Léa Pool
(1950-)
Filmmaker, Documentary Filmmaker, Director, Producer, Screenwriter

Léa Pool
Copyright/Source


Born in Soglio, Switzerland, Léa Pool immigrated to Canada in 1975 to study communications at the Université du Québec à Montréal. She experimented with various media, including short films, documentaries, and television series. Léa Pool made her short-film debut with Laurent Lamerre, portier (1978). In 1979, she made the black-and-white feature Strass Café, which garnered a number of awards including at the Sceaux Festival in France (1981). At this time, she also launched her career as a director with Planète et Eva en transit (1980-1983) a Radio-Québec television series developed by and aimed at cultural minorities. As well as making acclaimed films, Pool listed teaching at the Université du Québec à Montréal among her professional and artistic accomplishments. The filmmaker is known for putting all of herself into her work, infusing her films with her passion and emotions.

The main theme of Léa Pool`s A Woman in Waiting (1984) is urban alienation. Wrapped in poetic imagery, the three main female characters wander the city seeking to fulfill their need for identity. This quest for identity is the ultimate preoccupation of the film, just as in Anne Trister (1985) and Straight for the Heart (1988).

The semi-autobiographical film Anne Trister depicts scenes from Léa Pool`s life, from her arrival in Montréal at age 25 to her early 30s. This film`s main themes are identity, exile and Jewishness. During the film, a troubled friendship grows between two female characters, Anne and Alix. The women are physically attracted to one another, and this attraction is both complex and awkward. The theme of homosexuality is not openly addressed in this film: homosexuality lies just below the surface and is perceptible only through fleeting expressions. Léa Pool prefers to play with her characters` emotions and self-analysis. The film Straight for the Heart, adapted from the novel Kurwenal, by Yves Navarre, tells the story of a reporter-photographer returning from assignment in Latin America. Once again, the world of intimacy is explored. The theme remains secondary to the film`s visualization of a slowly disintegrating ménage à trois giving way to a sole voice, that of the man.

From early on in her career, Léa Pool drew inspiration from the works of author Marguerite Duras, which revolve around the same themes: exile, wandering, uprooting, mood and the quest for identity. With her introspective film style, Léa Pool examines her own preoccupations through the self-analysis of her characters. What occurs onscreen encourages viewers to reflect on their own individuality.

For the most part, cinema in Quebec during the 1980s was not created in reaction to the films of the previous generation; rather, it was defined by filmmakers` individual styles. It should also be noted that many Quebec filmmakers of the time were involved in the various stages of the creation of their works; they served as screenwriters, directors, and even producers. Budgets were limited and as a result, filmmakers were forced to adopt a do-it-yourself approach. At the same time, an artistic and commercial infrastructure began to emerge. It was the rise of "institutional" filmmaking, one that was regulated and highly standardized. It was also the time of "cost-effective" filmmaking, with multiple levels of

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