Collection search - Iskowitz

Record information – Brief

1

Iskowitz

Item number (ISN):

194563

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

1982/1987

Item number (ISN):

194563

Type of material:

Moving images

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

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Record information – Details

Fonds/collection:

STRAYER, Colin

Accession:

1992-0097

Media:

Film

Original title:

Iskowitz

Part:

1 of 1

Production date:

1982/1987

Release date:

1991-05-31

Production company:

Northland Pictures
Zoeikon Films Inc.

Production credit:

director/photography, Leonidas Zourdoumis; producer, Colin Strayer; sound, Karin Michael; David Joliat; Gary Nichol; editing, Peter Vinet

Country of production:

cn

Distributor name:

Northland Pictures

Description:

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A rare and intimate view of the life of the late Canadian painter Gershon Iskowitz. Production commenced in 1982 on the portrait of this artist. However, before director/director of photography Leonidas Zourdoumis was able to complete the film the artist became ill and, in January of 1988, died at the age of 67.~The film was intended as a celebration of Iskowitz' life, and Zourdoumis decided to present the film as originally envisioned. Instead of chronicling his life from birth until death, Iskowitz is seen in his prime strolling around Toronto's Spadina/Queen Street West area visiting his favourite haunts and talking with friends.~Born in 1921 in Kielce, Poland, Iskowitz began painting in 1941. At a time when most young men are exploring the world and discovering themselves, he was interned in the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. To preserve his sanity, he bribed guards for coffee grounds that he then used to create his ink. When the camp was liberated, Iskowitz retreived his artwork which had survived by being stashed under floorboards. He emigrated to Canada alone in 1949, the only member of his family to survive the death camps.~For almost forty years Iskowitz lived in downtown Toronto. He spent his summers painting on Georgian Bay and in the Muskoka region. It was there that his style evolved from the dark scenes and portraits he was first known for, into the more abstract views of the landscape that would become his trademark.~After his death, this film entered its final stage of editing. However, in September of 1988, at the age of 44, Zourdoumis was killed in a plane crash. Shortly thereafter, Toronto filmmaker Colin Strayer, now the only living member of the original production team, enlisted the help of friends of Zourdoumis who carried the film through the final stages of production to completion. <26mn 28s>

Language:

English

Notes:

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1. The running time is based on the measured length of the archives's master print.

Detailed holdings information:

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Vault ISN:

190099

Format:

FILM

Location number:

9204-0060

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

COMP

Stock:

ANS PRT

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

MASTER
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