Following studies at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, London School of Printing in England and Columbia University in New York, André Gladu made his first documentary with the National Film Board of Canada, Le Reel du pendu (Hang Man Reel's), in 1971. From 1974 to 1980 he worked on Le Son des Français d'Amérique, a Radio-Canada (CBC) documentary series he has concieved on musical traditions of French speaking communities in North America, which he co-directed with Michel Brault. He then made La Pointe du moulin (1979) and Les Dompteurs de vent (1981), the windmiller tradition, followed by two films on Quebec artists, Marc-Aurèle Fortin (1983) and Pellan (1985).

Gladu then set out to explore the music born along the banks of the Mississipi, directing Zarico (1984), Noah (1985), Liberty Street Blues (1986) and Snooks (1993). Upong returning to Quebec, he made the short film Gilles Vigneault : Portager le rêve, followed by Gaston Miron : les outils du poète (1994) and Le feu sacré (1995) on the National School of Circus Arts. In 1996, to underline 100 years of Quebec cinema, he made La conquête du grand écran, co-produced with Nanouk Films and the NFB.

From 1997 to 2002, Gladu headed the NFB's Culture et Expérimentation - ACIC Studio, where he produced some of the best Québec documentary film makers, among other films, Le Reel du mégaphone  and Suzor-Côté by Serge Giguère, La danse du guerrier by Marie Brodeur, Bacon le film, by Hugo Latulippe, Aviature by Bruno Boulianne and Hubert Reeves :Star Teller by Iolande Cadrin-Rossignol, as well as a collection of shorts call Libres Courts co-produced with Télé-Québec.

Up to 2005 André Gladu has worked on La Piste Amérique, a series of documentaries on the Francophone presence peoples and cultures in North America - Maroon  (Louisiana Creoles) 2005 is the second film in the series, following on the heels of Tintamarre (Acadians), released in 2004. Coming soon Mitchif ( Metis of the Plains) and in development Kebek (Québécois).

In January 2006, film maker Gladu returned to independent film making, preparing a documentary on the reconstruction of New Orleans, post-Katrina, entitled Ouragan One-step, while developing a film project in honor of his family and dedicated to the memory of the working class culture of  Montréal, Québec, entitled Speak Easy - l'esprit du Faubourg à m'lasse.

 He also share his time between lecturing and film screening for prestigious institutions like - The American Folklore Society, the American Council for Québec Studies, le Département d'Anthropologie Université Laval (Québec), Le Centre de la Francophonie des Amériques (Québec), McGill Summer School (French Studies) and different universities in Louisiana (ULL) and Oregon (Willamette, PSU, UO, OSU) -

Currently, he is starting work on two projects close to his heart : Otipemisiwak « les gens libres » a mini-series on the founding myth of the Métis nation in Western North America and  La parole sauvage - documentaire a cappela sur la prise de parole urbaine, a documentary overview on the generation of young, free poets of Québec.

Recently, filmmaker Gladu was awarded a prestigious and capstone award by the Government of Québec (Conseil supérieur de la langue française) for his work involving the French peoples of North America : L'Ordre des Francophones d'Amérique. Last January 31st 2010 he has received an important acknowlegment from the 5th Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival in Lafayette during a retrospective of his films produced in Louisiana (1975-2005) - Lifetime Achievement Award For his Role as a Pioneer in Documenting French Louisiana Culture on Film.

» Watch films by André Gladu at NFB.ca (In French)

André Gladu. Photo : Louis Gladu