Director and producer, Fernand Dansereau has created popular hits and internationally acclaimed works for cinema and television. During a prolific career spanning more than five decades, he has produced a diverse body of work consisting of both documentaries and dramas.

After five years as a reporter, notably with the Montreal daily Le Devoir, in 1955 Dansereau joined the National Film Board of Canada, where he would write and/or direct numerous short, medium-length and feature films, many of which won awards at international festivals. As a producer, he worked with some of Quebec's great directors, including Anne Claire Poirier, Gilles Groulx, Gilles Carles and Denys Arcand. His greatest legacy from that period is the direct cinema masterpiece Pour la suite du monde (1963), directed by Pierre Perrault and Michel Brault.

In 1969, Dansereau left the NFB for the private sector. Among his many achievements, he wrote and directed the feature documentary Faut aller parmi l'monde pour le savoir (1971), which was selected for the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes in 1972, and the dramatic feature Doux aveux (1982), which garnered four Genie Award nominations in 1983.

In the 1980s, Dansereau began writing for television, penning some of the biggest critical and commercial successes on Quebec TV. The soap opera Le Parc des braves (1984-88) and the series Les filles de Caleb (1989-90) were enormously popular, both earning a Gémeaux Award for best screenplay for a dramatic program or series. Dansereau also wrote the series Shehaweh (1991-92) and Caserne 24 (1998-2000).

In the 2000s, he received a series of honours for career achievement: the Government of Quebec's Albert Tessier Award in 2005, a Special Grand Prix of the Americas from the Montreal World Film Festival in 2007, and the Jutra Tribute Award in 2009.

Dansereau is also very active in public institutions and organizations. Among other things, he was the founding president of the Institut national de l'image et du son (INIS). In 2003, he received the Prix Lumière from the Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec for his outstanding contribution to the profession.

Proof that his career is still going strong, in 2007 Dansereau made the dramatic feature La brunante, a sensitive look at aging, memory and death, which was nominated for best film and best director at the 2008 Jutra Awards.

Dansereau first addressed environmental issues in 2001, with his feature documentary An Ecology of Hope. He is now continuing this reflection with Hope Builders, a timely documentary about educating the next generation as the world grapples with issues that will affect the very fate of humanity and the planet.

For both his earlier works and his recent contributions, Fernand Dansereau has an important place in Quebec culture. And his long and productive career lets us hope for more great things to come.

 >Watch Fernand Dansereau's films at NFB.ca