Les sommets du cinéma d'animation Les sommets du cinéma d'animation

Loïc Darses is a Québécois screenwriter and director. He directed the award-winning short films Elle pis son char (2015) and Cercueil, tabarnak! (2021), the former having been selected for the Sundance Film Festival and the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Following La fin des terres (2019), a landmark debut feature-length documentary produced by the NFB, he most recently directed Graver l’homme : arrêt sur Pierre Hébert (2024), which pays tribute to the work of the prolific animation filmmaker. Presented as the closing film at the Sommets du cinéma d’animation and later at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the film was also nominated for four Iris Awards at the Gala Québec Cinéma, including Best Feature-Length Documentary.

Halifax filmmaker Andrea Dorfman has written and directed many award-winning documentaries, features and animated films, including the NFB-produced Flawed (2010), Big Mouth (2012) and feature docThe Girls of Meru (2018). Dorfman’s video collaborations with poet-musician Tanya Davis, How to Be Alone (2010) and How to Be at Home (2020), became YouTube sensations. Dorfman’s latest animated short, Hairy Legs (2024), explores one girl’s small yet life-changing act of defiance.

Randall Finnerty is a visual artist originally from Timmins, Ontario. After many years consorting with filmmakers, musicians and comedians in Toronto, he made his way to Montreal in 1992. After a few years working on animation software at Softimage, he found himself at the National Film Board of Canada, where he worked for 24 years as Technical Specialist on numerous award-winning animated short films. He loved his time working with animators using various techniques but managed to maintain an active practice as an exhibiting artist. Since his retirement from the NFB in 2021, he has concentrated solely on his own work.

Micheline Lanctôt completed a Bachelor of Arts degree, as well as studies in music and visual arts. She devoted herself passionately to creating animated films for almost seven years, alongside pursuing an acting career, beginning with La vraie nature de Bernadette in 1972, which won her an interpretation award. Then she proceeded with several other films, including The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 1974.

In 1980, she wrote and directed her first feature,L'homme à tout faire, which was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival and won a Silver Medal at the San Sebastián Film Festival. Her second feature, Sonatine, won her the Silver Lion at the 1984 Venice Film Festival.

Since then, she has written about twenty screenplays, directed twelve feature films, including one documentary, published two novels, three translations, won numerous awards as an actress and director, and keeps working as an actress in television and film. She also taught screen writing and directing at Concordia University for 36 years.

She received the Prix Albert-Tessier 2000, the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award 2003 and the Prix Jutra Hommage 2014.

A former programmer at the Forum des images and director of the Ciné-Bourse in Saint-Junien, Isabelle Vanini is now the executive director of the French Association of Animated Film. As a member of the César Awards’ Animation Committee, she has also participated in the “Documentary and Animation” meetings organized by the NEF since their inception and is a regular contributor to the magazine Blink Blank. Finally, Isabelle has been involved in selecting feature films for the Annecy International Animation Film Festival for the past seven years.

With over 26 years of experience in the animation industry, Marc Bertrand has played a key role in the creation and production of more than 130 films and projects at the National Film Board of Canada’s (NFB) French Animation Studio. His career has been marked by a series of notable successes that have made him a leading figure in the sector and led to his election as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 2013. As a producer, consultant, and educator, he combines technical expertise, creative vision, and a passion for innovation. His work has been praised with three Oscar nominations, crowned with the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for The Girl Who Cried Pearls.

After graduating in Film production at UQAM, Jean-Christophe founds h264 in 2015. He then cofounded Plein(s) Écran(s), the world’s first film festival to take place on Facebook. h264 diversified its activities and launched a new aggregation service offer in a will to improve the accessibility and the distribution on digital platforms. 2021 marks a new chapter for h264 by launching into feature film distribution following the acquisition of Fragments, with the aim of offering an innovative distribution model. Finally, h264 rolled out its international sales activities in 2023, supporting the international release of Red Rooms and Humanist Vampire.

Rachel Samson is from Quebec City. A BFA graduate of Concordia University, she is interested in traditional, digital, and stop-motion animation, as well as screenwriting, illustration, and fanzines.