Born in Montreal. Émond, an anthropologist by training, spent several years in Canada’s far north, where he worked for Inuit Television. He started his filmmaking career in documentary. His first two fiction features, THE WOMAN WHO DRINKS and 8:17 P.M. DARLING STREET, were selected for Critics’ Week at Cannes. He is one of the most austere and compelling of contemporary Canadian and Québécois filmmakers, and he is best known for his trilogy on faith, hope and charity, the three Christian virtues: THE NOVENA, SUMMIT CIRCLE and LA DONATION.