Richard Gilbert

Data for Decision

David Millar

Richard Gilbert

This short documentary is a portrait of the early era of computing and the process and implications of the digitization of large amounts of information. Examining the arduous work of assessing and documenting the geographical landscape, including sampling and analysis of soil, forestry, timber, wildlife, resources, industrial sites, and many other aspects, we see that human beings alone couldn't handle the vast amount of information that is collected. A new kind of computer (an “instant library”), the Canada Land Inventory Geo-information System, was developed to help manage and develop Canadian land. This film examines the workings of this new and mysterious machine.

Pride and Prejudice

Michael Barry

Allan Jeayes, Barbara Everest

Of Sport and Men

Hubert Aquin

Richard Gilbert

In 1961, philosopher Roland Barthes collaborated with filmmaker Hubert Aquin to produce a film, for Canadian television, intended to reveal the poetics of sport and spectatorship. The question 'what is sport' is answered by Barthes' eloquently scripted commentary. The recurring theme of purging violence from society into the spectacle of sport runs through the film.

Why Me?

Janet Perlman, Derek Lamb

Marshall Efron, Richard Gilbert

Nesbitt Spoon, who's a bit of a nebbish, tells us about his day, which is fairly average up until the moment that his doctor tells him he has only five minutes left to live.

Kurelek

William Pettigrew

William Kurelek, Richard Gilbert

A documentary about the self-taught painter William Kurelek, told through his paintings. There are scenes of village life in the Ukraine and the early days of struggle on a prairie homestead and the growing comfort of family life. In Ontario, Kurelek paints the present life of Canada with the same pleasure he painted the old.

Haida Carver

Richard Gilbert

Robert Davidson

On Canada's Pacific coast this film finds a young Haida artist, Robert Davidson, shaping miniature totems from argillite, a jet-like stone. The film follows the artist to the island where he finds the stone, and then shows how he carves it in the manner of his grandfather, who taught him the craft.

Puzzle

Gordon Hessler

James Franciscus, Wendy Hughes

Franciscus searches for the urn that contains the remains of Buddha but instead finds danger and intrigue.

A Piece of Cake

John Irwin

Cyril Fletcher, Betty Astell

Set in the austere post–World War II British world of rationing, Cyril dreams up an ode to an imaginary character named Merlin Mound who can provide anything one can wish. Merlin becomes real and grants his host's wishes; not by conjuring the items out of thin air, but depriving them from other people's ownership, which leads to trouble.