Don Owen

Toronto Jazz

Don Owen

Lenny Breau, Don Francks

Toronto is regarded as the third largest jazz centre in North America. This film features a cross-section of jazz bands of that city: the Lenny Breau Trio, the Don Thompson Quintet and the Alf Jones Quartet. Their styles show creative self-expression, hard work, and improvisation.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen

Don Owen, Donald Brittain

Leonard Cohen, Donald Brittain

A 1964 documentary portrait of Cohen in his pre-musician days as a poet and stand-up comedian.

High Steel

Don Owen

Don Francks

A dizzying view of Manhattan in the 1960s, the tallest town in the world, and the men who work cloud-high to keep it growing. They are the Mohawk Indians from Kahnawake, near Montréal, famed for their skill in erecting the steel frames of skyscrapers. The film shows their nimble work, high above the pavement, but there are also glimpses of the quieter community life of the old Kahnawake Reserve.

Notes for a Film About Donna & Gail

Don Owen

Michèle Chicoine, Jackie Burroughs

The story of two young women who go to the city to work in a dress factory, and who share a room to ease their expenses and their loneliness. The film shows the currents that brought them together and the facets of their natures that first made them seem compatible but eventually drove them apart. Their story reflects, to a degree, the situation of anyone who has ever shared the life of another.

Cowboy and Indian

Don Owen

Robert Markle, Gordon Rayner

This film goes no farther west than Toronto. The Indian is Robert Markle, from a family of Mohawk steel workers. The cowboy is his longtime art associate, Gordon Rayner. Both are Toronto artists and art teachers, sharing also an interest in jazz: Rayner plays the drums, Markle the electric piano. This film is a study of their lifestyle, their mutual interests and their friendship.

Nobody Waved Goodbye

Don Owen

Peter Kastner, Julie Biggs

A teenage boy rebels against parental authority and must face a harsh reality when he tries to live on his own.

Runner

Don Owen

W.H. Auden, Bruce Kidd

Young long-distance runner Bruce Kidd practices and competes.

The Ernie Game

Don Owen

Alexis Kanner, Judith Gault

This fictional feature follows a twenty-something man who is struggling to define his position in the world in early adulthood. He has left their parents' home but still has not made an home of his own. Our protagonist’s alienation is palpable; for him life is a game, not because he chooses to make it so, but because he is unable to make anything more of it. But for those who befriend him and eventually turn him loose again, his game is not enough.

You Don't Back Down

Don Owen

In Nigeria, a young Canadian doctor serves in a local mission hospital and learns much from the experience. Stationed abroad under the Canadian University Service Overseas Plan, Dr. Alex McMahon and his schoolteacher wife find every day a fresh challenge. An interesting study of intercultural help.

Unfinished Business

Don Owen

Isabelle Mejias, Peter Spence

Seventeen year old Izzy Marks lives in Toronto with her divorced mother and finds her life boring and directionless. Meant to be a sequel to Don Owen's acclaimed 1964 film "Nobody Waved Good-bye", "Unfinished Business" looks at life two decades later for Peter and Julie's (Peter Kastner and Julie Biggs) daughter Isabelle "Izzy" Marks (Isabelle Mejias). Curious, funny and intelligent, 17 year old Izzy feels the frustrations of her limiting environment and the pull of a more exciting, larger world. She meets passionate anarchist wannabe Jessie 'Fixit' (Peter Spence) and is quickly drawn into his free living alternative lifestyle. Much to the displeasure of her once free-thinking parents and friends.

Crimes of the Future

David Cronenberg

Ronald Mlodzik, Jon Lidolt

Crimes of the Future is set in a future where sexually mature women appear to have been obliterated by a plague produced by the use of cosmetics. The film details the wanderings of Adrian Tripod, director of the dermatological clinic the House of Skin. Tripod seems at a loss following the disappearance of his mentor Antoine Rouge.

Partners

Don Owen

Judith Gault

When a business competitor assassinates her father when the father refuses to sell his firm, young woman takes over her father's paper company and with the help of her gangster boyfriend learns how to fight back against competitors.

Holstein

Don Owen

A portrait of a small Ontario town, this film introduces its audience to the people of Holstein by filming them in the old-fashioned general store, the blacksmith's shop and the town granary. Old-time residents reminisce, while old-fashioned sleighs travel down the main road bordered by beautiful old frame houses.

A Further Glimpse of Joey

Don Owen

Miles McNamara, Norma Renault

Directed by Don Owen, this follow-up to Graham Parker’s 1964 filmJoey revisits the life of the eponymous young boy, who at the age of seven had trouble finding adoptive parents, most of whom look for children who are still in their infant years. This film catches up with Joey after he has found a home, and reveals some of the problems he faces in adjusting to the routines of family life.