Dance, theatre, film : director, scriptwriter and producer Rodrigue Jean has been active on numerous creative fronts. After studying biology, sociology and literature, he worked as a choreographer before making his first short film, La Déroute, in 1989. He went on with directing the documentary La voix des rivières (1995), which won the Telefilm Canada Award for Best Medium-length Canadian Film at the FICFA, and the short film La mémoire de l’eau (1996), which won an award at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax.
Then, he directed the critically acclaimed feature films Full Blast (Special Jury Citation, TIFF, 1999), and Yellowknife (critics’ choice for Best Québec Film of 2002). The documentary Living on the Edge (2005) paid tribute to his Acadian roots, focusing on the poetry of Gérald Leblanc. His 2007 documentary Men for Sale looked into male prostitution in Montréal.
Lost Song, his third feature-length fiction, awarded Jean with the award for Best Canadian Feature at the 2008 TIFF.
After Men for Sale, Jean launched Épopée, a group that has used cinema as an instrument for freedom and community. His most recent feature-length film, Love in the Time of Civil War (2014), resulted from his website Épopée’s writing workshops with sex-trade workers.
Non-exhaustive Filmography
Love in the Time of Civil War (2014 / 120 min)
Men for Sale (2009 / 144 min)
Lost Song (2008 / 108 min)
Yellowknive (2002 / 120 min)
Full Blast (1999 / 95 min)
