March 11, 1930 - Montreal, Québec
November 5, 1986 - Montreal, Québec
Québécois director, actor, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer and producer
_________________

Claude Jutra made feature films that rank among the greatest ever made in Quebec, including Mon oncle Antoine, judged the best Canadian film of all time by the Canadian jury of critics at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1984 and 1993. "At a time when Québécois cinema did not yet exist, Claude Jutra, working with Michel Brault, and a few others were already making films with what might be called "new viewpoints."¹ __________________________________________________________________
As a young man, Jutra followed in the footsteps of his doctor father, completing his medical degree at the age of twenty-two, but he never practised medicine. Film and theatre were his great passions and, while still in his teens, he made two films with his schoolmate Michel Brault.

Jutra's years at Radio-Canada saw the convergence of film and television: the first original television play, L'école de la peur (1953), was written by Jutra and broadcast by Radio-Canada. Then followed two series dedicated to film, in which he introduced: Images en boîte (1954) and Cinéma canadien (1961).

Jutra joined the NFB in 1954 and made most of his films there, training in all facets of filmmaking, in front of as well as behind the camera. In the NFB tradition, the first films he made were documentaries:  Chantons maintenant, a celebration of French-Canadian folksongs featuring Félix Leclerc, Dominique Michel and others, and Jeunesses musicales, a series of snapshots telling the story of Les Jeunesses musicales du Canada.

His early efforts attracted the attention of the great pioneer of animated film, Norman McLaren, with whom he co-directed A Chairy Tale/Il était une chaise (1957), a brilliant frame-by-frame animated film.

The following year Jutra directed his first feature film, Les mains nettes (1958), from a screenplay by Fernand Dansereau. Later, in Félix Leclerc troubadour (1958), he continued with a documentary featuring an intimate portrait of the Quebec poet, shown in conversation at his home in Vaudreuil.

In 1959, he left for France, where he worked with François Truffaut on Anna la bonne; from there he continued to Africa with Jean Rouch, with whom he shot the documentary Le Niger, jeune république. On his return, he became involved in the new ''direct cinema" movement. Working with Claude Fournier, Michel Brault and Marcel Carrière, he co-directed the film La lutte, a candid view of a brutal sport.

The filmmaker opens up. À tout prendre (1963), a fictional autobiography in the "direct" style and produced independently, recounts the protagonist's love affair with a woman of colour. With the mutual confessions of the lovers forming a muted background, the truth is revealed: she becomes aware of the possibility that Claude may be homosexual.

Even before the cult films of the 1970s, Jutra had explored the world of teenagers in Comment savoir and Rouli-roulant (1966). In WOW (1969), three girls and six boys paint a true picture of one kind of adolescence that is different from what we expect. Their conversations and concerns focus on drugs, love, sex, freedom, authority and social dissent.

Mon oncle Antoine, from a screenplay by Clément Perron, tells the story of Benoit, a fifteen-year-old boy who discovers the world of adults - a world of feelings and failings.  It wins eight Canadian Film Awards. Kamouraska, a film adaptation of the novel by Anne Hébert, was the most expensive film ever made in Canada at that time. After its initial release in French, Jutra shot it in English. He accepted an offer from the CBC and left Montreal for Toronto.

In 1984, La Dame en couleurs, his last feature film, came out. That same year he was awarded the Albert-Tessier Prize by the government of Quebec for his lifetime achievement. In 1986, stricken with Alzheimer's disease, he committed suicide.

Jutra, the eternal rebel, worked with other notable rebels: Truffaut, Cocteau and Rouch. He launched Quebec filmmaking into the modern era with some of his finest achievements - A Chairy Tale (co-directed with Norman McLaren), À tout prendre, Wow, Mon oncle Antoine and Kamouraska.

"During the last years of his life, he wrote a number of screenplays that were never produced, and made a television film and an advertising film. He led a somewhat mysterious life, and seemed not to recognize anyone."²

Tribute events and awards

The Jutra Award
Since 1999, the Jutra Awards, named in honour of the filmmaker, have been presented at a gala ceremony. Since 2004, the event has been telecast on Radio-Canada. The winners are selected by members of professional associations of Quebec's film industry.

The Jutra Lifetime Achievement Award
Since 1999 the Lifetime Achievement Award has been given to notable personalities - Marcel Sabourin, Frédéric Back, Gilles Carle, Anne Claire Poirier, Rock Demers, Richard Grégoire, Michel Brault, Denise Filiatrault, Pierre Curzi, Michel Côté, Jean-Claude Labrecque, Fernand Dansereau and René Malo - all of whom have contributed to building Québécois cinema and created outstanding films.

The Claude Jutra Award of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
Established in 1993, the Claude-Jutra Award for best director of a first feature film has celebrated the vision and creativity of young emerging filmmakers.

Salle Claude-Jutra, Cinémathèque québécoise
This screening room in the Cinémathèque québécoise was named in honour of the filmmaker, who was closely connected to the Cinémathèque's history. He was, along with Norman McLaren, its honorary president for several years.

Claude Jutra, an Unfinished Story (2002), directed by Paule Baillargeon, sheds light on the complex personality of a great filmmaker.

» See also
Claude Jutra sur Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Jutra

Claude Jutra sur IMDB.com
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0433267/

Claude Jutra - Filmography

*Directed by Claude Jutra at the NFB
** Direction, screenplay and narration by Claude Jutra at the NFB

LE DÉMENT DU LAC JEAN-JEUNES (with Michel Brault), 1947
29 min
MOUVEMENT PERPÉTUEL, 1949
15 min
L'ÉCOLE DE LA PEUR, 1953
*AU SERVICE DE L'ESPRIT TROUBLÉ (with Stanley Jackson), 1955
25 min
*CHANTONS MAINTENANT, 1956
30 min
PIERROTS DES BOIS, 1956
10 min
**JEUNESSES, 1956
27 min
*IL ÉTAIT UNE CHAISE/A CHAIRY TALE (with Norman McLaren), 1957
10 min
*FÉLIX LECLERC, TROUBADOUR, 1958
30 min
*LES MAINS NETTES, 1958
75 min
ANNA LA BONNE, 1959
9 min
**FRED BARRY, COMÉDIEN, 1959
20 min
**LE NIGER, JEUNE RÉPUBLIQUE, 1961
58 min
*LA LUTTE (co-directed), 1961
28 min
*QUÉBEC-USA or L'INVASION PACIFIQUE (with Michel Brault), 1962
28 min
**LES ENFANTS DU SILENCE (with Michel Brault), 1963
24 min
**PETIT DISCOURS DE LA MÉTHODE (with Pierre Patry), 1963
27 min
À TOUT PRENDRE, 1963 or 1961?
100 min
**COMMENT SAVOIR, 1966
70 min
**ROULI-ROULANT, 1966
15 min
*WOW, 1969
95 min
MARIE-CHRISTINE, 1970
10 min
*MON ONCLE ANTOINE, 1971 or 1970?
110 min
KAMOURASKA, 1973  or 1972?
POUR LE MEILLEUR ET POUR LE PIRE, 1975
ADA (TV), 1976
QUÉBEC FÊTE JUIN '75 (with Jean-Claude Labrecque)1976
DREAMSPEAKER (TV), 1977
ARTS CUBA, 1977
THE BEACHCOMBERS (TV), 1978
THE WORDSMITH (TV), 1979
SURFACING, 1981
BY DESIGN, 1982 or 1981?
MY FATHER, MY RIVAL (TV), 1985
**LA DAME EN COULEURS, 1984 (co-production)

_________________________

< Watch MON ONCLE ANTOINE at NFB.ca

< Watch films by CLAUDE JUTRA at NFB.ca

Sources:
● National Film Board of Canada
● Dictionnaire du cinéma québécois (new edition revised and expanded by Michel Coulombe, 2006)
● 1. La Cinémathèque québécoise - Rétrospective Jutra, 1973.
● 2. Daniel carrière, Claude Jutra, Montreal, Lidec, 1993, 62 pp. (Célébrités canadiennes)