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Jeanne Pope
I am an avid traveler. I left England at sixteen and hitchhiked my way around the world. Inspired by these journeys, I published several short stories with the support of my father, Marius, one of which, The Dog, was adapted into a film in Canada, starring French Canadian actress Pascale Monpetit. This experience ignited my lifelong love affair with film. I arrived in Montreal in 2000 with my daughter, Alyosha. I am drawn to the unusual, the off-centred, and the marginal, to life’s undercurrents where secrets lie, waiting to be told. I am not a political raconteur; my focus is on the hidden, the overlooked, and the human stories that often go untold. I am a storyteller, drawn to the beauty and poetry even in the darkest moments, and to tales where magic and hope can be found. My work explores themes such as social alienation, abandonment, adoption, death, immigration, preserving memories, intimate portraits, spiritual connection, and falling in love. Through these stories, I discover myself in others, and with each documentary, a process of healing unfolds. |
Today, I travel often with my granddaughter, Violette, to China, where I lived for many years, sharing my love of the country and teaching her to take amazing photos. In the UK, I continue my work in Tunbridge Wells, exploring local stories and collaborating with the Friends of Woodbury Park Cemetery - https://www.fwpc.org.uk/ a dedicated group preserving this Victorian cemetery where my fascination began as a child. I am also a sessional tutor at Adult Education in Tunbridge Wells, teaching documentary classes throughout the year. See classes here
Two of my films will screen at the Trinity Theatre on 17th September 2025 as part of Heritage Open Day. 
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Being in the right place at the right time, I met Stanley Lewis, the Montreal sculptor, which changed my life. “Our Zeitgeist,” he would say. Stanley encouraged me to pursue film school, and I graduated with honors from Concordia University’s cinema program. He became my muse, and over six years I filmed him and his street, creating award-winning shorts--Where’s Stanley?, Birth of the Smoked Meat, and Up & Down the City Road—shot on 16mm film. These works paved the way for my first full-length feature, Dust: A Sculptor’s Journey. To view these films see Portfolio |
Dust: A Sculptor’s Journey premiered at HOTDOCS, Toronto, in 2011 and went on to screen at international festivals. It continues to be shown regularly in Montreal for admirers of Stanley Lewis, and I am proud to help preserve his legacy through a website.
Stanley Lewis, Montreal Sculptor. |
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Working with Montreal's homeless nation whilst helping the late Magnus Isacsson and Simon Bejold with their film L' Art en Action during 3 winters gave me the empathy needed to connect with marginalised people, bringing me later into a half way house in Montreal's south shore, the location for my second full length Canadian feature, Chez Lise.
Co-directed with my hometown buddy, James Galwey in 2013, we befriended two lovers, Deanna and Gordon who suffered from severe mental illness. It is a love story winning first prize in Liège Imagé Santé International Health Film Festiva. lt screened in other international and Canadian festivals. |
CHINA AND EUROPE
In 2015 I lived in Qingdao, China, teaching and mentoring documentary film production students at the Beijing Film Academy, Qingdao Campus.
I completed my Chinese feature documentary helped by my students, The Sea Hut - 海边的小屋 , a Chinese production. It started on the festival circuit in November 2019, winning two awards at the Beijing Documentary Academy Awards for best innovative documentary and best sound design. It won first prize at the Jinan academic film festival. It was a finalist at the London Lift Off Sessions, December, 2019 and has won first prize in 2023 at the "The Sea Hut" is a story of uprooted people, identity, love, loss and memory which flits back and forth between my mother's childhood memories in Shanghai, 1935, with her beloved Chinese nanny, Ama, World War II England, and a fishing village in contemporary China, where a small sea hut becomes a catalyst and 'veil' between two worlds and two times: Europe and China, past and present. |
China is an unknown love, a place unlike what we are told and shown. I have a deep passion for this place, it is in my heart and soul. I travel back and forth, filming and spending much of my time working with the alumni at the school, nurturing connections and stories that continue to inspire me.
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During the pandemic, March 2020, I have been in between France, where I have my home
I am stuck in Tuchan, my tiny village deep in Cathar Country, South-West France. With all international borders closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I cannot return to Qingdao, China, where I live and work. So, I turn my lens to the annual grape harvest—mostly hand-picked—where vines cling precariously to the rugged mountainsides.
I follow Momo, one of the main characters, who lives in a narrow village alley and leads the team alongside Alain Perez-Le Peps, the vineyard owner. Momo, of Spanish and Polish heritage, shares with Alain the story of their grandparents, who fled Franco’s Spain across the border into France.
The team, made up of migrant workers and locals, works smoothly—until Le Peps falls seriously ill after a bite in the vines, entering what he calls his ‘dark night of the soul.’ I document how the pickers rally around him, committed to saving the harvest, unsure whether he will live or die.
This documentary is about unity, community, healing, and grapes. Observational in style, it blends poetry and humour, where the grapevines, the mysterious mists of Cathar Country, camaraderie, wildness, and spontaneity entwine.
All my work is low-budget, lovingly carved and passionately fought for.
I am stuck in Tuchan, my tiny village deep in Cathar Country, South-West France. With all international borders closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I cannot return to Qingdao, China, where I live and work. So, I turn my lens to the annual grape harvest—mostly hand-picked—where vines cling precariously to the rugged mountainsides.
I follow Momo, one of the main characters, who lives in a narrow village alley and leads the team alongside Alain Perez-Le Peps, the vineyard owner. Momo, of Spanish and Polish heritage, shares with Alain the story of their grandparents, who fled Franco’s Spain across the border into France.
The team, made up of migrant workers and locals, works smoothly—until Le Peps falls seriously ill after a bite in the vines, entering what he calls his ‘dark night of the soul.’ I document how the pickers rally around him, committed to saving the harvest, unsure whether he will live or die.
This documentary is about unity, community, healing, and grapes. Observational in style, it blends poetry and humour, where the grapevines, the mysterious mists of Cathar Country, camaraderie, wildness, and spontaneity entwine.
All my work is low-budget, lovingly carved and passionately fought for.
Send me an email for further information [email protected]
