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Jean-Claude Labrecque

Jean-Claude Labrecque was born in Quebec City, and trained as a camera assistant at the NFB. As a cinematographer, he shot many of the early key films of Claude Jutra, Michel Brault, Gilles Carle, Gilles Groulx and Don Owen (Notes for a Film About Donna and Gail, The Ernie Game). He turned to directing in 1965 with 60 Cycles, about a long-distance bike race on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence River, which has been described as a virtual encyclopedia of camera techniques. It won 22 international awards and was nominated for a BAFTA. He left the NFB in 1967 to set-up his own production company, although he continued to freelance with the Board. Throughout his lengthy career, Jean-Claude Labrecque’s interests focused on matters of concern to the Québécois people, whether in sports, culture or politics. His better-known films include La visite du Général de Gaulle au Québec (where he captured on film the infamous 'Vive le Québec libre!’ outburst by French President Charles de Gaulle), Games of the XXI Olympiad and his second feature, Les vautours, an eloquent and charming personal meditation on the birth of a generation, considered by critics to be his best film. More recently he has served as Bernard Émond’s cameraman on such critically acclaimed films as The Woman Who Drinks, The Novena and Summit Circle. Among his many awards and citations, he won two Canadian Film Awards, in 1964 and 1970, and the Prix Jutra for best documentary in 2003. He has lectured on filmmaking at Université du Québec à Montréal. (Wikipedia)