Martine Chartrand / Photo : Caroline Hayeur
Martine Chartrand
Artiste visuelle - cinéaste / Visual Artist - FilmMaker
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Martine Chartrand
Photo : Ludger Saintélien
@ONF/NFB. All rights reserved/Tous droits réservés
Born in Montreal, Martine Chartrand completed a BFA in visual arts at Concordia University in 1986. She then earned a certificate in art education from the Université du Québec à Montréal in 1988. She has worked as a painter/illustrator for film production companies, created posters for festivals, taught and participated in exhibitions in Canada and in Europe. She first became involved in animation in 1986, working as a layout and colour artist.

In 1992, Martine Chartrand directed the international award-winning short T.V. Tango, her first animated film, for the NFB. In 1994, she received a grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and from the Canada Council for the Arts enabling her to study in Russia under Alexander Petrov, a master of paint-on-glass animation. During her stay, she helped Petrov prepare and translate his film proposal for the animation project The Old Man and the Sea, which was subsequently directed and animated in Montreal by Petrov and produced by Productions Pascal Blais. Once back in Canada, she was involved in the film’s development.

In 2000, her second NFB animated film, Black Soul, was painted on glass directly under the camera. In it, Martine Chartrand uses images and music to create a sweeping portrait of black history. The film has won 23 awards, including the prestigious Golden Bear for best short film at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival and the 2002 Jutra Award for best animated film. This success led Chartrand to travel to South Korea, Italy, Cuba, Brazil, the United States and within Canada to give lectures, hold master classes and lead paint-on-glass workshops.

With MacPherson she followed in the footsteps of Black Soul, pursuing the themes of turning points in history and musical diversity, and employing techniques that have produced a film bursting with poetry and dancing to music from two different worlds. The film won several international awards including the Best Short Film Award and the Public Award for the Best Canadian Short Film at the Montreal World Film Festival 2012.