Marquise Lepage

A native of Québec, filmmaker Marquise Lepage became an important name in French-Canadian cinema. Born in Chénéville in 1959, Lepage went on to attend the University of Québec for a BA in communications and the University of Montreal for a master's in film studies before joining the ranks of the Canadian film industry. She would work for several local production houses, including Sovimage, Pixcom, and Trinôme, before eventually directing her own feature film, "Marie s'en va-t-en ville" (1987). She quickly followed the drama with the documentary "Un soleil entre deux nuages" (1988). By 1991, Lepage was being recognized for her talents, receiving the Arts Award at the Salon de la Femme in Montreal. In 1998, she founded her own production company, Productions du Cerf-Volant, and later founded the professional group Réalisatrices Équitables, to promote equity in the filmmaking industry. Lepage would also serve as president and later, vice president of l'Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec, in addition to her ongoing career as a filmmaker. In 2009, Lepage directed the critically acclaimed documentary "Martha of the North" (2009), profiling an Inuit community as they reflect on the 1953 relocation of their people to the Grise Fiord in what later became Nunavut. This was followed two years later by another documentary feature, "Sexe, tendresse, caresses... pour corps malade" (2011).