FILMMAKER CHARLES BINAMÉ.

Double threat

Text: MICHEL DEFOY
Photo: BERTRAND CALMEAU

As the old saying goes, good things come to those who wait, and Quebec filmmaker Charles Binamé has been waiting for over 30 years. While he has enjoyed success with French-language fans during that time, he’s now expanding his audience to include anglophone viewers. “I’d been getting offers to do stuff in English for years,” says Binamé. “But because I had small children, I didn’t want to stray far from home.”

Earlier this year, he directed H₂O: The Last Prime Minister, an English-language political thriller starring Paul Gross. The film aired last fall on CBC Television and led fans to speculate if the director was angling for an international career.

Binamé first attracted attention a decade ago with films mirroring contemporary life, like his French trilogy Eldorado (a multiple Genie nominee in 1995), Le cœur au poing (Streetheart) and La beauté de Pandore. But the filmmaker also proved his ability to turn his lens on the past, with Séraphin: Heart of Stone (winner of the Golden Reel at the Genie Awards last May) and his TV series Blanche and Marguerite Volant (which won a combined 11 Gémeaux, the Quebecois equivalent of the Genies). To top it off, he’s also worked in fields as diverse as advertising, fiction and documentary filmmaking.

As Binamé prepares to tackle new challenges and introduce his talents to a wider audience, this may well be the year for the man behind the lens – his career has matured, along with his kids.

To watch for in 2005:

_ TV movie Endgame in Kosovo: The Louise Arbour Story, about the Canadian judge’s experiences at the International Criminal Tribunals, to air on CTV.

_ Documentary Gilles Carle et Mona McGill to be released in theatres.

_ Biopic of hockey great Maurice “Rocket” Richard to be released in theatres.

_ French version of H₂O to air on Télévision de Radio-Canada.