Jacques and November
The Cinémathèque québécoise is pleased to partner with Éléphant : mémoire du cinéma québécois to show each month, on the big screen, a restored work from its film repertoire.
The last days of a man who humorously films his death. A surprising and singular film, uncommon in our cinematic landscape, distinguished by the unique approach of its two directors.
Jean Beaudry
Jean Beaudry, born in 1947 in Trois-Rivières, is a Quebecois actor, screenwriter, and director. He made his mark in 1984 with the film Jacques and November, which he co-wrote, directed alongside François Bouvier, and starred in. Continuing his collaboration with Bouvier, they followed up in 1989 with Unfaithful Mornings, where Beaudry shared the spotlight with Denis Bouchard. Bouchard won an acting award at the Namur International French-Language Film Festival, and the film itself received the special jury prize. Beaudry later shifted gears, focusing on directing two children's films produced by Rock Demers as part of the Tales for All series: The Case of the Witch Who Wasn't (1990) and The Clean Machine. After directing the more intimate A Cry in the Night (1996) starring Pierre Curzi, Beaudry took a nearly twenty-year hiatus before returning with another Tales for All film in 2013: The Outlaw League.
François Bouvier
François Bouvier is a Quebecois director, producer, and screenwriter. Highly active in theater during the 1970s, he transitioned to cinema with the documentary J'sors avec lui pis je l'aime (1977), co-directed with Jean Beaudry. Together, they founded Les productions du lundi matin, gaining recognition with Jacques and November, an intimate blend of video and film. Their collaboration continued with Unfaithful Mornings (1989), which won the special jury prize at the Namur International French-Language Film Festival. Bouvier's solo directorial debut came in 1993 with Les pots cassés, starring Gilbert Sicotte, which earned critical acclaim at Namur and in Moscow. He later adapted Marc Robitaille's work for Winter Stories (1999), exploring existential themes. Throughout the 1990s, Bouvier also served as a prolific producer and the educational director of INIS. Returning to cinema in 2005 with the comedy Maman Last Call, written by Nathalie Petrowski, he directed television classics such as Miss Météo and Urgence, along with successful series like 30 vies, Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin, and Ruptures. In 2015, he adapted the comic book Paul à Québec for the big screen, followed by the ambitious biographical film La Bolduc (2018), depicting Quebec life in the 1930s. His latest work, Victoire, was released in 2023.
Photo : Pierre Crépô | Collections de la Cinémathèque québécoise
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