Colin Low

Colin Low grew up on a ranch in Alberta His age kept him out of the service during World War Two and he was able to attend the Banff School of Fine Arts and later the Calgary Institute of Technology He was hired by the National Film Board NFB in 1945 on a summer training program set up by a hrefmclarennormanNorman McLarena in an effort to create a Canadian animation facility His first assignments as a graphic artist involved handlettering titles In 1948 he left Canada to study in Sweden When he returned he created two important animation sequences for the documentary iThe Fight Science Against Canceri In 1949 he was recognized as a filmmaker and in 1950 was appointed Head of the Animation Unit where he produced and directed some of the NFBs most popular films including the awardwinning short iThe Romance of Transportation in Canadai In 1954 Colin Low decided to try his hand at documentary filmmaking He produced and directed the classic short iCorrali which went on to win a number of awards including first prize at the Venice Film Festival A few years later his film emCity of Goldem was hailed by international critics as brilliant rare faultless and poetic picking up a total of 17 international awards During the 1960s Low helped develop revolutionary film formats and for Expo 67 in Montral he codirected iIn the Labyrinthi a film that used 35mm and 70mm film projected simultaneously on multiple screens and which is considered the precursor of todays IMAX and OMNIMAX formats Low collaborated on almost 200 productions during his long career He won over 100 awards for his films as well as several honorary degrees and other honours He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1996 in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to cinema in Canada and around the world In 1997 he was honoured with the Qubec governments prestigious Prix AlbertTessier one of the Prix du Qubec The honour was given in recognition of Lows lifetime contribution to Canadian filmmaking Colin Low was 89 when he died in Montral We have listed only those films he directed or codirected brbrAlso see a hrefhttpwwwnorthernstarscastephenlowStephen Lowabrbr