Masterclass: Marc Bertrand

AnimatekaPRO

 

Old Power Station – Elektro Ljubljana, Slomškova 18

 

Marc Bertrand (NFB)

Space – The Final Frontier

 

Since the advent of new interactive media, creators must constantly re-evaluate the space they want to offer viewers in their work. From theatre to games, traditional animation, stereoscopy, VR, AR and multimedia installations, the questions remain the same; What is the experience offered by medium that one wishes to employ? What space or role does the author wish to offer in his work to the user? What will remain imprinted in the spectator? As a producer for over twenty years at the NFB, these are the questions I still ask myself for each of my productions. The answers are becoming more complex.

 

Marc Bertrand joined the French Animation Studio as a producer in 1998 and has since produced more than 100 films, including such notable successes as the award-winning series Science Please! (2001), and Noël Noël (2003) by Nicola Lemay. Bertrand’s interest in new technology has led him to become involved in working on 3D films. In 2008, he coproduced Facing Champlain: A Work in 3 Dimensions, directed by Jean-François Pouliot, and produced Private Eyes, a new 3D film by Nicola Lemay. 

Among his other productions are acclaimed films such as Imprints (2004) by Jacques Drouin, Sunday (2011) by Patrick Doyon, which earned an Oscar® nomination, and works by Theodore Ushev, includingLipsett Diaries (2010), winner of a Genie for Best Animated Short and a Special Mention at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. 

In 2013, Marc became an AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences) member and completed the co-production Hollow Land (Michèle and Uri Kranot) and Gloria Victoria (T. Ushev), which won the FIPRESCI award in Annecy 2013. 

In 2014, it was another of Marc’s production, No fish where to go, that received the same honor. In 2016, his production of Théodore Ushev’s Vaysha the Blind won both the Jury Prize and de Children Jury prize in Annecy and in 2017 the film was nominated for an Oscar® in the Short Animated film category.