MONTRÉAL, June 15, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - Quebecor today announced that Dominique Dugas, currently director of Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma, will take over as head of Éléphant: The memory of Québec cinema. He will start on June 18 to begin the transition and transfer of knowledge from current co-directors Marie-José Raymond and Claude Fournier, who are leaving Éléphant on December 31, 2018.
"Since Éléphant was created 10 years ago, Marie-José and Claude have done an incredible job making our cinematic heritage accessible for all Quebecers," said Pierre Karl Péladeau, President and CEO of Quebecor. "They have restored and digitized nearly 225 fictional feature films and have taken some of them to Cannes Classics, the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, the MoMA in New York and many other events in Washington, Mexico City, Taipei and elsewhere. They have conducted hundreds of interviews with Québec film people to give the public a look into their world. I salute their unwavering dedication and invaluable contribution to this project that is so close to our hearts. Thank you, Marie-José and Claude!
"Dominique Dugas is the ideal person to take over from Marie-José and Claude, and to chart Éléphant's course into the future. He shares their deep devotion, vast knowledge and love of Québec cinema. I wish him every success," Mr. Péladeau added.
After studying cinema, Dominique Dugas became television and radio curator at the Cinémathèque québécoise, then program director of Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma, and since 2012 director of the latter institution. He has served on many international film festival juries and numerous committees, including for the Canada Council, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and SODEC. He is also a volunteer member of the Board of the Cinémathèque québécoise.
Éléphant is Quebecor's largest philanthropic project. Aside from a small amount to cover the platform's operating costs, all revenues from distribution of the movies go to the rights holders and filmmakers.
About Éléphant: The memory of Québec cinema
Éléphant: The memory of Québec cinema is a large-scale project launched in 2007 to digitize, restore and preserve Québec's heritage of feature films and make it accessible, fully funded by Quebecor.
Since its inception, Éléphant has restored 225 movies, which are now available 24/7 on Videotron's illico video-on-demand service (channel 900), illico.tv and the illico mobile app. The films are also being gradually added, in the original version and with subtitles, to iTunes in Canada, the U.S., France and all other European and African countries where French or English is one of the official languages. Some 50 films are also available with Spanish subtitles in Spanish-speaking countries.
Movies restored by Éléphant are screened every month at the Cinémathèque québécoise and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ).
The Éléphant website contains the largest existing database and information bank on Québec cinema.
SOURCE Éléphant: The memory of Québec cinema
Quebecor, [email protected], (514) 380-4572
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