Cinema Canada (Apr-May 1974)

bee Fy ah, “5 wo ‘ee OSE; 4 @ Paul Shapiro, director of The Tank, one of the Life Times Nine films For the second year in a row, a Canadian made film has been nominated for an Academy Award. Last year, Tadeusz Jaworski’s documentary Selling Out lost out in stiff competition, but perhaps this year the naked little gold-plated man will once again venture north into chilly Canada. The chances are good. One of the three finalists in the Short Film, Live Action category is the delightful children’s film Life Times Nine, produced by the Toronto based film company Insight Productions. The directors of the film (nine of them) are a group of children ranging in age from 11 to 16, who were selected by Insight from two Toronto free schools to make their own movie. INSIGHT The Philosophy of Success by Gunter Ott Pen Densham, co-owner of Insight says that his group approached the kids at Seed and Hawthorne Free Schools to get them interested in the idea of film. Densham believes that children have a great deal of creative potential which is eroded away as the kids get older. So that the children would not be intimidated by the physical side of filmmaking, Insight provided professional cameramen and technicians who would carry out the ideas which the children wished to convey. ‘““We tried to avoid contributing any ideas to the film because we wanted to show that the kids themselves could understand and communicate their environment.”’ 30 Cinema Canada InyIo| PPD INYIIW PIID In the space of a few short months, the resulting film has won international acclaim for its youthful exuberance. Densham admits to some bewilderment but is pleased over the fantastic reception given to Life Times Nine. In a sense the film marks the culmination of three and a half years of evolution for the young film company. Insight Productions was formed in the summer of 1970 by a group of young filmmakers, disenchanted with the prevailing pessimistic attitude of the Canadian film industry. Two of the founding fathers, Pen Densham 25 and John Watson 26, having watched their company grow out of its dingy basement beginnings, are convinced that the friendly reception accorded their film is based on their operating philosophy; an optimistic attitude towards life that permeates all of their films. Densham explains, ‘“‘We try to make films which we really believe in... films that are open to the audience in a McLuhanistic way. You can put your own meaning to them, but at the same time they possess a strong story structure ... we put as much quality, energy and ingenuity into the film as we possibly could and make sure that the film has a strong humanistic heart to prevent it from seeming contrived.” Humanistic idealism might seem like a strange attitude for Canadian filmmakers to take, but the philosophy appears to work. One of Insight’s earliest films, Sunburst, attempts to relate a particular piece of music (Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture) to images of flowers, fields and glittering sunlight. By means of clever, careful editing the entire effect comes off as a thapsodic tone poem extolling the marvels of nature. Critic Clyde Gilmour has said, “It exudes an expansive affirmation of life. Sunburst almost magically restores a feeling that life is still worth living despite all its pitfalls.” The film is in great demand by libraries and school boards because children are delighted by its fresh approach and older persons are captivated by its tremendous sense of vitality. It hasn’t always been easy but the continuing desire to explore and refine their philosophy has made the Insight craftsmen work longer and harder at their tasks. When the company was formed, there were two factors very much in ee Ricky Clark, director of The Peanut segment