Making Movie History: Paule Baillargeon

Paule Baillargeon was among the members of the Grand Cirque Ordinaire, an adventurous theatre collective that burst onto the scene in 1969. Shifting to cinema, she had roles in Entre tu et vous (Groulx, 1969) and Le temps de l'avant (Poirier, 1975), in which her character confronts the issue of abortion. The role set the tone for her career: feminist by necessity, she would approach cinema as a form of rebellion. With La cuisine rouge (1979), she directed her first feature film, and with Vie d'Ange, she shared a writing credit with Pierre Harel. The '80s brought a string of strong roles--in films by Jutra, Pool, Rozema, Leduc--but she gravitated to directing with Sonia (1986) and Le sexe des étoiles (1993). Her most recent documentary is Trente tableaux (2011), an autobiographical work that draws upon her multiple talents.