The entrepreneur, philanthropist, producer and director Daniel Langlois and his wife, Dominique Marchand, died in tragic circumstances in December 2023. The Cinémathèque québécoise pays tribute to this builder with three films with which he was closely associated. First, Tony de Peltrie (1985), co-directed with Pierre Lachapelle, Philippe Bergeron and Pierre Robidoux, would lay the foundations for the digital revolution and lead to the creation of Softimage. Langlois was also a man who supported creators by introducing digital technology into the creative and technical process through his production company Media Principia. We've chosen two titles that stand out from 2003: La face cachée de la lune, Robert Lepage's adaptation of his play, and Amelia, choreographer Edouard Lock's screen adaptation of the La La La Human Steps dance show.
In this film version of Édouard Lock's choreography, rarely has dance been so striking to watch on the big screen. The images filmed by André Turpin are edited with pace and precision, magnifying the richness of the choreography.
Édouard Lock
Édouard Lock is a Canadian choreographer, photographer, and filmmaker of Moroccan origin. From 1974 to 1979, he created works for the Groupe Nouvelle Aire, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal. He then founded the dance troupe La La La Human Steps, which he directed until its dissolution in 2015. In 1985, Human Sex established Édouard Lock as one of the leading choreographers of international reputation. In cinema, he notably directed the films Le petit musée de Vélasquez (1994), Amelia (2003) and Écho (2021), all adapted from his own choreographies.
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About Daniel Langlois
Daniel Langlois
A graduate of l'École de design de l'UQAM, Daniel Langlois joined the NFB in 1980. Recruited by Robert Forget, he made his mark collaborating on films such as Rectangle et rectangles by René Jodoin and Transitions by Colin Low and Tony Ianzelo, shot in IMAX. His time at the NFB was relatively short. Simultaneously, alongside his job at the NFB, he co-directed Tony de Peltrie (1985) with Pierre Lachapelle, Philippe Bergeron, and Pierre Robidoux. This pivotal film (as it represents an important and spectacular milestone in the deployment of digital technology in cinema) led to the founding of Softimage, a company specializing in 3D animation software development that Langlois sold to Microsoft in 1997.
Daniel Langlois was involved in cultural philanthropy by founding the Ex-Centris complex and contributing to the recovery of the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma. In 1997, he established the Daniel Langlois Foundation, aimed at promoting initiatives fostering the convergence of arts and new technologies. Keeping an eye on digital advancements, he founded DigiScreen, a company for digital film distribution using a satellite network, and Media Principia, a studio supporting projects using digital and new technologies.
Langlois parted with the Ex-Centris complex in 2011 and focused on sustainable development projects. Together with his partner, Dominique Marchand, he established the Resilient Dominica organization to support Dominica in the aftermath of the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017, and initiated a self-sufficient hotel project there, Coulibri Ridge. Unfortunately, Daniel Langlois and Dominique Marchand suddenly passed away on December 1st, 2023.
