Rodrigue Jean (born in

Caraquet Caraquet ( ) is a town in Gloucester County, New Brunswick, Canada. Situated on the shore of Chaleur Bay in the Acadian Peninsula, its name is derived from the Mi'kmaq term for ''meeting of two rivers''. The Caraquet River and Rivière du ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic Canad ...

) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and producer of

Acadian The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the ...

origin. He has been a theatre director, dancer and choreographer.

Life and Work

While pursuing university studies, he developed in the 1980s a practice as a dancer and choreographer.

Thomas Waugh Thomas Waugh is a Canadian critic, lecturer, author, actor, and activist, best known for his extensive work on documentary film and eroticism in the history of LGBT cinema and art. A professor emeritus at Concordia University, he taught 41 years ...

, ''Romance of Transgression in Canada: Queering Sexualities, Nations, Cinemas''. Carleton University Press, 2006. . p. 434. In 1986, he went to Japan to train with Tanaka Min. With Tedi Tafel (choreography and performance), Jacques Perron (photography) and Monique Jean (music), he founded Les Productions de l'Os in 1986. A series of performances resulted from this collaboration, which culminated in 1989 with the creation of his first choregraphed short film, ''

La déroute LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

''. In 1995, he directed a documentary, '' La voix des rivières'', on

Acadians The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the ...

of New-Brunswick, with the support of the

National Film Board The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

in Acadia, as well as two short fiction films, '' La mémoire de l'eau'' (1996), and ''L'appel/Call Waiting'' (1998). Rodrigue Jean then directed three award-winning feature films: the Acadian trilogy '' Full Blast'' (1999), ''

Yellowknife Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the ...

'' (2001) and '' Lost Song'' (2008), that earned him the recognition of critics and made his name as a leading filmmaker. In 2005, with the documentary ''Living on the Edge'', he celebrated the work of the Acadian poet

Gérald Leblanc Gérald Leblanc (September 25, 1945 – May 30, 2005) was an Acadian poet notable for seeking his own Acadian roots and the current voices of Acadian culture. Leblanc was born in Bouctouche, New Brunswick. He studied at the Université de Monc ...

. During a stay in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in the early 1990s, he worked as a theatre director. He also organised video workshops at Streetwise Youth, a sex worker centre in London (1991–98). Between 2005 and 2007, after several decades trying to fund this project, he directed the documentary '' Men for Sale,'' offering a striking portrait of

sex worker A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker" According to one view, sex work i ...

s in downtown

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. In 2009, he founded ''Epopée'', a film action group born out of a co-creation project with the participants of ''Men for Sale''. With ''Epopée,'' he deepened his engagement with sex workers, in collaboration with the organization RÉZO. This collective work, composed of documentaries and fiction films, led to the creation of the installation ''L’État des lieux'' (2012), and two feature films, '' L’État du moment'' (2012) and '' L’État du monde'' (2012). Deepening his research into misrepresented lives, and in continuation with ''Men for Sale'' and ''Epopée,'' he directed in 2014 the fiction feature '' Love in the Time of Civil War''. Besides the project on masculine sex work, the collective launched the installation ''Fractions'', presented at the

Cinémathèque Québécoise The Cinémathèque québécoise is a film conservatory in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its purpose is to preserve, document, film and television footage and related documents and artifacts for future use by the public. The Cinémathèque's collectio ...

in 2016, and the triptych ''Insurgence'' (2013), ''Rupture'' (2016), and ''Contrepoint'' (2016) on the great political and social movement launched by the

2012 Quebec Student Strike The 2012 Quebec student protests (movement) were a series of student protests led by student unions such as the Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ), the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, and the Fédéra ...

. ''Epopée'' also worked on the massive incarceration of Indigenous women in Canada, with the installation ''The Reappearance of Sheri Pranteau'' (2018), which was presented as a triptych at the Joliette Museum of Art. His latest feature film, ''

The Acrobat ''The Acrobat'' (French: ''L'acrobate'') is a 1941 French comedy film directed by Jean Boyer and starring Fernandel, Jean Tissier and Thérèse Dorny.Lorcey p.208 It was made at the Victorine Studios in Nice, in the Unoccupied Zone of France. ...

'', was released in 2020. Navigating between documentary and fiction, often mixing genres, and combining ethics and aesthetics, Rodrigue Jean develops a cinematic practice, either by representing people who are deprived of a voice, or by inventing characters driven by their impulses and their desires. Through these two practices of cinema, he examines and questions the constructions of identity and sexuality that stand up against the imperatives of any form of normativity.

Filmography

Director *

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

: ''

La Déroute LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' (short film) *

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

: '' La voix des rivières'' (documentary) *

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

: '' La mémoire de l’eau'' (documentary) *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

: ''Call Waiting'' (''L'Appel'') (short video) *

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

: '' Full Blast'' *

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

: ''

'' *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

: '' Living on the Edge'' (''L'extrême frontière, l'œuvre poétique de Gérald Leblanc'')(documentary) *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

: '' Lost Song'' *

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

: '' Men for Sale (Hommes à louer)'' *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

: '' L'État du moment -'' Épopée Group *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

: '' L'État du monde'' - Épopée Group *

: ''Insurgence'' - Épopée Group *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: '' Love in the Time of Civil War (L'amour au temps de la guerre civile)'' * 2016: ''Rupture'' — Épopée Group *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

: ''

(L'Acrobate)'' Producer *2002: ''

'' *2008: '' Lost Song'' Writer *2002: ''

'' *2008: '' Lost Song'' Actor *1991: ''

Letters of Transit "Letters of Transit" is the nineteenth episode of the fourth season of the Fox science-fiction drama television series, '' Fringe'', and the series' 84th episode overall. It is set in the future, where the Observers have taken control of human so ...

(Les Sauf-conduits)''

Web

* 2010-2012: ''Épopée - Travailleurs du sexe'' - Épopée Group

Installations

* 2012: ''L'état des lieux'' — Épopée Group *2016: ''Fraction'' ''—'' Épopée Group *2018: ''Sheri Pranteau: Undisappeared —'' Épopée Group

Stage Direction

* 1991: ''Wolf Boy'' by

Brad Fraser Brad Fraser (born June 28, 1959 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and cultural commentator.Gaetan Charlebois and Anne Nothof"Fraser, Brad" ''Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia'', June 2, 2019. He is one of the most widely prod ...

* 1992: ''

Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' ( First Folio title: ''The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in arou ...

'' * 1993: ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

'' * 1993: ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' *1993: ''The Ei'' (from

Funeral Rites A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect t ...

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Thief' ...

) *1994: ''The Eve'' (from ''

'' by

)

Choreography and Performance

* 1985'': Spirit 1'' * 1985: ''Duet for One Man and One Woman'' * 1985: ''Horse'' * 1985: ''Untitled'' * 1985: ''Oh No'' * 1986'': Étude 1'' * 1986: ''Spirit 11'' * 1986: ''Spirit 111'' * 1987: ''Études'' * 1987: ''Les Paroles de l’autre'' * 1987'': Places Are the Only Things You Can Trust'' * 1998: ''Passages'' * 1998: ''Travail inintéressant''

Retrospectives

* 2009:

Festival d'Avignon The ''Festival d'Avignon'', or Avignon Festival, is an annual arts festival held in the France, French city of Avignon every summer in July in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes as well as in other locations of the city. Founded in 1947 by Je ...

, France *2012:

Cinémathèque québécoise The Cinémathèque québécoise is a film conservatory in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its purpose is to preserve, document, film and television footage and related documents and artifacts for future use by the public. The Cinémathèque's collectio ...

, Canada

Awards

*1995: '' La Voix des rivières,'' Telefilm Canada Prize for Best Medium-Length Canadian film, Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie (FICFA) *1996: '' La mémoire de l’eau,'' Best Documentary,

Atlantic Film Festival FIN: Atlantic International Film Festival (known as The Atlantic International Film Festival until 2017) is a major international film festival held annually in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada since 1980. FIN is the largest Canadian film festival ...

in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

*1999: '' Full Blast,'' Special Jury Citation for the Best Canadian First Feature Film Award,

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

*2002: ''

,'' Critic's Choice for Best Québec Film, Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma (AQCC) *2008: '' Lost Song,'' Best Canadian Feature Film,

References

External links

*
Rodrigue Jean
a
Media Queer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jean, Rodrigue 1957 births Canadian documentary film producers Canadian screenwriters in French Canadian choreographers Canadian contemporary dancers Canadian documentary film directors Living people Acadian people Acadian film People from Caraquet LGBT film directors Canadian LGBT screenwriters Canadian gay writers Film directors from Montreal Writers from Montreal Canadian male dancers 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Canadian male screenwriters Film directors from New Brunswick Writers from New Brunswick Gay screenwriters Film producers from New Brunswick 21st-century Canadian LGBT people 20th-century Canadian LGBT people