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Michèle Cournoyer

Michèle Cournoyer

Directing

Biography

Michèle Cournoyer is a French Canadian animator born in Saint-Joseph-de-Sorel on November 14, 1943. On February 27, 2017, she was announced as a recipient of a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts for her body of work.

Known For

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10.0

A collection of 7 animation short films inspired by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Each NFB award-winning film, in their peculiar way, deals with children's rights and addresses various aspects of the Convention.

Children First!

1996
Dream Life
4.0

Two twenty-something women dream of the ideal man and slowly realize that reality is very different from their fantasies.

Dream Life

1972
Accordion
4.6

Exploration of the connections between sex, love and technology.

Accordion

2004
The Hat
5.6

An exotic dancer recalls an incident from her childhood where she was physically abused by a male visitor.

The Hat

1999
Soif
6.0

A woman plays out her existence on the screen of her life. Alcohol is the essence of her being. She imbibes her youth and becomes completely absorbed by the desire to satisfy her thirst. Moving from parties to binge drinking, pleasure to distress, joy to delirium, she lets herself be lulled by the undulating waves of bottles. She floats in the intoxicating liquid, sees her childhood re-emerge, and feels as if she is a tiny fish lost in an ocean of madness. Her craving for alcohol engenders a burning passion. Drinking becomes a fatal embrace... On the verge of drowning in the torrent of this insane obsession, will she find the strength to rise to the surface?

Soif

2014
An Artist
7.0

In this short animation, a girl is so carried away by her love of music that she forgets about her household chores. Her father tells her to finish the dishes. Instead of washing them, she turns them into musical instruments, and he finally recognizes her talent. Based on Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, this film illustrates children's right to develop their talents and abilities to their fullest potential.

An Artist

1994
A Feather Tale
6.0

In this animated short, a woman, taking on her lover's fantasies, adorns herself in her finest feathers and assumes a seductive but demeaning role. Caught up in his own game, the man plays on to the bitter end--a cruel game in which love is stripped of its golden glow, leaving only the naked reality of dependency and desperation.

A Feather Tale

1992
Robes of War
5.8

An animated short film by Canadian director Michèle Cournoyer explores the impact of war on women, their bodies and their families. Bringing a feminist sensibility to a contemporary issue, it looks at what happens when war insinuates itself inside the very being of a woman—she who once gave life.

Robes of War

2009
Old Orchard Beach, P.Q.
8.0

A hot day on the well-known beach frequented mostly be Québecers. Throngs of vacationers, beach towels, sand pails, suntan oil. In the midst of the crowd, a pretty blond drifts off into a world of fantasy that becomes increasingly strange.

Old Orchard Beach, P.Q.

1981
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N/A

A woman’s harrowing dance, as she rediscovers her youth and broken heart under the folds of her skin.

Dolorosa

1988