Thursday, March 28, 2024

Timer

Al Purdy Was Here

First Published:

[projekktor id=’22238′]

Al Purdy was Here is a documentary directed by Brian D. Johnson, making his feature directorial debut. It held its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this year as part of the TIFF Docs program and finished third in the audience choice documentary voting.

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 Montreal. 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 mecca for the pioneers of Canadian literature, including Margaret Lawrence, Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje and Dennis Lee. 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.

“I didn’t choose this story; it chose me,” explains Johnson. “My wife, Marni Jackson, brought Al Purdy into our home when she began writing a play about him then got drawn into the campaign to restore his A-frame cabin as a writing retreat. She asked me to edit a reel of archival footage for a fundraising show. Which is how it all started over two years ago.”

Al Purdy Was Here is rated PG.

More Top News

Evening weather forecast for March 27, 2024

Shelly Marriage shares the forecast for March 27, 2024 and the days ahead.

Sister of man involved in Burlington hit-and-run speaks out

The sister of a man struck by a vehicle in a hit-and-run in Burlington on Sunday is speaking out. She says she's not sure if...

Horwath to veto council’s decision not to build affordable housing on Stoney Creek parking lots

Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath says she's using her "strong mayor" powers to veto city council's decision not to move forward with a plan to...

Niagara police identify 2 people found dead in St. Catharines home

Niagara police have released the identities of the two people found dead in a home in St. Catharines on Monday. Officers were called to 47...

Ontario international student permits to go to in-demand areas

Ontario will give the vast majority of its allocated international student study permits to post-secondary institutions that offer in-demand programs such as in the...

Sportsline: Hamilton Ticats all-star receiver Tim White on his World Vision trip to Asia

VIDEO: As a sibling of nine in Los Angeles, Tim White and his family lived through some hard times. So when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats...