André Lamy (19 July 1932 – 2 May 2010) was a
Canadian film producer
A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...
, who served as Canada's Government Film Commissioner from 1975 until 1979. In this position he was the Chairman of the
National Film Board of Canada (NFB).
Lamy was born in
Montreal, Quebec,
and studied at two universities; the
Université de Montréal and
McGill University.
During the 1960s he worked as a producer for the Montreal-based company Niagara Films,
and then later with
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 ...
, a company which was owned by his brother,
Pierre Lamy.
In this period he worked on several important films, including
Claude Fournier's ''
Deux femmes en or Deux and D'eux means "of them" or "about them" while also being the number "two" in French.
*2 (number), the natural number following 1 and preceding 3
**Two (disambiguation)
*Folie à deux, a rare psychiatric syndrome
Geography
*Deux Montagnes ...
''.
Released in 1970, this held the record for the most profitable film made in Quebec for the following sixteen years.
In 1970 Lamy was recruited to become the Assistant Film Commissioner of the NFB, making him
Sydney Newman's deputy in the running of the organisation.
As Newman spoke only
English, Lamy took a leading role in the NFB's
French language
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...
output;
Québécois filmmakers dealt almost entirely with him.
It was in this capacity that Lamy drew Newman's attention to potential problems with several politically sensitive
French Canadian
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
productions made around the time of the
October Crisis, including
Denys Arcand's ''
On est au coton
On, on, or ON may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* On (band), a solo project of Ken Andrews
* ''On'' (EP), a 1993 EP by Aphex Twin
* ''On'' (Echobelly album), 1995
* ''On'' (Gary Glitter album), 2001
* ''On'' (Imperial Teen album), 200 ...
'', which Newman banned from distribution.
When Lamy succeeded Newman as Government Film Commissioner in 1975 he authorised the release of several of these same productions, feeling that enough time had elapsed since the October Crisis for their distribution to be a less sensitive matter.
Lamy left his position at the NFB in January 1979.
In 1980 he became the head of the
Canadian Film Development Commission,
and in 1984 he was responsible for renaming this organisation as "Telefilm Canada", to reflect the fact that it also invested in television as well as film productions.
He was also the executive producer on ''
The Little Flying Bears'' and ''
Sharky & George'' for
CinéGroupe''.
In 1992 he was one of the producers of the controversial documentary series ''
The Valour and the Horror
''The Valour and the Horror'' is a Canadian television documentary miniseries, which aired on CBC Television in 1992. The series investigated three significant Canadian battles from the Second World War and was a co-production between the CBC, th ...
'', a co-production of the NFB and the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
The series was criticised by some
veterans of
World War II for its accusations of unprosecuted
war crimes committed by
Canadian troops.
Reaction to the series was so severe that one of Lamy's successors as Commissioner of the NFB,
Joan Pennefather
Joan Pennefather is a Canadian film and cultural executive. She was the first woman to be the Commissioner of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).
Early life
Pennefather was born in Montreal, Quebec, and studied history and communications a ...
, was forced to appear before the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs to defend the programmes.
An announcement was made on 5 May 2010 that Lamy had died over the previous weekend, 1 or 2 May.
James Moore, the
Minister of Canadian Heritage, was quoted as saying "Lamy's dedication to the NFB and his passion for film serve as reminders of his important contribution to our country's cultural landscape."
[ ]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamy, Andre
1932 births
2010 deaths
Film producers from Quebec
Government Film Commissioners and Chairpersons of the National Film Board of Canada
People from Montreal
French Quebecers
Université de Montréal alumni
McGill University alumni
Canadian media executives