Written by: Braden Cannon, Private Records Archivist, Provincial Archives of Alberta
The Provincial Archives of Alberta (PAA) is proud to present its 38th annual Film Night, The View From Alberta: Films By Tom Radford, which pays tribute to the work of Edmonton-based documentary filmmaker Tom Radford.
Film Night is an annual showcase of films from the PAA’s extensive holdings, each year bringing a different theme. Past Film Night events have focused on topics such as wrestling, travelling film shows and CanCon television. Some Film Night events focus on specific filmmakers or creators while others feature and a program of all-women filmmakers.
This year’s focus is on Tom Radford, born and raised in Edmonton. His career began as a filmmaker and by co-founding the film cooperative Filmwest Associates, a production company that focused on industrial shorts and documentaries. Radford also co-founded Film Frontiers and made films under both banners before launching the North West Studio of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in 1980. This Edmonton-based studio of the NFB produced documentaries focusing on western and northern Canada with Radford serving as executive producer until 1985.
After his time at the NFB, Radford continued his career as an independent filmmaker, co-founding several production companies such as Clearwater Media and Great North Productions with fellow filmmaker Gil Cardinal. Radford was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2020 in recognition of his outstanding achievements in Canadian cinema.
Over the course of his career, Radford’s work has focused on topics such as the environment, Indigenous rights and the lives of unsung people and their daily experiences and struggles. For this event, the PAA will show four of Radford’s short documentaries:
- Lament For Woody, about a mining surveyor and the effects of mining in the Canadian Rockies
- Death of a Delta, how the Bennett Dam in British Columbia has affected the Athabasca Delta in northern Alberta
- Má Vlast: The Jiraneks in Canada, about a pair of Czech immigrants coming to Canada and their career coaching figure skater Kurt Browning
- Honour of the Crown, which focuses on land rights negotiations between the federal government and Smith’s Landing First Nation
The View From Alberta: Films By Tom Radford will be held on Friday, September 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Metro Cinema at the Garneau Theatre in Edmonton. The event is free.
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