Controversial Political Documentarian Pierre Falardeau Dies September 25, 2009

Pierre Falardeau, Dec. 28, 1946 – Sept. 25, 2009, Quebec nationalist who made controversial film, has died of cancer at The Universite de Montreal hospital in the palliative-care wing of the hospital. He was 62.

"He was a man who liked controversy, who had very strong opinions and who expressed them using a shock formula. But his artistic works were significant."

So said Quebec’s Premier Jean Charest of Pierre Falardeau, and this sentiment is one that politicians of Canada roundly shared.

So, were the contributions made by this controversial director truly artistic or were they only popular due to the shock value he created that surrounded them? Was he just another Michael Moore or worse, like shock jock Howard Stern, both of whom seem to only have shock value while giving little substance to support their outrageous viewpoints?

Falardeau once suggested that all Federalist Anglophones leave the Quebec province. He called the environmentalist, David Suzuki "a bearded little Jap, just another nuisance from the West Coast" after he said he was disappointed in the Quebecers who voted Conservative in the 2008 federal election. He slammed Canada calling his country a “colonizing power.” He warred with Telefilm Canada accusing them of censorship (they gave in). And on it goes.

Yet, Falardeau did win awards for his political films and documentaries, works that all were singularly in line with the viewpoints he routinely espoused. He did win a Genie Award in 1983 for the first film in his "Elvis Gratton" trilogy. He was given serious acclaim for his Front de liberation du Quebec thriller "Octobre" and also for the 1993 documentary "Le Steak", about boxer Gaetan Hart.

In true Falardeau style and despite winning that Genie in 1983, he still decided to boycott the competition in 2002.

"To be recognized for 'my genius' in Flin Flon or Saskatoon or Corner Brook leaves me as cold as their Rockies, mounted police and their Governor General," he wrote as way of explanation of the boycott.

Still those that strived to separate themselves from him politically do not deny his work. Former Quebec Premier Bernard Landry stated, “His death is a considerable loss for our nation… I used to be say to him: ‘Pierre, I think the same thing as you do on pretty well everything, but I never say it the same way you do.'"

Scruffy in appearance, outspoken and denying any and all forms of elitism in either speech or appearance, Pierre Falardeau never backed down from a fight. The validity of his contribution and the merit of the message his films portrayed is solidified by the praise of his enemies.

He leaves behind is partner Manon Leriche and three children.