François Girard (born January 12, 1963) is a French Canadian director and screenwriter from Montreal. Born in Saint-Félicien, Quebec, Girard's career began on the Montreal art video circuit. In 1990, he produced his first feature film, Cargo; he attained international recognition following his 1993 Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, a series of vignettes about the life of piano prodigy Glenn Gould. In 1998, he wrote and directed The Red Violin, which follows the ownership of a red violin over several centuries. The Red Violin won an Academy Award for Best Original Score, thirteen Genie Awards and nine Jutra Awards. He has also directed various works for the stage, including Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, Oedipus Rex, and Alessandro Baricco's Novecento at the Edinburgh International Festival; Kafka's The Trial, adapted for the stage by Serge Lamothe at the National Arts Centre, Ottawa; the oratorio Lost Objects at the Brooklyn Acade... ()