Man of letters, cinema and conviction

TORONTO, Nov. 21, 2012 /CNW/ - The National Film Board of Canada (NFB), Groupe Média TFO and Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) have organized an evening in tribute to Jacques Bensimon that will take place on Monday, December 3, at 6 p.m. at the Bell Blue Room of the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto. The event will also provide an opportunity to present his book, Agadir, un paradis dérobé, posthumously published by Editions L'Harmattan.

Members of the Bensimon family, as well as friends and former colleagues, will take part in the tribute, which will include testimonials, film excerpts and readings from Jacques Bensimon's book, in which he recounts the early years of his life in Agadir, Morocco. Fifty years after the earthquake that destroyed his hometown in a matter of seconds, the author gives an overview of Morocco's history up to the time his family left for Canada.

Jacques Bensimon, a staunch champion of Canadian cinema, died this year in August at the age of 69. He grew up in Montreal and completed his film studies in New York City. Before assuming the leadership of the National Film Board of Canada, a position he held from 2001 to 2006, he was Executive Vice President of the Banff Television Foundation and its Chief Operating Officer. From 1986 to 2000, he was the Managing Director of TFO, the French arm of TV Ontario, and it was under his management that TFO was awarded the prestigious Prix du 3-juillet-1608 by the Government of Quebec in 1994 for its exceptional contribution to the French-language community in North America.

From 1967 to 1986, as an NFB employee, Jacques Bensimon worked on some 30 films as a scriptwriter, editor, director and producer. His responsibilities included oversight of a film production unit in Africa for the United Nations and the Canadian International Development Agency. From 1981 to 1986, he was Chair of the NFB's French programming committee and Director of International Programming.

In 2005, Jacques Bensimon received the Order of Canada. In 1998, he was named Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government and received an Honorary Doctorate in Letters from York University in Toronto.

Tribute Evening in Honour of Jacques Bensimon

Monday, December 3, 2012 at 6 p.m.
Bell Blue Room
TIFF Bell Lightbox
Reitman Square - 350 King Street West
Toronto

SOURCE GroupeMédia TFO