Claude Fournier (French pronunciation: [klod fuʁnje]; July 23, 1931 – March 16, 2023) was a Canadian film director, screenwriter, editor and cinematographer. He is one of the forerunners of the Cinema of Quebec. He was the twin brother of Guy Fournier.
Claude Fournier began his career in journalism then moved to the Radio-Canada as a news cameraman. He joined the National Film Board of Canada in 1957 as a writer and director, and he worked on early cinéma-vérité films such as À Saint-Henri le cinq septembre and La lutte. He left the Board to work in the United States with famed documentary filmmakers Richard Leacock and D.A. Pennebaker, then returned to Montreal in 1963 to set up his own production company, Rose Films.
In 1970, he directed Two Women in Gold (Deux femmes en or), one of the most successful Quebec films of its time. In the private sector, Fournier produced over 100 short films, co-wrote the Sophia Loren film A Special Day, a Canada-Italy co-production that was nominated for an Oscar, and directed The Tin Flute with Marilyn Lightstone and The Book of Eve with Claire Bloom. The Tin Flute was entered into the 13th Moscow International Film Festival. His 1988 TV series The Mills of Power (Les Tisserands du pouvoir) won him a Gémeaux Award for best direction of a television drama and a Genie Award for Best Screenplay.
Donald Sutherland described him as "one of the truly wretched directors of the world."
Also a published poet, novelist and essayist, Claude Fournier is an influential figure in Quebec cinema.
Claude Fournier died at the Montreal University Hospital Centre on 16 March 2023, at the age of 91. He had been hospitalised after suffering a heart attack during a trip to Martinique.
Two Women in Gold (Deux femmes en or) — 1970
The Master Cats (Les chats bottés) — 1971
The Apple, the Stem and the Seeds (La pomme, la queue et les pépins) — 1974
Far from You Sweetheart (Je suis loin de toi mignonne) — 1976
Hot Dogs (Les chiens chauds) — 1980
The Tin Flute (Bonheur d'occasion) — 1983
Page trois: un ordinateur au coeur — 1985
Heads or Tails (J'en suis!) — 1997
The Book of Eve (Histoires d'Ève) — 2003
My Only Love (Je n'aime que toi) — 2004
Télésphore Légaré, garde-pêche (Short film, 1959)
Alfred Desrochers, poète (Short film, 1960)