Grierson

6.5(2)197358m

Documentary

A portrait of John Grierson, the first Canadian Government Film Commissioner and founder of the National Film Board in 1939. Interweaving archival footage, interviews with people who knew him and footage of Grierson himself, this film is a sensitive and informative portrait of a dynamic man of vision. Grierson believed that the filmmaker had a social responsibility, and that film could help a society realize democratic ideals. His absolute faith in the value of capturing the drama of everyday life was to influence generations of filmmakers all over the world. In fact, he coined the term 'documentary film'.

Director

Roger Blais

Cast

Michael Kane

Narrator (voice)

John Grierson

Self (archive footage)

Norman McLaren

Self (archive footage)

Sydney Newman

Self

Basil Wright

Self

Lorne Greene

Self

Woodrow Wilson

Self (archive footage)

Roberto Rossellini

Self

Joseph McCarthy

Self (archive footage)

Joris Ivens

Self

Indira Gandhi

Self

Margaret Grierson

Self

Reviews

1 review

Geronimo1967

9mo ago

7.0

Born in Edinburgh, Jack Grierson grew into an activist on a Clydeside soapbox in his teens advocating improvements in the lives of the poverty stricken shipbuilders struggling to make ends meet in early 20th century Scotland. The Great War took him into the Royal Navy and thence to university where a degree in moral philosophy saw him move to Chicago. This was at a time when Capone and prohibition...