wedding (Les noces de papier)'' in 1990, ''

Buster's Bedroom ''Buster's Bedroom'' is a 1990 independent German comedy film directed by Rebecca Horn. The film follows a young woman with an infatuation for Buster Keaton. The film was shown at the Marché du Film of the Cannes Film Festival in May 1990. Later t ...

'' in 1991 and '' Jack Paradise: Montreal by Night (Jack Paradise: Les nuits de Montréal)'' in 2004. She was married to film director

, with whom she was a partner in Les Productions du Verseau.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Danis, Aimee 1929 births 2012 deaths Film producers from Quebec Canadian women film producers Canadian women film directors Canadian documentary film directors Film directors from Quebec People from Maniwaki Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian women documentary filmmakers