Director, Cinematographer

(b. October 5, 1934 Drummondville, Quebec)

Bernard Gosselin’s hand-held camera work for Denys Arcand, Michel Brault and Claude Jutra represents a significant contribution to early direct cinema in Quebec, though he is chiefly remembered for his collaboration on almost all of Pierre Perrault’s films.

Gosselin studied graphic arts and worked as a printer before joining the National Film Board’s title department in 1956. He then worked as an assistant cameraman, location manager and assistant editor before photographing his first film, Gilles Groulx’s Golden Gloves (1962). He also directed the fiction feature Le Martien de Noël (1970) and several notable solo documentaries, including César et son canot d’écorce (1971), Jean Carigman violoneux (1975) and his ethnographic films in the Belle ouvrage series (1977-80). He won a Canadian Film Award in 1968 for his black-and-white cinematography on Perrault’s Le Règne du jour (1966).

Film and video work includes

Nomades, 1960 (editor)
Le Jeu de l'hiver, 1962 (co-cinematographer with Michel Brault, Jean Dansereau)
Québec-U.S.A. ou L'invasion pacifique, 1962 (co-cinematographer with Michel Brault)
L'Homme du lac, 1963 (co-cinematographer with Georges Dufaux)
Appuis et suspensions, 1964 (co-cinematographer with Georges Dufaux)
Along uncharted shores, 1964 (co-cinematographer with Gilles Gascon, Jean-Claude Labrecque)
Champlain, 1964 (co-cinematographer with James Wilson, Murray Fallen, Jean Chouinard, Douglas Poulter, Gilles Gascon)
Corps agiles, 1964 (cinematographer)
La Cigarette? Parlons-en!, 1964 (co-cinematographer with Jean-Claude Labrecque, Jean-Pierre Lachapelle)
Escale des oies sauvages, 1964, (co-cinematographer with Jean-Claude Labrecque)
Parallèles et grand soleil - Deuxième partie, 1964 (co-cinematographer with Georges Dufaux)
Québec 1603 - Samuel de Champlain, 1964 (co-cinematographer with Gilles Gascon)
La Route de l'ouest, 1964 (cinematographer)
Terra nova, 1964 (co-cinematographer with Laval Fortier)
Villeneuve, peintre-barbier, 1964 (cinematographer)
Les Voyageurs, 1964 (co-cinematographer with Bill Mason)
Les Montréalistes, 1965 (co-cinematographer with Michel Brault, Jacques Leduc)
Comment savoir, 1966 (cinematographer)
Le Misanthrope, 1966 (cinematographer)
L'Indien parle, 1967 (cinematographer)
La Visite de Général De Gaulle au Québec, 1967 (co-cinematographer with Jean-Claude Labrecque, Michel Brault)
Le Beau Plaisir, 1968 (co-director with Pierre Perrault, Michel Brault)
Capture, 1969 (director; co-cinematographer with Claude Larue)
St-Denis, dans le temps..., 1969 (co-cinematographer with Thomas Vamos)
L'Odyssée du Manhattan, 1970 (director; cinematographer; editor)
Passage au Nord-Ouest, 1970 (director; cinematographer)
César et son canot d'écorce , 1971 (director; cinematographer)
Le Martien de Noël, 1971 (director)
Peut-être Maurice Richard, 1971 (as himself, TV)
Le Grand Sabordage, 1972 (actor)
Tickets s.v.p., 1973 (co-cinematographer with Michel Brault, Pierre Provost)
Jean Carignan, violoneux, 1975 (director; cinematographer)
Un Royaume vous attend, 1976 (co-director with Pierre Perrault; cinematographer )
Je suis loin de toi mignonne, 1976 (actor)
La Veillée des veillées, 1976 (director; co-cinematographer with Jean-Claude Labrecque, Pierre Mignot, Michel Brault)
Damase Breton, cordonnier, 1977 (co-director with Léo Plamondon)
Le Goût de la farine, 1977 (cinematographer)
La Battle de la Châteauguay, 1978 (co-cinematographer with Raymond Dumas, Jean-Pierre Lachapelle, Pierre Letarte)
Le Canot à Renald à Thomas, 1980 (director; editor)
Gens d'Abitibi, 1980 (cinematographer)
Le Pays de la terre sans arbre, 1980 (cinematographer)
L'Anticoste, 1986 (director)
Cornouailles, 1994 (co-cinematographer with Martin Leclerc)
L'Arche de verre, 1994 (director; co-editor with Michelle Guérin)
Cornouailles, 1996 (co-cinematographer with Martin Leclerc)
Joyeux Calvaire, 1996 (actor)

By: Tom McSorley