Marquise Lepage facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Marquise Lepage
Marquise Lepage at the cinémathèque québécoise in 2018
Born	Marquise Lepage (1959-09-06) September 6, 1959 (age 65) Chénéville, Quebec, Canada
Occupation	Screenwriter, director, producer
Years active	1983–present
Children	2

Marquise Lepage (born September 6, 1959, in Chénéville, Quebec) is a talented Canadian filmmaker. She is a producer, screenwriter, and director for both movies and TV shows. Marquise Lepage is well-known for her 1987 movie Marie in the City (Marie s'en va-t-en ville). This film earned her a nomination for Best Director at the 9th Genie Awards in 1988. She was also nominated for Best Live Action Short Drama for her film Your Country, My Country (Dans ton pays) in 1993. In 1991, the National Film Board (NFB) hired her as a filmmaker. One of her first big projects there was The Lost Garden: The Life and Cinema of Alice Guy-Blaché. This was a documentary about Alice Guy-Blaché, an important woman who helped start cinema.

Marquise Lepage has also worked on many other films and TV shows. These include documentaries like Un soleil entre deux nuages and Martha of the North. She has also directed parts of the TV series Canada: A People's History. She often makes movies and documentaries that focus on social issues. She has said that she is a feminist.

Marquise Lepage used to lead Quebec's film directors' association. She also led Réalisatrices Équitables, a group that works for equal opportunities for female and male filmmakers. In 2008, she started her own company called Les Productions du Cerf-Volant. Her first movie she directed and produced for her company was One Night Stand: A Modern Love Story (Ce qu'il ne faut pas dire), which came out in 2015. Her most recent film, Apapacho, was released in 2019.

Early Life and Education

Marquise Lepage was born in 1959. She is the seventh of nine children in her family. The first movie she ever saw was Disney’s Bambi. After finishing high school, she studied social sciences at Cégep de Saint-Jérôme.

She didn't have any family members working in the film industry. She also knew very little about movies when she decided to study Communications at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM). She said, "I knew nothing about the industry or anyone who had anything to do with cinema ... I walked into it with great naivety. But it served me. If I had seen the big picture and all that it takes to succeed, I might have been scared!" Later, she earned a Master's degree in Film Studies from Université de Montréal.

Personal Life and Family

Marquise Lepage has two children, twins named Alice and Jérémie, who were born in 1995. She named her daughter Alice after Alice Guy-Blaché. Alice Guy-Blaché was the subject of Marquise's documentary The Lost Garden (Le Jardin oublié) in 1995. Marquise has lived in the Villeray neighborhood of Montreal for more than 20 years. In 2015, she sold the house where she raised her children. She did this to help pay for her latest movie, Ce qu’il ne faut pas dire (One Night Stand: A Modern Love Story).

Career Highlights

Marquise Lepage started her career in 1983. She became a partner at Les Productions du Lundi matin, a production company led by famous Quebec film producer Marcel Simard. Simard gave Lepage her first chance to direct. She directed Marie s’en va-t-en ville, which was her first feature film. Marquise Lepage worked with Les Productions du Lundi matin until 1991.

In 1991, she joined the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). She worked there until 1994. While at the NFB, she directed Your Country, My Country (Dans ton pays). This was a short film about two elementary school kids from different backgrounds who become friends. She also directed her second feature film, a children’s movie called La fête des rois. A young Marc-André Grondin starred in this film.

Lepage was the president of the Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec (ARRQ) for two years, from 1990 to 1991.

From 2007 to 2012, she was the president of Réalisatrices Équitables (RÉ). She started this group with other Québécoise filmmakers. RÉ is a non-profit group that supports female film directors in Quebec.

Marquise Lepage started her own company, Les Productions du Cerf-Volant, in 2008. After making several web projects and TV movies, she wrote, directed, and produced One Night Stand: A Modern Love Story. This film is a mix of romantic comedy and drama. It tells the story of a young female filmmaker in her thirties who has a big secret. This secret makes her love life complicated. The film was made without help from big Canadian funding groups. Some money was raised through a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. They aimed for $15,000 but raised $16,780 in two months. The movie was released on May 29, 2016, in Montreal and Quebec City. It stayed in theaters for two weeks.

Marquise is currently working on a new movie called Apapacho. This is a Spanish word that means "cuddle." This project will be made with both Canada and Mexico. Filming will happen in Quebec and a small village in Mexico. The film will tell the story of two sisters who travel to Mexico after their other sister dies. Mexican actress Sofía Espinosa is set to star in the film.

Filmmaking Style and Philosophy

Marquise Lepage has written, directed, and produced many types of films. These include documentaries and fiction films, both long and short. When asked why she does both, she jokes that she still doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up.

Lepage enjoys working with the same people on her films again and again. She says, "From one time to the next, we learn to know each other, to understand each other, and often even to love each other. What happens on a film set is very special."

A common theme in Lepage's films is childhood and unfairness that affects children. She won the Golden Sheaf Award for Best Social Documentary for Of Hopscotch and Little Girls (Des marelles et des petites filles) in 2000.

Lepage also cares deeply about unfair treatment of women. She is concerned that women are not shown enough in the film industry. She believes that "The imagination and creativity of women are not exploited enough on screen. It seems to me that a gap that needs to be filled." These concerns led her to make the documentary The Lost Garden (Le Jardin oublié). This film is about French-American filmmaker Alice Guy-Blaché. Alice Guy-Blaché lived from 1873 to 1968 and directed over 1,000 films. However, she was largely forgotten by history. The film won Best Auteur Documentary at the Gémeaux Awards in 1996.

Lepage's interest in social justice was also seen in her 2009 documentary Martha of the North (Martha qui vient du froid). This film tells the story of Martha Flaherty. Martha, her family, and other Inuit people were moved by the Canadian government to the Far North in the 1950s. This was part of the High Arctic relocation. It took Marquise over two years to convince Martha to share her story. The film took more than six years to make before it was released. The film was well-liked by critics. It was nominated for Best Screenplay at the Gémeaux Awards. After the film was released, the Canadian Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development apologized to the Inuit families who were moved.

In 2013, Lepage released Iqqaumavara. This was a web series and educational website that followed up on Martha of the North. The website has 12 short films and information about the High Arctic relocation. It is available in French, English, and Inuktitut.

Filmography

Television Work

Other Projects

Awards and Honors

• 2009: Women of Distinction Award in Arts and culture, Women's Y Foundation
• 1999: Named Artiste pour la paix, Les Artistes pour la paix
• 1991: Woman of the Year in the field of Arts
• 1990: Invited to Hollywood for the event "A New Wave from Québec"
• 1988: Quebec representative at the Tokyo Film Festival

Other Contributions

• 2007-2009: Board Member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
• 2001-2003: Collaborator at the Institut national de l'image et du son (INIS)
• 1999-2001: Hired as director for Radio-Canada
• 1991-1994: Hired as director for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
• 1990-1991: President of the Association of filmmakers and directors of Quebec (ARRQ)
• 1983-1991: Associate and Board Member of les Productions du Lundi matin
• 1997: Lecturer in Cinema department at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM)
• 1996: Lecturer in Cinema department at Université de Montréal (UdeM)
• Jury member for national and international festivals.
• Writer for various publications.
• Mentor to young screenwriters and male and female filmmakers.
• Volunteer for various organizations.