Anne Claire Poirier

Anne Claire Poirier was born on 6 June 1932 in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. She studied law and dramatic art, then worked as a performer and as an interviewer on Radio-Canada's Carrefour before a producers' strike pushed her toward a new path. In 1960 she joined the National Film Board of Canada, starting on French versions of English-language productions and learning editing under Claude Jutra, including assistant work on Québec-USA with Michel Brault. She also appeared briefly in Jutra's À tout prendre and narrated Clément Perron's Jour après jour while assisting on Gilles Groulx's Voir Miami.

Poirier directed her first short, 30 Minutes, Mr. Plummer (1963), at Stratford. With producer Jacques Bobet's support she became the NFB's first staff woman director. De mère en fille (1968) was the first feature by a French-Canadian woman and a landmark of feminist documentary. She produced within the En tant que femmes programme so other women could direct. Fiction highlights include Le temps de l'avant (1975), Mourir à tue-tête (1979), which played Un Certain Regard at Cannes, La Quarantaine (1982) and Salut Victor (1988). Les filles du Roy (1974) probed Quebec masculinity. After her daughter Yanne's murder in 1992 she made Tu as crié: Let me go (1996), which won the Genie for Best Feature Length Documentary. She left the NFB in 1997 after about 37 years.

Poirier made her private grief public in Tu as crié: Let me go, recounting the murder of her daughter Yanne in 1992 and exploring addiction and life on the street through interviews framed by Marie-Claire Blais's commentary. Her son Frédéric Cornu later described her as a determined woman who fought for women's place in cinema. She lived in Outremont, Quebec, in her later years.

Anne Claire Poirier died in her sleep at her Outremont residence in the night of Sunday 27 September to Monday 28 September 2026. She was 94. Her son Frédéric Cornu announced the death to Radio-Canada; the National Film Board of Canada confirmed it. Cause beyond dying in her sleep was not made public. La Presse and other Quebec outlets marked the news the same day.

Poirier is remembered as a pioneer of feminist and women's cinema in Quebec and at the NFB. De mère en fille and Mourir à tue-tête remain central teaching and festival titles; her producing work opened doors for other women directors. Awards include the Prix Albert-Tessier, a Governor General's Performing Arts Award, the Jutra Hommage and the Order of Canada (Officer). Colleagues and critics place her among the filmmakers who made women's authorship normal in Quebec cinema rather than exceptional.