Colin Archibald Low (July 24, 1926 – February 24, 2016) was a Canadian animation and documentary filmmaker with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). He was known as a pioneer, one of Canada's most important filmmakers, and was regularly referred to as "the gentleman genius". His numerous honors include five BAFTA awards, eight Cannes Film Festival awards, and six Academy Award nominations.

Early life

Low was born and raised in Cardston, Alberta, to Gerald and Marion Low, ranchers who were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The town borders the Kainai Nation (Blood Tribe), which later became the subject of two of his films; his 1960 film Circle of the Sun marked the first time the Kainai Nation's sacred Sun Dance was filmed.

Career

Low studied graphic design and animation at the Banff School of Fine Arts and then the Calgary Institute of Technology. In 1946, while he was at the latter, the National Film Board of Canada was hiring and put out a call for student submissions; one of Low's teachers suggested that he send in his portfolio and, a week later, he was hired by the prominent NFB filmmaker Norman McLaren. McLaren placed Low under the tutelage of George Dunning, who would act as his mentor for five years. To hone his animation skills, he was also put to work with NFB animator Evelyn Lambart. Low was recognized as a filmmaker in 1949. In 1950, he was appointed Head of the Animation Unit. From 1972 to 1976, he was an executive producer for the NFB's Studio C; in 1976, he became Director of Regional Production. He would stay with the NFB for the rest of his life, making 203 films and acting as a researcher and advisor on many others. He officially retired in 1997, but continued to write about animation and large-format film, and to work on film projects.

Influence on Stanley Kubrick and Ken Burns

Low's 1957 documentary City of Gold made use of slow pans and zooms across archival photos and has been cited by Ken Burns as a key inspiration for the so-called 'Ken Burns effect'. In 1960, Low and Roman Kroitor co-directed Universe, capturing the attention of Stanley Kubrick, who was preparing to make 2001: A Space Odyssey. Low was invited to work on 2001: A Space Odyssey but had to decline because he was making In the Labyrinth, a multi-screen production for Expo 67. Some of his ideas and techniques were incorporated into Kubrick's film and Kubrick used the narrator from Universe (Douglas Rain) as the voice of his HAL 9000 computer.

Challenge for Change

From 1966 to 1968, Low worked with the people of Fogo Island, Newfoundland to shoot 27 films for the NFB's Challenge for Change program, using media as a tool to bring about social change and combat poverty.

IMAX

Low was involved in a series of firsts in the wide-screen genre. The experimental multi-screen production In the Labyrinth helped lead to the creation of the IMAX format. Low co-directed the first IMAX 3D production Transitions for Expo 86 in Vancouver, and co-directed Momentum, the first film in 48 frames per-second IMAX HD for Expo 92 in Seville, Spain.

Lifetime achievement recognition

In 1972, at the 24th Canadian Film Awards, Low received the inaugural Grierson Award for "an outstanding contribution to Canadian cinema." In 2002, the Large Format Cinema Association presented Low and the NFB with its Abel Gance Award for outstanding work in large format filmmaking. In 1997, Low was awarded the Prix Albert-Tessier, given to individuals for an outstanding career in Québec cinema. In 2013, the DOXA Documentary Film Festival created the annual Colin Low Award, presented to the best Canadian documentary film in the festival program. Low was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and, in 1996, in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to cinema in Canada and around the world, was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada.

Personal life and death

Shortly after joining the NFB, Low met Eugénie (Jean) St. Germain in Montreal. They married in 1947 and had three sons. He was survived by his wife and sons when he died in Montreal on February 24, 2016.

Filmography

All for the National Film Board of Canada

Awards

As Director, Executive Producer or Producer Cadet Rousselle (1946) The Romance of Transportation in Canada (1952) Age of the Beaver (1952) Corral (1954) Riches of the Earth (1954) A Thousand Million Years (1954) One Little Indian (1954) The Jolifou Inn (1955) Gold (1955) City of Gold (1957) City Out of Time (1959) A is for Architecture (1960) Circle of the Sun (1960) Universe (1960) Hors-d'oeuvre (1960) Do You Know the Milky Way? (1961) Very Nice, Very Nice (1961) The Days of Whiskey Gap (1961) Pot-pourri (1962) My Financial Career (1962) 21-87 (1963) I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (1963) Free Fall (1964) The Hutterites (1964) The Children of Fogo Island (1967) The Sea (1971) Here is Canada (1972) The Question of TV Violence (1972) Coming Home (1973) Sub-Igloo (1973) The Man Who Can't Stop (1973) Child, Part 1: Jamie, Ethan and Marlon: The First Two Months (1973) Cree Hunters of Mistassini (1974) Sananguagat: Inuit Masterworks (1974) Another Side of the Forest (1974) Bate's Car: Sweet as a Nut (1974) In Praise of Hands (1974) In Search of the Bowhead Whale (1974) Waiting for Fidel (1974) King of the Hill (1974) Arctic IV (1975) Jack Rabbit (1975) Descent (1975) The Lady and the Owl (1975) Musicanada (1975) Blackwood (1976) A Great White Bird (1976) High Grass Circus (1976) The Land: A New Priority (1976) Log House (1976) Waterloo Farmers (1976) Los Canadienses (1976) Path of the Paddle: Doubles Whitewater (1977) Standing Alone (1982) Starlife (1983) Momentum (1992) Moving Pictures (2000)