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Bernier Pierre
ADIEU, PIERRE BERNIER!
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our friend and colleague Pierre Bernier, who has died at age 61 following a long illness.
Pierre leaves behind many wonderful memories. He came to the NFB in 1962 at the age of 18, and while his early career involved some directing, it was his work as a picture editor that got him noticed. He edited over 40 films, many of them made by close friends such as Jacques Leduc, Denys Arcand, Bernard Gosselin, Pierre Hébert and Francine Desbiens. Pierre's career is intimately connected with the documentary genre. In fact, Le Dictionnaire du cinéma québécois contains one of his statements, which may be translated as The documentary is as valid as ever, but you have to find a new way of saying things, of altering form, of adding subjectivity and drama.
In 1991, his work took him from Montreal to Moncton, where he took over as producer of French Program's Acadia Documentary Studio. He co-produced the film Acadie à venir, directed by poet Herménégilde Chiasson, and worked on other films by Chiasson as well as on films by Renée Blanchard, Ginette Pellerin, Monique LeBlanc and Bettie Arsenault.
After retiring from the NFB in 1997, Pierre got involved with the Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie, becoming the festival's general manager.
Pierre's passing is not just mourned by a large part of the NFB, but by the Acadian community as well,said Jacques Bensimon. As producer of the Acadia Documentary Studio, he had become one of its most stalwart spokespersons. As an editor, Pierre Bernier was a legend among the filmmakers of my generation. I am deeply saddened at the loss of this man, who was unfailingly humorous, who teased his colleagues mercilessly and who, beneath his easy-going exterior, was a straight-shooter whose honesty was sometimes as sharp as his editing scissors!
Pierre leaves behind his wife Marie Hamelin, his family and many friends. A tireless advocate of film right up until the very end, his name lives on in his work.
Carol Faucher
