- Robin Spry
Robin Spry (1939-2005) was a Canadian filmmaker and television producer best known for his documentary about
Quebec 'sOctober Crisis .Profile
Robin Spry was born in
Toronto ,Ontario onOctober 25 , 1939, to Canadian broadcast pioneerGraham Spry and economic historianIrene Spry .After studies at
Oxford University and theLondon School of Economics , Spry began his filmmaking career in 1964 at theNational Film Board in Montreal, earning a place on its payroll in 1965 and remaining there until stepping down in 1978. While at the NFB Spry built a reputation as a documentarist engaged with the issues of the day, with films on abortion, youth rebellion, and contemporary politics. His "Prologue" documented the riots at the1968 Democratic National Convention inChicago , weaving narrative with archival footage to become, in 1969, the first Canadian film to appear at theVenice Film Festival . His Canadian-Film-Award-winning documentary "Action: The October Crisis of 1970" (1973) used a similar approach to tell the story of the kidnapping of British diplomat James Richard Cross and the murder of Pierre Laporte. Spry also tried his hand at other aspects of the film trade, acting as a producer,filmmaker ,screenwriter ,actor ,cinematographer andfilm editor , and appearing in several colleagues' films, includingDenys Arcand 's "Québec, Duplessis et après" "(1972), reading out sections of the 1837 Durham Report.In the mid-1970s Spry left the NFB to focus on production work, founding Telescene and then, upon its bankruptcy in 2000, continuing to work with other production firms in Montreal. Among the films he produced were
Léa Pool 's "À corps perdu" (1988),André Forcier 's "Une histoire inventée" (1990), and John Hamilton's "The Myth of the Male Orgasm" (1993); he was also responsible for a number of television series, such as "The Lost World". Other notable works included the 1995 mini-series, "Hiroshima", about the events leading up to theatomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , which won a CanadianGemini Award and was nominated for an American Emmy, as well as earlier films "One Man" (1977), presented at theCannes Film Festival ; "Drying Up the Streets" (1978); and "Suzanne" (1980). Spry died in an early-morning Montrealroad accident on March 28, 2005, leaving behind son Jeremy and daughter Zoé, whom he had had with journalist and ex-wife Carmel Dumas.The first season of
Charlie Jade was dedicated to his memory, as mentioned in the credits of the final episode.External links
*imdb name|id=0819901|name=Robin Spry
* [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1112049721324_107458921/?hub=Canada CTV.ca Filmmaker Robin Spry dies in Mtl. car accident]
* [http://filmreferencelibrary.ca/index.asp?layid=46&csid1=1389&navid=87 Canadian Film Encyclopedia]
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