Jack Long (8)
Jack Long
Jack Long’s career as a director, cinematographer and producer for the National Film Board of Canada began in the 1950s. Long directed nine films exploring the culture, history, art and people of Canada, with a particular focus on the Pacific region. His body of work includes: three shorts in the NFB’s Eye-Witness series, which chronicled world news and events in the fifties, including the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the Korean War and the Suez Crisis; The Man Who Digs for Fish (1979), a rare NFB film made in Saltery Bay, British Columbia, about alternative practices to preserve the ecosystem and wildlife in the region; Bill Reid (1979), a portrait of the Haida artist, jewellery designer and wood carver as he works on a totem pole in the Haida tradition; and Arthur Erickson (1981), a profile of the renowned BC architect and his innovative projects, which include the Museum of Anthropology and Robson Square in Vancouver and Simon Fraser University’s campus in Burnaby. Long received a number of prestigious awards and accolades during his career, including from the Canadian Film Awards and the Genies, in addition to being made a member of the Order of Canada.
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Arthur EricksonJack Long 1981 28 minA portrait of Arthur Erickson, a Vancouver-based architect internationally known for his unique style. Seated in his Vancouver home, Arthur Erickson talks easily about his art, the importance of interpreting the site and of achieving harmony between environment and structure, the inseparability of climate and site, and the cultural role of a building. Five of his projects are shown. He explains how the designs evolved and what he was trying to achieve. Shot on location in Canada, Japan and Kuwait, the film introduces the man, the architect, the humanist. -
The Man Who Digs for FishJack Long 1979 13 minFrank Jenkinson, eighty-two, has been digging for fish for twenty-five years. His unorthodox conservationist practices have increased the numbers of the salmon population in the Jarvis Inlet from a modest 500 to 25 000. Using a spade and accompanied by his dog, Frank wades up and down the stream, digging for the newly hatched salmon that lie buried in the gravel. Without his intervention they risk dying before reaching maturity.
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Eye Witness No. 63Jack Long & Walford Hewitson 1954 11 minThese vignettes from 1954 cover various aspects of life in Canada and were shown in theatres across the country. Subjects included here are: Veteran Steamer Ends Record Service: On the mountain-circled Arrow Lakes of British Columbia, the Minto, an old stern-wheeler whose service dates back to the 1890's gold rush, makes her last round of calls. Inside Story of a Lady's Mink Coat: From raw pelts to fur auction, to dressing plant to fashion designer, we follow the several stages in the manufacture of a beautiful, luxurious mink coat.
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Bill ReidJack Long 1979 27 minBritish Columbian Haida artist Bill Reid, jeweller and wood carver, works on a totem pole in the Haida tradition. The film shows the gradual transformation of a bare cedar trunk into a richly carved pole, a gift from the artist to the people of Skidegate on Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands). Particularly moving is the raising of the pole by the villagers, as Bill Reid stands by.
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Unity PoleJack Long 1979 2 minThis vignette shows the ceremonial totem-pole raising by the Nisgha Nation at Ayanish.
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Eye Witness No. 54Daryl Duke , Felix Lazarus , … 1953 11 minThese vignettes from 1954 cover various aspects of life in Canada and were shown in theatres across the country. Subjects included here are: Ball Stars Start Young: In Vancouver's Little League, baseball players, diamond and equipment are junior size, but not the boys' coaches or the eagerness of teams and fans. An Auto a Minute: This is just about the rate of output seen in one of Ontario's automobile assembly plants. A Railroad Goes to Sea: Swapping steel rails for ocean waves is routine for British Columbia's Pacific Great Eastern Railway, travelling the forty-mile leg between Vancouver and Squamish by railway barge.
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Eye Witness No. 74Jack Long & William Davidson 1955 11 minScientists of the Sea: A look at marine scientists at work in Esquimalt, British Columbia. Alcoholism: A New Approach: This film looks at the rehabilitation of alcoholics at Toronto's Brookside Clinic, part of the program of research, education and treatment of Ontario's Alcoholism Research Foundation.
