Crédits

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Produced by

InformAction

Produced with the financial help of

Canadian Television Fund created by the Government of Canada and the Canadian Cable Industry - CTF: Licence Fee Program - Telefilm Canada: Equity Investment Program

Government of Qu?bec Film and Television Tax Credit - Gestion SODEC

SODEC Soci?t? de d?veloppement des entreprises culturelles ? Qu?bec

Government of Canada The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit

and the collaboration of

Radio-Canada

Bravo!

ARTV

MAIN CHARACTERS

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Dominique Lemieux

In love with drawing since childhood, she received an education in fine arts and design at Concordia University, in Montreal, while active as an illustrator of children's books at the same time. She then studied scenography at the National Theatre School of Canada, notably with François Barbeau, renowned costume designer and man of the theatre, for whom she became assistant between 1986 and 1988. This enriching experience with a master in the profession would become crucial to her career development.

Now a costume designer in her own right, one can see her creations on stage at the theatre, in productions by René-Richard Cyr, Paola de Vasconcelos, Denise Filiatrault, and many others. She also took part in creating the costumes for the Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal's The Nutcracker, in 1987.

Toward the end of the 1980s, the Cirque du Soleil took her on to design the costumes for their second show. She went on to become one of the troupe's most faithful contributors, participating in the creation of seven triumphant productions — Nouvelle Expérience, Saltimbanco, Mystère, Alegria, Quidam, « O », and La Nouba.

She is backed in her work by a team of talented and competent professionals who give three-dimensional existence to characters. The people she works with are her dearest allies.

While pursuing her activities at Cirque du Soleil, Lemieux created in 2003 the costumes for Céline Dion's A New Day, staged in Las Vegas, and is nurturing some theatrical projects that will come to fruition as soon as she finds the time.

In summer of 2004, Lemieux presented an exhibition of some of her works at the Maison de la culture Plateau Mont-Royal in Montreal. Exhibition projects in Europe and in Las Vegas are also well under way. Lemieux followed up with the Cirque du Soleil's new show Corteo, launched in 2005.

PRIZES AND MENTIONS
Costume Design

1999 Nominated at the Genie Awards – Toronto
(Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
Alegria, the movie

1998 Entertainment Design – New York
The Art and Technology of Show Business
« O »

1993 Gemini Award – Toronto
Nouvelle Expérience

1992 Drama Logue Theater Awards – Los Angeles
Saltimbanco

For more information on artist Dominique Lemieux:
www.dominiquelemieux.com


Festivals

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G?meaux Awards 2005 (Montr?al) - Best Cultural Documentary - Best Sound - Best Original Music / Finalist for Best Photography, Best Editing and Best Visual Effects

International Festival of Films on Art, FIFA 2005 (Montreal)

Festival international du film francophone de Namur 2005

Commonwealth Film Festival 2006 (Manchester)

Le giornate di cinema quebecchese in Italia 2007 (Days of cinema from Quebec in Italia - Torino, Milano)

Statement of intent

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To me, the artist's creative quest possesses something of the shaman in his state of illumination...

Two wishes contributed to the impetus to create this film. The first, as old as the dawn of time: for the viewer of The Magic Touch to dream and wonder; the other: to open a small window onto the trance that is the creative process. Dominique Lemieux is perfect for this: she produces popular art and, at the same time, she's absolutely impelled to follow her artistic instincts, whatever the obstacles.

Carlos Ferrand

Short summary

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The fairytale image of the Cirque du Soleil has reached audiences around the world, but the public knows very little about the person who has created many of its fabulous costumes: Dominique Lemieux. Shot over two years in Montreal, Las Vegas, Brussels, Milan, Chartres (France), Fukuoka (Japan) and Benares (India), The Magic Touch offers a unique insight into the imagination of this flamboyant artist. Carlos Ferrand plunges us into the heart of the theatrical world to explore the creative work of Dominique Lemieux, from her preliminary sketches to characters who come brilliantly alive under the limelight… We discover the myriad sources of her inspiration, get behind-the-scenes in her long collaboration with Franco Dragone and witness the preparation of the Cirque du Soleil's new show, with its director, Daniele Finzi Pasca. The Magic Touch is a colourful, mesmerizing, audiovisual experience worthy of this exceptional artist.

With the participation de Dominique Lemieux and Michel Crête, Céline Dion, Franco Dragone, Daniele Finzi Pasca, Bunmei Okabe.