Tony de Peltrie + Far Side of the Moon
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.
With Philippe Bergeron in attendance
A revolutionary breakthrough for computer animation at the time, Tony de Peltrie shows a once-famous bar pianist reminiscing nostalgically about the good old days.
This copy is from our collections.
Adapting his play, Lepage plays two brothers trying to reconcile following the death of their mother.
Robert Lepage
Robert Lepage is a stage director, set designer, playwright, actor, and filmmaker from Quebec acclaimed by international critics. In 1994, he wrote and directed his first feature film, The Confessionnal, which was presented the following year at the Directors' Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival. Two years later, he directed Polygraph. In 1997, he directed Nô, once again casting his favorite actress, Anne-Marie Cadieux, in the lead role. In 2000, he directed his first English-language film, Possible Worlds. In 2003, he adapted his play Far Side of the Moon for the screen, arguably his most internationally renowned work, in which he plays both main characters. In 2013, he co-directed Triptych with Pedro Pires, a cinematic adaptation of his play Lipsynch. As an actor, he played in films by Denys Arcand, Luc Picard, and Francis Leclerc.
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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.
