William D. MacGillivray
2021The Man of a Thousand Songs
William D. MacGillivray
Joel Thomas Hynes, Ron Hynes
A feature length documentary about extraordinary Canadian singer songwriter, Ron Hynes... an insightful and entertaining exploration of the creative process, the genesis of song, the meaning of performance and the vulnerability of an artist compelled to bare his soul through his music. The film is comprised of Ron performing his music (distinct and live for the camera), interwoven with very intimate black box 'interviews' with Ron (shot tightly and directly addressed to the camera), in which he discusses the songs and the life that informed them: late nights, dark alleys, marriage, children, divorce, his near death and recovery from drug addiction... and punctuated with back stage moments, insight from the street, and Ron's nephew author Joel Thomas Hynes, taking the role of 'chorus of the people'.
The Man of a Thousand Songs
I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art
William D. MacGillivray
Dara Birnbaum, Michael Snow
This is an interesting little documentary about the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, which was apparently one of the global hotbeds of experimental/avant garde art- particularly video art- back in the 70's & 80's. MacGillvary interviews a number of the artists that were formative to the program. Many of whom would go on to become teachers at the school.
I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art
Life Classes
William D. MacGillivray
Jacinta Cormier, Leon Dubinsky
The odyssey of a young Cape Breton woman as she moves to the big city (Halifax) and supports herself after the birth of her illegitimate child by posing for college art classes, on her way to becoming an artist in her own right.
Life Classes
Stations
William D. MacGillivray
Richard Boland
Harry is a television journalist crossing Canada by train to a family event in Newfoundland. While travelling, the journalist is making a documentary about Canada and reassessing his life in response to a friend’s suicide. - http://tiff.net/CANADIANFILMENCYCLOPEDIA/content/bios/william-d-macgillivray
Stations
Reading Alistair MacLeod
William D. MacGillivray
Alistair MacLeod, Margaret Atwood
This feature doc profiles acclaimed writer Alistair MacLeod. Hailed internationally as a master of the short story, MacLeod also wrote a novel, No Great Mischief, which was celebrated around the world. Depicting men and women living out their lives against the haunting landscape that surrounds them, most of MacLeod's work is firmly based in Cape Breton even if his characters stray elsewhere. Focusing on the complexities and abiding mysteries at the heart of human relationships, MacLeod maps the close bonds and impassable chasms that lie between people and invokes memory and myth to celebrate the continuity of the generations. This film portrait explores the life and work of this giant of literature.
Reading Alistair MacLeod
For Generations to Come
William D. MacGillivray
A family can take many forms, whether as a tightly-knit "traditional" rural family, a single mother and her daughter, a same-sex couple with three children, or a large "blended" family. This film takes us on an intimate journey into the homes and lives of seven families, challenging our views about what family is and what it will be in generations to come.
For Generations to Come
Under the Weather
William D. MacGillivray
Stephen Oates, Julia Sarah Stone
There is no ‘best thing’ about having terminal cancer, but for forty-year-old Joe, being welcomed back into his childhood home, feeling the warmth and support of his sister and her husband and observing his young niece’s blossoming emotional maturity seem to give new meaning to a life he feels he had wasted. With unexpected humour, stark realism and quiet insight, Under The Weather is an uplifting meditation on one man’s graceful surrender to the inevitable and the palpable impact his passing has on those he leaves behind.
Under the Weather
Aerial View
William D. MacGillivray
A young Halifax architect withdraws from a promising partnership after experiencing events that lead him to question the ethics of his profession. This radical shift in Geoff's career becomes increasingly isolating. His wife leaves him, while his best friend compromises their earlier ideals. Geoff must now rely on his own personal strength as he begins to construct a small home for himself in the country.
Aerial View
Celtic Edge
William D. MacGillivray
Ashley MacIsaac, Shannon Quinn
As one of the most renowned Canadian roots musicians of all time, Ashley MacIsaac has received significant international acclaim. He plays the fiddle in a direct, traditional Cape-Breton style, adding his own unique treatment, mixing genres and making contemporary Celtic music appeal to a wide spectrum of fans. In Celtic Edge, Ashley performs with fellow fiddler Shannon Quinn and DJ/composer Jay Andrews in a concert that explores the relationship between the younger generation of Celtic musicians inspired by Ashley as Ashley discusses his relationship to the older generation of fiddlers who inspired him.
Celtic Edge
