Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris

Director, Producer (b. July 15, 1941 Montreal, Quebec). First as a director and later as a producer, Denis Héroux extablished himself as a key figure in the evolution of Quebec’s film industry. While studying history at the University of Montreal, Héroux collaborated with Denys Arcand and Stéphane Venne on the first modern Quebec feature, and one of the first statements about Quebec’s changing society and moral outlook – a film about student life called Seul ou avec d’autres (1962).

From 1962 to 1968, Héroux taught history and wrote two history books while also directing films. Jusqu’au cou (1964) and Pas de vacances pour les idoles (1965) are both refreshing and free expressions of life in Quebec. By the late sixties, this commercially shrewd Montrealer had become one of Quebec’s first successful private industry filmmakers with the erotic hits Valérie (1968) and L’Initiation (1970), two films that initiated the cycle of “maple syrup porno.”

In 1975, riding the success of several other popular features he directed, such as the swashbuckler Quelques arpents de neige (1973), he became involved in co-production projects and big-budget Quebec features. He went on to pioneer international co-productions with films such as Atlantic City (1980) and Quest for Fire (1981), and was a co-founder of Alliance Entertainment, a company he left in the late eighties.

Héroux, the older brother of prolific Quebec film and television producer Claude Héroux, is a recipient of the Order of Canada. His other honours include two Genie Awards for Best Motion Picture: Les Plouffe (1981) and The Bay Boy (1985). He also received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Picture for Atlantic City (1980). —Canadian Film Encyclopedia