Jean-Claude Labrecque
Directing
Jean-Claude Labrecque, CM CQ (June 19, 1938 â May 31, 2019) was a director and cinematographer who learned the basics of filmmaking at the National Film Board of Canada. Jean-Claude Labrecque was born in Quebec City, Quebec, and trained as a camera assistant at the NFB. As a cinematographer, he shot many of the early key films of Claude Jutra (Ă tout prendre), Michel Brault (Entre la mer et lâeau douce), Gilles Carle (La vie heureuse de LĂ©opold Z), Gilles Groulx (Le Chat dans le sac) and Don Owen (Notes for a Film About Donna and Gail, The Ernie Game). He turned to directing in 1965 with 60 Cycles, about a long-distance bike race on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence River, which has been described as a virtual encyclopedia of camera techniques. It won 22 international awards and was nominated for a BAFTA. He left the NFB in 1967 to set-up his own production company, although he continued to freelance with the Board.
