Léa Pool

Léa Pool C.M. (born 8 September 1950) is a Swiss-Canadian filmmaker who also teaches film at UQAM. She has directed several feature films, including Anne Trister (1986) and Set Me Free (Emporte-moi) (1999), both of which screened at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival, where the latter won the Special Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.[1][2]

Léa Pool

CM
Born (1950-09-08) 8 September 1950
Soglio, Switzerland
OccupationFilm director, screenwriter
Years active1978–present

Early life

Pool was born in Soglio, Switzerland in 1950,[3] and raised in Lausanne.[4] Her father was Jewish, and a Holocaust survivor from Poland; her mother's family was Christian of Swiss descent.[5][6] She immigrated to Canada in 1975 to study communications at the Université du Québec à Montréal.[3] Pool started work on several student films until she produced her first solo film, Strass Café, at the National Film Board of Canada in 1980.[7] From 1980 to 1981, Pool focused on a television series called Planète et Eva en Transit, which was aired by Radio-Québec. The purpose of this platform was to create a voice for members of cultural minorities, as well as to help them to further develop as individuals.[8] She became a well-known filmmaker, director, producer, and screenwriter, who incorporated personal issues and curiosity around identity into films about exile, wandering, uprooting, states of mind and the quest for identity.[7] Pool's films often opposed stereotypes and refused to focus on heterosexual relations, preferring individuality.[6][9]

Career

Pool is known as a feminist in film studies, producing English-Canadian women's films and videos.[10] Early in her career Pool drew inspiration from the works of author Marguerite Duras [11] where focussing on the notions of expression and themes of exclusion. In 1975, Pool traveled to Canada to study film and video production, graduating with a degree in communications from the University of Quebec.[11] Her film Straight for the Heart (À corps perdu) (1988) was selected for official competition in the Venice Film Festival and her film Desire in Motion (Mouvements du désir) (1994) was screened at the Sundance Film Festival.[12] She has been nominated 3 times for the Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction for her films A Woman in Transit (La Femme de l'hôtel) (1984), Desire in Motion (Mouvements du désir) (1994), and Set Me Free (Emporte-moi) (1999). In 1997, Pool came out with a documentary, Gabrielle Roy, about the Canadian author Gabrielle Roy.[11] In 2001, Pool's first English-speaking work, Lost and Delirious, was shown at the Sundance Film Festival as well as the Berlin Film festival. Pool adheres to the philosophy "that every film must have its own signature".[13] In her successive productions, she challenges existing views on the role of filmmakers and the creative process. Most of her films that contribute to this idea reflect on woman's view of the female experience.[14]

Since 2004 Pool has been represented by the cultural Montreal agency Agence Goodwin.[11]

In 2006 Pool was awarded the Prix Albert-Tessier.[15] In 2011, Pool completed the National Film Board of Canada documentary film Pink Ribbons, Inc., partly based on the 2006 book Pink Ribbons, Inc: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy, which is premiering at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.[16]

In 2015, Pool released La passion d’Augustine. In an interview, Pool spoke of how this film taught her about Québec culture and issues, specifically pertaining to nuns:

Pool was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2013.[17]

Personal life

Pool is a lesbian.[18] She has a personal connection with her work, with many themes in her own life appearing in her films, including the exploration of identity and exile, as well as her Jewish heritage and her sexuality.

Filmography

Awards and accolades

Léa Pool has won several awards, both from the press and the public. In 1984 La femme de l’hôtel was awarded the Best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 1986 she received the Audience Award for Anne Trister at the International Women's Film Festival in Créteil, and Best Feature Film at the Paris Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival, both in France. In addition, In 1988 Pool won 3 awards for À corps perdu, Emporte-moi, and the documentary on Gabrielle Roy.[11] In 2001 Pool received the Jutra Award for Lost and Delirious. In 2006 Pool received the Prix Albert-Tessier.[20] From 2002 to 2014, Pool won 14 awards and in 2017 accepted the Vancouver Women in Film and Television Artistic Merit Award at Vancouver International Film Festival.[11][21]


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See also

References
  1. "Berlinale: 1986 Programme".
  2. "Berlinale: 1999 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  3. "ARCHIVED - Léa Pool - Themes - Film - Celebrating Women's Achievements - Library and Archives Canada". www.collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  4. "Canadian Film Encyclopedia - Léa Pool". Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Lea Pool: no frontiers. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  7. "ARCHIVED - Léa Pool - Themes - Film - Celebrating Women's Achievements - Library and Archives Canada". www.collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  8. Berenstein, Rhona (1989). "As Canadian as Possible: The Female Spectator and the Canadian Context". Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies. 7 (2–3): 40–52. doi:10.1215/02705346-7-2-3_20-21-40. ISSN 0270-5346.
  9. Felando, Cynthia. (1999). St. James Women Filmmakers Encyclopedia. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved from http://content.ebscohost.com/ContentServer.asp?T=P&P=AN&K=55505749&S=R&D=f3h&EbscoContent=dGJyMNLr40SeqLM40dvuOLCmr1CeprBSrqu4SrOWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGutlC1qbVRuePfgeyx44Dt6fIA (p. 338-340).
  10. Pool, Léa (1999). "St. James Women Filmmakers Encyclopedia". National Film Board of Canada: 338–340.
  11. "Léa Pool". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  12. "Léa Pool - Northern Stars". Archived from the original on 27 November 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  13. Pool, Léa (16 September 2010). "Women in the Spotlight: Their achievements: Women in Canadian cinema: Léa Pool". Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  14. Austin-Smith, Brenda; Melnyk, George (20 May 2010). The Gendered Screen: Canadian Women Filmmakers. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. ISBN 9781554581955.
  15. "Léa Pool -- femfilm.ca: Canadian Women Film Directors Database". femfilm.ca. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  16. Barnard, Linda (30 August 2011). "TIFF reviews: 34 films and counting". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 7 September 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  17. "Order of Canada: Léa Pool". The Governor General of Canada. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  18. Matthew Hays, The View from Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers
  19. "Et au pire, on se mariera". Zurich Film Festival. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  20. Les Prix du Québec
  21. "Indian Horse Wins Coveted VIFF Super Channel People's Choice Award" (Press release). Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society. 13 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
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