A Must See Doc! Former Governor General Michaëlle Jean:
“This loving, caring and even tender documentary of Michaëlle Jean by her husband, the noted filmmaker Jean-Daniel Lafond creates a balance of great strength, beauty intelligence and compassion for immigrants and those whose voices may not always be heard. As an immigrant from Haiti who went through difficult times, Ms. Michaëlle Jean found herself touching the lives of many people around the world. Two of her quotes from the film especially resonated with me; “I wanted a space where citizen’s voices could be heard. “The other one that is so important to Canada and the world is: “Indifference is not an option.”
“Michaëlle Jean: A Woman of Purpose, documentary by Jean-Daniel Lafond. An InformAction/NFB co-production, in association with Majda Films International gets special screening in Toronto in conjunction with Hot Docs offers personal and sensitive portrait of Michaëlle Jean during her tenure as Governor General of Canada by her husband. There will be a special, one-night-only screening in Toronto, presented with the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival
http://www.hotdocs.ca/p/hot-docs-festival on Friday, April 22, at 6:30 p.m., at the Bloor Hot Docs
Michaëlle Jean: A Woman of Purpose will also be available to the public on various TV and Web platforms: broadcast on ICI Radio-Canada: Télé http://ici.radio-canada.ca/tele/
and TV5 Monde http://www.tv5monde.com/, accessible online as of May 8 at NFB.ca https://www.nfb.ca/ (in English) as well as ONF.ca https://www.onf.ca/ and ICI Tou.tv http://ici.tou.tv/ (in French), and distributed in community, institutional and educational networks across Canada.
Synopsis: On September 27, 2005, Michaëlle Jean became Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada. As a woman actively involved in social issues and a citizen of the world, Jean quickly made her convictions clear-using the arts as a tool for social change, encouraging the voices of people in excluded and marginalized communities, defending the rights of women and Indigenous people, and bringing a message of hope to people in the 40 or so countries she visited during her mandate, and in regions as disparate as the Far North and Africa. Not only was she the first black woman to occupy Canada’s highest office, she would also redefine the role through her desire to turn it into a space for civic engagement and her focus on cultural diplomacy.
While in office, Jean was also deeply affected personally by the 2010 earthquake that ravaged Haiti-the land where she was born and has deep roots-during the last year of her term. Filmed behind the scenes and at the heart of the action by her husband, Michaëlle Jean: A Woman of Purpose is a personal portrait that captures Jean’s perspectives on the world.
About the director: Taking a poetic, provocative, and thoughtful look at the destinies of individuals and peoples, director and writer Jean-Daniel Lafond has made over 15 films, including Tropique Nord (TV5 award for best French-language documentary), Haiti dans tous nos rêves (best political film award, Hot Docs), Salam Iran: A Persian Letter (best documentary film award, Gémeaux), and Madwoman of God, his first fictional film, inspired by the writings of Marie of the Incarnation. Lafond is the co-founder of the Montreal International Documentary Festival and the Observatories Canadian du documentaries (Canadian Documentary Network). His latest film, Michaëlle Jean: A Woman of Purpose is about the extraordinary adventure he shared with his wife during her term as Governor General of Canada.
Source and credits: National Film Board.
