Collection search - Al Purdy Was Here

Record information – Brief

1

Al Purdy Was Here

Item number (ISN):

607560

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

2015

Item number (ISN):

607560

Type of material:

Moving images

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

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Record information – Details

Fonds/collection:

CANADA MEDIA FUND

Accession:

2019-0010

Media:

Video

Part:

1 of 1

Production date:

2015

Release date:

2015

Production company:

Purdy Pictures Inc.

Production credit:

director/producer/scenario, Brian D. Johnson; executive producer, Ron Mann; co-producer, Jake Yanowski; scenario, Marni Jackson; photography, Nicholas de Pencier, editing, Nick Taylor; music, Casey Johnson

Description:

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Al Purdy Was Here is the portrait of an artist driven to become a great Canadian poet at a time when the category barely existed. Before finding fame, Purdy endured decades of poverty and failure. A high-school dropout from Trenton, Ont., he hopped freights during the Depression, and worked in mattress factories from Vancouver to Montréal. He finally found his voice in an A-frame cabin on Roblin Lake in Ontario’s Prince Edward County. Built from salvaged lumber by Purdy and his wife, Eurithe, in 1957, the cabin became a gathering place for the pioneers of Canadian literature. Fifteen years after Purdy’s death, Canada’s arts community rallies to save the cabin and turn it into a writing retreat for a new generation of poets. As Eurithe relinquishes a home full of memories, a young feminist poet moves in and finds herself possessed by the ghost of an old-school male. The documentary features Margaret Atwood, Joseph Boyden, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Cockburn, Gord Downie, Sarah Harmer, Katherine Leyton, Michael Ondaatje, Doug Paisley, Gordon Pinsent, Eurithe Purdy, Tanya Tagaq, and Felicity Williams, and includes performances of original songs inspired by Purdy. <1h 32mn>

Language:

English

Original number:

140672

Notes:

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1. Produced with the participation of the Canada Media Fund (CMF). ~2. Closed captioned.~3. The subject description, copyright information, and production credits were sourced from the website of the film's co-writer, Marni Jackson.
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

open

Restrictions on consultation:

Available Onsite Only / Seulement disponible sur le site

Copyright status:

Under copyright.

Copyright owner:

Copyright owner: Purdy Productions Inc., 2015.

Reproduction access:

With written permission of Copyright Owner / Avec la permission écrite du détenteur des droits d'auteur

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Date modified:: 2024-07-04