Marie-Josee Saint-Pierre

Born in Murdochville, Quebec, Marie-Josee Saint-Pierre is a French Canadian filmmaker based in Montreal, Canada. Saint-Pierre obtained a B.F.A. Honors in Film Animation and an M.F.A. in Film Production from The Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University. Saint-Pierre's animated documentary work shows new approaches in nonfiction storytelling, blurring the lines between documentary and drama. The award-winning director and film animator has directed several short animation and documentary films including Post-Partum, Passages, The Sapporo Project and McLaren's Negatives, the 2007 JUTRA award winner for best animated film. She is also the co-producer of The Delian Mode, directed by Kara Blake. Saint-Pierre is now currently directing two mid-length animated documentary films: Femelles, an exploration of Quebec woman going through motherhood, as well as Jutra, a portrait of the legendary Quebec filmmaker Claude Jutra. Marie-Josee Saint-Pierre founded MJSTP Films, an animation and documentary production company in 2004. Overall, her film work has been screened at over 150 prestigious festivals around the world while receiving many awards. She has lectured on the art of the animated documentary filmmaking in Europe, Asia and in Canada. She has also been a jury member for the Canada Arts Council, The Ottawa International Animation Festival as well as the London International Film Festival. In 2008, she was selected as the international artist in residency for the S-AIR Inter-cross Creative Center in Sapporo, Japan where she created the film The Sapporo Project. She currently lives in Montreal where she spends her time making film and raising her three daughters.