Much like Fred Rogers and Bob Ross in the United States, Claude Lafortune was a staple of French-Canadian television. The beloved children's television host inspired generations of children through his celebration of creativity, inclusivity and diversity. For over five decades, he dedicated his life to transforming mere paper into whimsical sculptures, creatures and film sets. "The Paper Man" reveals the depths of Claude Lafortune's work, as well as his continuing legacy.

The Paper Man

In a style evocative of Fellini at his most surreal, this bizarre French Canadian fantasy follows the romance between a young filmmaker and a bearded lady from a local circus during the 1960s. The story begins in a contemporary theater where a projectionist describes, to movie director Rex Prince, the ghostly spirit that seems to be haunting his film. The story then races backward to the 1960s when a half-mad, idealistic Rex was busily making his first film, a Marxist tract depicting poverty in Montreal. Edouard Dore, a well-connected editor works with him and it is he who takes Rex to a carnival late one night to meet the performers in a freakshow. The first person Rex meets is Le Grand Zenon, a hulking one-eyed fellow with the amazing ability to use his eye to project movie images on a screen with neither a projector nor film.