A documentary is in the works about late Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée. Currently titled Cut Print Thank You Bye, the feature documentary will celebrate the life and films of the acclaimed director who died suddenly on December 25, 2021 at the age of 58. The film from Item 7 will be produced by Pierre Even and directed by Marie-Julie Dallaire. The project was initiated by cinematographer Yves Bélanger, who collaborated with Vallée on several works and will shoot this documentary.
Even produced Vallée’s 2005 breakthrough drama C.R.A.Z.Y., which won 11 Genie Awards including Best Film and Best Director. The coming of age drama was Canada’s official submission in the Oscar race for Best Foreign Language Film and quickly established Vallée as one of Canada’s auteurs to watch with his signature style and love for rock music. Even also produced Vallée’s acclaimed 2011 film Café de flore. Dallaire previously directed the music doc Big Giant Wave, executive produced by Vallée, and a segment of the anthology doc Happiness Bound.
“Jean-Marc and I became friends at the release of C.R.A.Z.Y.. His sudden departure leaves me without words,” said Dallaire in a statement. “Yet I feel the need to express my love and gratitude to him loud and clear. Cut Print Thank You Bye will be my way of paying tribute to Jean-Marc, of keeping him alive, of mourning him, using our common language: cinema.”
“Jean-Marc’s departure left a gaping hole in our lives,” added Even “This great emptiness has brought together all those who knew him. Cut Print Thank You Bye is a work of sharing and memory, so that everyone has access to this great man of cinema, our friend Jean-Marc Vallée.”
Doc Sees Collaborators Pay Tribute
Cut Print Thank You Bye will be produced with the support and participation Vallée’s sons Alex and Émile Vallée and their mother, Chantal Cadieux. Featuring a mix of archives and original material, the film takes audiences through the work that transformed many viewers through Vallée’s impact. Vallée gained international prominence with a string of hits in the 2010s, including the American drama Dallas Buyers Club, which won three Academy Awards including Oscars for actors Matthew McConaughy and Jared Leto. It earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and one for Vallée’s film editing (credited as John Mac McMurphy) with Martin Pensa.
His follow-up, Wild, adapted the popular memoir by Cheryl Strayed and starred Reese Witherspoon as the writer who hiked the Pacific Crest Trail to gain perspective. The film drew numerous accolades including Oscar nominations for Witherspoon and co-star Laura Dern. Wild led to Vallée’s biggest success, the HBO mini-series Big Little Lies, which starred Witherspoon and Dern alongside Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, and Zoë Kravitz. The series was a major hit for HBO and won eight Emmy Awards including one for Vallée’s direction. The first season of Big Little Lies was shot by Bélanger, as were Wild, Dallas Buyers Club, and 2015’s Demolition, which opened the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival and marked the final film Jean-Marc Vallée completed as a director.
“Cinema is a ribbon of dreams, inspired by the desire to share the human experience of loving and being loved,” added Bélanger in a statement. “Jean-Marc understood this… Why make a film about JMV? Because we must not forget that we must dream, that we must love, that we must share. For those who follow us.” Further details about the film’s release are forthcoming.
