Philippe Falardeau (; born February 1, 1968, in Hull,

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, ...

) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter.

Early life

Falardeau was born and raised in Hull, Quebec. He later studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

, before travelling around the world for the Quebec competitive television series '' La Course destination monde'', on which he emerged as the Grand Prize winner.

Career

2000–2010: Early work

His first feature film, '' The Left-Hand Side of the Fridge (La Moitié gauche du frigo)'' (2000) won Best Canadian First Feature at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival and received a Best Screenplay nomination at the Quebec-based Jutra Awards. Falardeau also received the Claude Jutra Award at the Canadian Genies (now called Canadian Screen Awards), in 2001 for this film. For his work on his second film, '' Congorama'' (2006), Falardeau won a Genie Award in 2007 for Best Original Screenplay.

2011: Breakthrough with ''Monsieur Lazhar''

Falardeau received much press attention following the release of his 2011 film '' Monsieur Lazhar.'' The film premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award and the Variety Piazza Grande Award. It also screened at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

in September 2011, the Whistler Film Festival in December 2011, and selected for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Following a wave of critical acclaim, the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, and also won six Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture. At

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, the film holds a rating of 97%, based on 110 reviews and an average rating of 8.1/10. ''Monsieur Lazhar'' grossed $2,009,517 in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and $4,572,398 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $6,581,915 USD. Telefilm Canada credited it, along with '' Incendies'' (2010) and other films, with doubling domestic and worldwide gross on its works in 2011.

2012–present: Further success

In 2014, he directed the film '' The Good Lie'', which stars

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Reese Witherspoon, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Aw ...

and premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews. He followed this up with '' My Internship in Canada'' (2015), which premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. In 2015, Falardeau directed the film '' Chuck'', which depicts the life of the

heavyweight boxer Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

Chuck Wepner, played by Liev Schreiber, and his 1975 fight with the heavyweight champion, Muhammad Ali. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2016, and was subsequently released on May 5, 2017, by IFC Films. The film received positive reviews; on review aggregator website

, the film has an approval rating of 79%, based on 70 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. Falardeau's film '' My Salinger Year'' (2020), starring Margaret Qualley and Sigourney Weaver, opened the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2023, he premiered the four-part documentary series '' Lac-Mégantic: This Is Not an Accident'', about the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster of 2013. It was the winner of the Hot Docs Audience Award at the 2023

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and Jun ...

. In 2024, he completed production on ''Mille secrets mille dangers'', an adaptation of the novel by Alain Farah.Éric Lavallée
"Cold Feet: Philippe Falardeau Drives Away with ‘Mille secrets mille dangers’"
''Ioncinema'', October 18, 2024.

Filmography

*'' The Left-Hand Side of the Fridge (La Moitié gauche du frigo)'' (2000) *'' Congorama'' (2006) *'' It's Not Me, I Swear! (C'est pas moi, je le jure!)'' (2008) *'' Monsieur Lazhar'' (2011) *'' In the Name of the Son'' (2012) *'' The Good Lie'' (2013) *'' My Internship in Canada'' (2015) *'' Chuck'' (2016) * '' My Salinger Year'' (2020) * ''Mille secrets mille dangers'' (TBA)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Falardeau, Philippe 1968 births Living people Film directors from Quebec Best Screenplay Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian screenwriters in French Writers from Gatineau Best Director Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Best First Feature Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male screenwriters Best Director Jutra and Iris Award winners Screenwriters from Quebec Best Screenplay Jutra and Iris Award winners