Sophie Deraspe (born October 27, 1973) is a Canadian director, scenarist, director of photography and producer. Prominent in new Quebec cinema, she is known for a 2015 documentary The Amina Profile,[1] an exploration of the Amina Abdallah Arraf al Omari hoax of 2011. She had previously written and directed the narrative feature films Missing Victor Pellerin (Rechercher Victor Pellerin) in 2006,[2] Vital Signs (Les Signes vitaux) in 2009,[3] The Wolves (Les Loups) in 2015,[4]
Sophie Deraspe | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 27, 1973 Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, Canada |
| Occupation(s) | Film and TV director, scenarist, director of photography and producer |
| Years active | 2006— |
| Notable work | Antigone, The Amina Profile, Vital Signs |
In 2019 she wrote, directed and shot Antigone, inspired by the 2008 death of Fredy Villanueva in Montreal and loosely adapting the play by Sophocles, saying the story of a woman who defies the law for something greater resonated with her, and she wished to update it.[5][6] The film, starring Nahéma Ricci, premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and won the festival's award for Best Canadian Film.[7][8] Antigone was chosen to represent Canada in the 2019 Oscars race.[9]
Nominated in 15 categories, her first TV series Dark Soul (Bête noire) won four Gémeaux Awards in 2021, including Best TV Drama Series and Best Director (Drama series). The USA, Australia, France and Norway bought the broadcasting rights and more countries will be added. Her latest TV series, Paradise Motel (Motel Paradis), was first broadcast on Club Illico from October 11, 2022, [10] and streamed via Australia's SBS on Demand from August 2024.[11]
Deraspe characterizes her work, which often deals with contemporary art, as "constantly questioning limits, particularly those related to representation, as well as the boundaries of reality and fiction."
Sophie Deraspe has been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 2020.[12] In 2021 she has received the title Compagne de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec.[13]
Biography
editAfter studying visual arts in Austria, Sophie Deraspe majored in French literature and then film studies at the Université de Montréal from 1995 to 1998. After graduating with a B.A., she worked as a trainee in the directing department on such seminal Quebec feature films as Philippe Falardeau's debut feature La moitié gauche du Frigo (The Left-Hand Side of the Fridge, 2000) and André Turpin's Le crabe dans la tête (Soft-Shell Man, 2001), and served as director of photography on numerous film and television productions. In 2001 she joined the board of directors of Vidéographe, a Montreal-based artist-run center, serving as chairperson from 2007 to 2008. Also in 2001, her documentary short film Moi, la mer, elle est belle was selected for official competition at the Festival du film francophone de Namur (Belgium). Saute la coche, her fiction short, screened at festivals around the world, winning two prizes.
Missing Victor Pellerin (2006)
editIn 2006 Deraspe finished her first independent feature, Missing Victor Pellerin (Rechercher Victor Pellerin) — about a mysterious painter who has disappeared — which was screened at the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and in some twenty national and international festivals. At home, it was the opening night film at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois in Québec city – and later at the Quebec Film Week in San Francisco. The film received national distribution in Canada and screened theatrically in New York in 2007, and received a Special Jury Mention (International competition) at the Festival du nouveau cinéma in Montréal.
According to critic Marcel Jean, now director of Cinémathèque québécoise, in the magazine 24 images (no 129), says this about the film: "(...) Both screenwriters, editor, camerawoman and interpreter of Missing Victor Pellerin, Sophie Deraspe plunges completely in this first destabilizing feature film whose discourse - with a non-insignificant resonance - essentially poses the question of appearances. The world is presented as a vast hoax in which the gesture of Victor Pellerin appears scandalous in that it lifts the veil on a corner of this immense deception. The result is promising, too rare being the filmmakers who, from the start, reveal both a real ambition and the ability to make you smile."
Several other critics go to show their positive appreciation: "Is Montrealer Sophie Deraspe's astonishing first film a documentary, mockumentary, cinematic installation piece, true cinema, performance workout, full-on fiction or flat-out hoax? Only one thing is obvious: it is a mind game of museum-worthy proportions." (John Griffin, The Gazette); "A little gem of astonishing ingenuity" (Manon Dumais, Voir); "Without contest, one of the Quebec originals of the year" (Annabelle Nicoud, La Presse); "An uncanny, uncategorizable film... comic yet human." (Charles Petersen, The Village Voice); "An enigmatic and utterly compelling story" (Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times).
Vital Signs (2009)
editIn 2009 her second feature, Vital Signs (Les signes vitaux), premiered at the Festival of New Cinema (Montreal). It took the prize for Best New Canadian Film at the Whistler Film Festival (Canada), where the film's star, Marie-Hélène Bellavance, was named Best Actress for her debut performance. The film was also screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Writing for The Montreal Gazette, John Griffin praised the film for "superb acting and cinematography." Vital Signs went on to win prizes at several 2010 festivals, including SXSW Film Festival (Austin, Texas); the Internationales Frauenfilmfestival (Cologne, Germany); Polar Lights International Arctic Film Festival (Murmansk, Russia); the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Festival Internacional de Cine (Monterrey, Mexico); "A must see" (Guillame Fournier, VOIR). The film made the cover of the film magazine Ciné-Bulles (winter 2010) and was ranked fourth best film of 2010 by Ciné-Bulles film magazine. Vital Signs subsequently enjoyed a successful international career in festivals where it won more than 15 awards.
The Wolves (2014)
edit2015 was particularly productive for Deraspe, who completed two feature films that year. The Wolves (Les Loups), a Canada-France co-production, brought together Quebec actors Evelyne Brochu, Louise Portal, Benoît Gouin, Gilbert Sicotte and newcomer Cindy-Mae Arsenault, a native of the Magdalen Islands, where the film was shot. The film depicts a young woman who arrives on an island during the spring thaw and sets out to become part of the community of islanders, who earn their livelihood from seal hunting. The Wolves was shown at the Whistler Film Festival, where Louise Portal's performance received a Special Mention, and at the Torino Film Festival in 2015, where the Fipresci jury named it Best Film.[14] The Wolves was also released theatrically in Quebec.
The Amina Profile (2015)
editThe Amina Profile, also known in the United States as A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile, is the director's first feature-length documentary. After its world premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, the film was shown at numerous other festivals, winning awards for Best Documentary at TLVFest in Tel Aviv and GAZE in Dublin, Ireland, as well as the Grand Prize at Japan Prize in 2016, before IFC Films acquired the U.S. rights for distribution theatrically and on their digital platform docclub.com [archive]. La Presse gave it 4+1⁄2 stars, calling it "powerful, brilliant... extremely well constructed", while Variety praised its "slippery, deftly woven narrative.
The Seven Last Words (2019)
editFor this 2019 multidisciplinary omnibus project, Sophie Deraspe joined six other directors — musician and composer Kaveh Nabatian, along with Ariane Lorrain, Sophie Goyette, Juan Andrés Arango, Karl Lemieux and Caroline Monnet — to produce a septet of short films all themed on the sayings of Jesus on the cross.[15] Unified by the music of the Callino Quartet, the films were shot in Iran, Haiti, Colombia, Nunavut and Québec in 35mm, 16mm and HD while Marc Boucrot (of Gaspar Noe's Enter the Void and Love) was the film's editor. Justine Smith wrote that Deraspe's short had "the greatest impact" of the seven short films.[15]
Antigone (2019)
editA contemporary adaptation of the Sophocles play, Antigone, written, edited, and directed by Deraspe, revisited the myth in a story of a 16-year-old girl and three siblings who have immigrated to Montreal, Canada with their grandmother after the murder of their parents. When the police kill her older brother and the other brother is threatened with deportation, Antigone struggles to save what remains of her family.
She met with lawyers and investigators to become knowledgeable in the area. This would help her to be able to portray those scenes involving law enforcement with accuracy.[16] At the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival it was named Best Canadian Feature Film and was chosen to represent Canada at the Academy Awards in contention for Best International Feature Film.
Dark Soul (2021)
editProduced by Encore Television for Corus Entertainment's Séries Plus, the six-episode drama series Dark Soul (Bête noire) examines the consequences of a shooting carried out by 16-year-old Jérémy at his school, looking at what drove him to orchestrate such an act of hate and how his grieving family are left to pick up the pieces. With the help of psychiatrist coroner Éliane (Sophie Cadieux) leading the investigation into the case, Jérémy's mother Mélanie (Isabelle Blais) will try to work out how her seemingly trouble-free son came to commit such a terrible crime. The series is notable for the fact it starts in the minutes after the fictional shooting, with viewers never explicitly seeing the events that are at the centre of the story. Nominated in 15 categories, her first TV series Bête Noire (2021) won four Gémeaux Awards, including Best TV Drama Series and Best Director (Drama series). The USA, Australia, France and Norway bought the broadcasting rights and more countries will be added.
Motel Paradise
editIn her latest TV series, Motel Paradise, the viewers will follow the journey of Jen, who's, after having near-death experience, no longer believes in the hypothesis of suicide of her 14-year-old sister. Jen will try to convince a retired investigator to reopen the investigation. The series will be broadcast on Club illico in 2023.
Shepherds
editIn 2023, it was announced that Deraspe was in production on Shepherds (Berger), a film adaptation of Mathyas Lefebure's novel D'où viens tu, berger?.[17] The film is slated to premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.[18]
Filmography
editDirector and scenarist
editFeature films
edit- 2006: Missing Victor Pellerin (Rechercher Victor Pellerin)
- 2009: Vital Signs (Les signes vitaux)
- 2014: The Wolves (Les Loups)
- 2015: The Amina Profile (documentary)
- 2019: The Seven Last Words
- 2019: Antigone
- 2024: Shepherds (Berger)
Television
edit- 2012: La vie nous arrive (documentary)
Director
editTV series
edit- 2021: Dark Soul (Bête noire)
- Motel Paradise (in post-production)
Director of photography
editFeature Film
edit- 2006: Missing Victor Pellerin (Rechercher Victor Pellerin)
- 2009: Vital Signs (Les signes vitaux)
- 2014: The Wolves (Les Loups)
- 2015: A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile (documentary)
- 2019: The Seven Last Words
- 2019: Antigone
Short films
edit- 2000: Solitude dans la foule
- 2007: Pierre Gauvin, un moine moderne
Actress
editFilm
edit- 2006: Missing Victor Pellerin
Television
edit- 2012: Les dames aux caméras (as herself)
Awards - TV series
edit| Year | Festivals / Competitions | Awards / Categories | TV series | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Gémeaux Awards | Best Drama Series | Bête Noire (2021) | Won |
| Best Direction - Dramatic Series | Bête Noire (2021) | Won |
Awards - Feature Films
edit| Year | Festivals / Competitions | Awards / Categories | Feature Films | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Quebec's Association of Directors (ARRQ) | Prix RÉAL | Antigone (2019) | Won |
| 2021 | Luxembourg City Film Festival | Youth Jury Award | Antigone (2019) | Won |
| School Jury Award | Antigone (2019) | Won | ||
| 2020 | Available Light Film Festival | Best Canadian Film (Audience Choice) | Antigone (2019) | Won |
| 2020 | 8th Canadian Screen Awards | Best Editing | Antigone (2019) | Won |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Antigone (2019) | Won | ||
| Best Motion Picture | Antigone (2019) | Won | ||
| Best Director | Antigone (2019) | Nominee | ||
| 2020 | Film by the Sea International Film Festival | Best Film (International Student Jury Award) | Antigone (2019) | Won |
| 2020 | Film Club's The Lost Weekend | Best Director (Lost Weekend Award) | Antigone (2019) | Won |
| 2020 | Gala Québec Cinéma | Best Screenplay (Prix Iris) | Antigone (2019) | Won |
| Best Film (Prix Iris) | Antigone (2019) | Won | ||
| Best Directing (Prix Iris) | Antigone (2019) | Won | ||
| Best Casting (Prix Iris) | Antigone (2019) | Won | ||
| Best Editing (Prix Iris) | Antigone (2019) | Won | ||
| Most popular film outside of Quebec (Prix Iris) | Antigone (2019) | Nominee | ||
| 2020 | Ohlalà! Festival de cinema francòfon de Barcelona | Best Feature Film (Jury Prize) | Antigone (2019) | Won |
| Best Feature Film (Young Jury Prize) | Antigone (2019) | Won | ||
| Best Film (Audience Award) | Antigone (2019) | Won | ||
| 2020 | Palm Springs International Film Festival | Best International Screenplay (Special Mention) | Antigone (2019) | Won |
| 2020 | RamDam Film Festival | Best Fiction Award | Antigone (2019) | Won |
| 2019 | Toronto Film Critics Association Awards | Best Canadian Film (Rogers Award) | Antigone (2019) | Nominee |
| 2019 | Toronto International Film Festival | Best Canadian Feature Film | Antigone (2019) | Won |
| 2019 | Whistler Film Festival | Best Canadian Feature Film (Borsos Competition Award) | Antigone (2019) | Won |
| Best Director (Borsos Competition Award) | Antigone (2019) | Won | ||
| Best Screenplay (Borsos Competition Award) | Antigone (2019) | Won | ||
| Best Female-Directed Narrative Feature (Alliance of Women Film Journalists EDA Award) | Antigone (2019) | Won | ||
| Audience Award | Antigone (2019) | Won | ||
| 2016 | Gémeaux Awards | Best Documentary: Society | A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile (2015) | Won |
| Best Cinematography - Public Affairs and Documentaries (All Categories) | A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile (2015) | Nominee | ||
| Best Editing in a Documentary, Public Affairs, Report or Biography Series | A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile (2015) | Nominee | ||
| 2016 | Japan Prize | Lifelong Learning Category | A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile (2015) | Won |
| Grand Prix | A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile (2015) | Won | ||
| 2016 | Gala du cinéma québécois | Best Documentary | A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile (2015) | Nominee |
| 2015 | Dublin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival | Best Documentary Feature (Jury Award) | A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile (2015) | Won |
| 2015 | Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival | Outstanding Documentary (Honorable Mention) | A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile (2015) | Won |
| 2015 | Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival | Canadian Documentary (Special Jury Prize) | A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile (2015) | Won |
| 2015 | LesGaiCineMad, Madrid International LGBT Film Festival | Best Documentary (Jury Prize) | A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile (2015) | Won |
| 2015 | TLVFest - The Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival | Best Documentary Feature (Jury Prize) | A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile (2015) | Won |
| 2015 | Torino Film Festival | FIPRESCI Prize | Les loups (2014) | Won |
| 2011 | Jutra Awards | Best Film | Les signes vitaux (2009) | Nominee |
| 2010 | Festival du Film Francophone d'Angoulême (FFA) | Best Film (Valois Magelis) | Les signes vitaux (2009) | Won |
| 2010 | International Arctic Polar Lights film festival | Best Fiction Feature Film (Special Jury Prize) | Les signes vitaux (2009) | Won |
| 2010 | Internationales Frauen Film Fest | Special Jury Mention | Les signes vitaux (2009) | Won |
| 2010 | Monterrey International Film Festival | Best International Feature Film Fiction | Les signes vitaux (2009) | Won |
| Best Director | Les signes vitaux (2009) | Won | ||
| 2010 | Santiago International Film Festival - SANFIC | Special Mention (International Competition) | Les signes vitaux (2009) | Won |
| 2010 | Torino Film Festival | Feature Film (Special Jury Prize) | Les signes vitaux (2009) | Won |
| 2010 | Tübingen | Stuttgart International French-language Film Festival | Best Feature Film (International Competition) | Les signes vitaux (2009) | Won |
| 2009 | Whistler Film Festival | Best Film (Phillip Borsos Award) | Les signes vitaux (2009) | Won |
| 2006 | Montréal Festival of New Cinema | Special Mention | Rechercher Victor Pellerin (2006) | Won |
Distinctions
edit- 2021 - Compagne des arts et des lettres du Québec
- 2020 - Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
- 2015 - Birks Diamond Tribute to the Year's Women in Film (TIFF)
See also
editBibliography
edit- DEQUEN, Bruno and Philippe GAJAN (dir.), thematic section titled Renouveau du cinéma québécois, 24 images, no 152, June–July 2011, pp. 4–34.
- DEQUEN, Bruno (organizer) et al., "Table ronde sur le renouveau du cinéma québécois," Nouvelles Vues, no 12 (spring-summer 2011).
- DERASPE, Sophie, "Les signes vitaux, entretien avec Sophie Deraspe," Ciné-Bulles, no 278, Montreal, January 2010.
- FARADJI, Helen, "Nouvelle vague 2.0?", 24 images, Premiers plans blog, February 26, 2009.
- FARADJI, Helen, "Les cordonniers," 24 images, Premiers plans blog, November 4, 2010.
- SIROIS-TRAHAN, Jean-Pierre, "La mouvée et son dehors: renouveau du cinéma québécois," Cahiers du Cinéma, no 660, Paris, October 2010, pp. 76–78.
References
edit- ^ "Online Hoax: Sophie Deraspe Discusses Her Sundance Doc 'The Amina Profile'". Filmmaker. January 28, 2015.
- ^ "Nothing what it seems in twisting tale of missing artist". Toronto Star. March 2, 2007.
- ^ "Quebec director Sophie Deraspe wrote, directed and shot Borsos winner". Vancouver Sun. December 7, 2009.
- ^ ""Les loups" de Sophie Deraspe ouvrira les Rendez-vous du cinema quebecois" (in French). Canadian Press. 26 November 2014.
- ^ Roy, Marie-Josée (19 February 2016). "Sophie Deraspe amènera Antigone au cinéma québécois (Entrevue)". The Huffington Post (in French). Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ "La droiture d'Antigone, de Sophie Deraspe" (in French). Radio-Canada. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ Vlessing, Etan (15 September 2019). "Toronto: Taika Waititi's 'Jojo Rabbit' Wins Audience Award". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Hertz, Barry (July 31, 2019). "TIFF 2019: Toronto festival's Canadian lineup a mix of familiar faces, exciting rookies and a starring role for David Cronenberg". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ "Canada Selects TIFF Winner 'Antigone' For Oscar Race". Deadline. September 20, 2019.
- ^ Cloutier, Jean Francois (25 October 2022). "Motel Paradis: une bande-annonce pour la nouvelle série de Club illico - TVQC" [Motel Paradis: A Trailer for the New Club illico Series]. TVQC (in French). Retrieved November 7, 2024.
- ^ Morris, Anthony (August 15, 2024). "Murder and mystery are just two of the guests at Paradise Motel | SBS What's On". SBS-TV. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
- ^ "Academy Invites 819 to Membership". 30 June 2020.
- ^ "Sophie Desrape | Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec".
- ^ Charles-Henri Ramond, Les loups de Sophie Deraspe primé à Turin, 30 November 2015, Films du Québec, accessed 18 December 2020.
- ^ a b Justine Smith, "Anthology film The Seven Last Words is unified by music and human vulnerability". Cult MTL, June 14, 2019.
- ^ "Sophie Deraspe on her modern adaptation of Antigone". Seventh Row. 2019-12-11. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
- ^ Charles-Henri Ramond, "Sophie Deraspe en tournage en France". Films du Québec, June 13, 2023.
- ^ Jeremy Kay, "Ron Howard’s ‘Eden’, John Crowley’s ‘We Live In Time’ among Toronto world premieres". Screen Daily, 9 July 2024.