Philippe Falardeau | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Falardeau in 2025 | |
| Born | (1968-02-01)February 1, 1968 (age 57) Hull, Quebec, Canada |
| Alma mater | University of Ottawa |
| Occupation(s) | Film director,screenwriter |
| Years active | 2000–present |
Philippe Falardeau (French pronunciation:[filipfalaʁdo]; born February 1, 1968, inHull,Quebec) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter.
Falardeau was born and raised inHull, Quebec. He later studiedpolitical science at theUniversity of Ottawa, before travelling around the world for the Quebec competitive television seriesLa Course destination monde, on which he emerged as the Grand Prize winner.[1]
His first feature film,The Left-Hand Side of the Fridge (La Moitié gauche du frigo) (2000) won Best Canadian First Feature at the2000 Toronto International Film Festival and received a Best Screenplay nomination at the Quebec-basedJutra Awards.[2] Falardeau also received theClaude Jutra Award at the CanadianGenies (now calledCanadian Screen Awards), in 2001 for this film.[2] For his work on his second film,Congorama (2006), Falardeau won aGenie Award in 2007 for Best Original Screenplay.[2]
Falardeau received much press attention following the release of his 2011 filmMonsieur Lazhar.[3] The film premiered at theLocarno International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award and the Variety Piazza Grande Award.[4] It also screened at theToronto International Film Festival in September 2011, theWhistler Film Festival in December 2011, and selected for the2012 Sundance Film Festival.[5] Following a wave of critical acclaim,[6] the film was nominated forBest Foreign Language Film at the84th Academy Awards,[7] and also won six Canadian Screen Awards, includingBest Motion Picture.[8] AtRotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 97%, based on 110 reviews and an average rating of 8.1/10.[9]
Monsieur Lazhar grossed $2,009,517 inNorth America and $4,572,398 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $6,581,915 USD.Telefilm Canada credited it, along withIncendies (2010) and other films, with doubling domestic and worldwide gross on its works in 2011.[10]
In 2014, he directed the filmThe Good Lie, which starsReese Witherspoon and premiered at the2014 Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews.[11] He followed this up withMy Internship in Canada (2015), which premiered at the2015 Toronto International Film Festival.[11]
In 2015, Falardeau directed the filmChuck, which depicts the life of theheavyweight boxerChuck Wepner, played byLiev Schreiber, and his 1975 fight with the heavyweight champion,Muhammad Ali.[12] The film had its world premiere at theVenice Film Festival on September 2, 2016,[13][14] and was subsequently released on May 5, 2017, byIFC Films.[15] The film received positive reviews; onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 79%, based on 70 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10.[16]
Falardeau's filmMy Salinger Year (2020), starringMargaret Qualley andSigourney Weaver, opened the70th Berlin International Film Festival.[17]
In 2023, he premiered the four-part documentary seriesLac-Mégantic: This Is Not an Accident, about theLac-Mégantic rail disaster of 2013.[18] It was the winner of theHot Docs Audience Award at the 2023Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.[19]
In 2024, he completed production onLovely Day (Mille secrets mille dangers), an adaptation of the novel byAlain Farah.[20]
