Micheline Lanctôt

Micheline Lanctôt, born on May 12, 1947, in Frelighsburg, Quebec, is a distinguished Canadian actress, director, screenwriter, and musician. Her educational background spans music, fine arts, and theatre at Collège Jésus-Marie in Outremont, alongside art history at the Université de Montréal and the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal. Further honing her craft, she studied film animation at the National Film Board of Canada and later at Potterton Productions, where she spent four formative years.

Lanctôt's acting journey commenced in 1972, achieving notable acclaim with a Canadian Film Award for Best Actress for her role in Gilles Carle’s film, *The True Nature of Bernadette* (La vraie nature de Bernadette). She has since graced both film and television with her talent, featuring in works like Carle’s *The Heavenly Bodies* (Les Corps Célestes), Ted Kotcheff’s *The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz*, Claude Chabrol’s *Blood Relatives*, and the popular Radio-Canada series *Jamais deux sans toi*.

Her directorial debut came with *The Handyman* (L'Homme à tout faire) in 1980, which garnered nominations for Best Direction and Best Film at the Genie Awards. She achieved further recognition with *Sonatine* (1984), which not only won her the Genie Award for Best Director but also the Silver Lion for Best First Film at the Venice International Film Festival.

In addition to her film work, Lanctôt has contributed to education as a part-time instructor at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University since 1982. She has actively participated in literary and film festivals, notably curating the Festival Vues dans la tête de... in 2016 and serving as a matron for the Prix collégial du cinéma québécois, which recognizes outstanding Quebec films