Montréal, Québec
21-Jul-89
Donald Brittain started out as a journalist and after a number of years with the Ottawa Journal he joined The National Film Board in 1955 A unique combination of talents he was a documentary producerdirector who most often wrote his own scripts and narrated them too His awards 15 Genie and Canadian Film Awards in all include 3 a hrefhttpwwwnorthernstarscaawardsarchivegenieawardsGeniesa for iPaperland The Bureaucrat Observedi ACTRA Awards for iThe Most Dangerous Spyi and iA Blanket of Icei in 1981 another ACTRA Award for iSomething to Celebratei 1983 2 Geminis for iCanadas Sweetheart The Saga of Hal C Banksi 1985 which was also named Best Canadian Production at the 1985 Toronto Festival of Festivals 2 Geminis for iThe Final Battlei in 1986 These are his credits as a director The 1965 film iLadies and GentlemanMr Leonard Coheni was codirected with a hrefowendonDon Owena Shortly before his death he had started work on iFamily A Loving Look at CBC Radioi The project was competed in 1991 by Robert Duncan A year after his passing Brittain was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of his masterful visual records of our social and cultural pastbrbrbr
Features & TV Movies:
VR indicates Direct-to-Video Release
Winter Construction? It Can Be Done (1958)
Setting Fires For Science (1958)
A Day in the Night of Jonathan Mole (1959)
Everybody’s Prejudiced (1961)
Return Reservation (1964)
Fields of Sacrifice (1964)
Bethune (1964)
Two Men from Montreal (1965)
Memorandum (1965)
Ladies and Gentleman…Mr Leonard Cohen (1965, with Don Owen)
Never a Step Backward (1966)
Saul Alinsky Went to War (1968)
Tiger Child (1970)
Small is Beautiful: Impressions of Fritz Schumacher (1970)
Starblanket (1973)
Cavendish Country (1973)
Catskinner Keen (1974)
Van’s Camp (1974)
King of the Hill (1974)
Dreamland: A History of Early Canadian Movies 1895-1939 (1974)
Volcano: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry (1976)
His Worship, Mr. Montreal (1976)
Henry Ford’s America (1977)
Has Anybody Here Seen Canada (1978)
Secrets of the Bermuda Triangle (1978)
The Champions (1978)
The Dionne Quintuplets (TV-1978)
Paperland – The Bureaucrat Observed (1979)
Canada’s Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal Banks (1985)
TV Series:
Canada At War (1962)
Champions (1986, mini-series)
The King Chronicle (1988, mini-series)
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First published as Northernstars.net February 1, 1998
ISSN 2563 4895