Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre was born in Murdochville, Quebec in 1978 and is a French Canadian filmmaker based in Montreal, Canada. Saint-Pierre has a B.F.A. Honors in Film Animation (2002) as well as an M.F.A. in Film Production (2005), both degress from The Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema (Concordia University).
The award winning director and film animator has directed several short animation and documentary films. In 2004, she released Post-Partum, an autobiographical documentary film on her mother's post-partum depression and abandonment to her grandmother's care. Post-Partum has been screened in over 35 international film festivals, shown in museums, galleries and received several awards such as the Special Prize for Most Innovative Approach at the Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival in China as well as the Gold Special Jury Award for Best Art Film at the Houston Worldfest, Texas, United States (2005).
In 2006, she released her first professional film McLaren's Negatives, an animated documentary on the legendary Canadian animator Norman McLaren and his personnal view of filmmaking. Saint-Pierre's documentary work shows new approaches in documentary film, blurring the lines between documentary and drama. Later she made an autobiographical documentary film in Montreal called Passages where she explored her personal transformation into motherhood.
She founded MJSTP Films, an animation and documentary production company in 2004. Overall, her work has been screened in prestigious festivals all around the world such as: Annecy International Animation Festival, Singapore International Film Festival, Hamburg Short Film Festival, Yorkton Short Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, and many others.