Albert Kish (14 May 1937 – 23 October 2015) was a Canadian documentarian/filmmaker.

Life and career

Kish was born in Albert Kiss in

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque build ...

, Hungary, the son of Olga Weisz, a clothing store manager, and Albert Kiss, a customs officer. He became interested in film at an early age and was attending the

Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest The Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest ( hu, Színház- és Filmművészeti Egyetem, SZFE) is an educational institution founded in 1865 in Budapest, Hungary. It became a university in 2000 and the name was changed to University of Theatre and F ...

when the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

forced his family to leave Hungary. They moved to Montreal in 1956 and changed their name to 'Kish'. Kish found work as a photographer and, in 1964, was hired as an editor at the CBC. In 1967, he was hired by the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

to photograph trains for

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

director John Howe liked his work and offered him a job. Kish stayed with the NFB until his retirement in 1997, directing, producing and/or editing 33 films. Outside of the NFB, Kish made three films with Bashar Shbib. He also maintained a life-long interest in photography, and his photographs have appeared in several publications and exhibitions. Albert Kish, 2013

Personal life and death

In 1994, Kish married engineer Katalin Futo. He died of cancer at

Toronto General Hospital The Toronto General Hospital (TGH) is a major teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the flagship campus of University Health Network (UHN). It is located in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along University Avenue's Hospital ...

on October 23, 2015 and was survived by his wife and two sons.

Filmography

(All for the

) *''Flight in White'' - documentary short, William Canning 1968 - editor *''Juggernaut'' - documentary short,

Eugene Boyko Eugene Boyko (1923 – March 14, 2003) known to many as "Jeep", was a Canadian filmmaker who worked with the National Film Board of Canada. An early film of his, ''Helicopter Canada'', was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Featu ...

1968 - editor *''Ports Canada'' - documentary short 1969 - director, editor *''Freeze-in'' - documentary short, F. Whitman Trecartin 1970 - producer, editor *''Bighorn'' - documentary short, Bill Schmalz 1970 - editor *''Occupation'' - documentary, Bill Reid 1970 - editor *''Search into White Space'' - documentary short, James Carney 1970 - editor *''Family House'' - documentary short, Laurence Hyde 1970 - photographer *''City Limits'' - documentary short, Laurence Hyde 1971 - photographer *''This is a Photograph'' - documentary short 1971 - director, editor, photographer *''Atomic Juggernaut'' - documentary short,

1971 - editor *''Time Piece'' - documentary short 1971 - director, editor, writer *''Bannerfilm'' - documentary short,

Donald Winkler Donald Winkler (born 1940) is a Canadian documentary filmmaker and French-to-English literary translator. He lives in Montreal with his wife Sheila Fischman. Life and career Early life Winkler was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and grew up loving th ...

1972 - editor *''Louisbourg'' - documentary short 1972 - director, editor *''Our Street was Paved with Gold'' - documentary short 1973 - director, editor *''In Praise of Hands'' - documentary short,

1974 - editor *'' Los Canadienses'' - documentary 1975 - director, writer, editor *''Bekevar Jubilee'' - documentary short 1977 - director, writer, editor *''Hold the Ketchup'' - documentary short 1977 - director, editor *''Paper Wheat'' - documentary 1979 - director, editor *''The Image Makers'' - documentary 1980 - director, writer, editor *''Conspiracy of Silence'' - documentary short, Nelu Ghiran 1981 - editor *'' F.R. Scott: Rhyme and Reason'' - documentary,

1982 - editor *''Muscle'' - documentary short, Barry Lank 1983 - editor *''The Age of Invention'' - short film 1984 - director, producer, editor *''The Scholar in Society: Northrop Frye in Conversation'' - documentary short,

1984 - editor *''Age of the Rivers'' - documentary 1986 - director, writer, editor *''Al Purdy: A Sensitive Man'' - documentary,

1988 - editor *''Notman's World'' - documentary short 1989 - director, editor *''To the Queen Mother from Canada with Love'' - documentary short 1990 - director, editor *''Litrosi'' - documentary, Maria K. Daskalos 1993 - editor *''The Summer of '67'' - documentary 1994 - producer, editor and (with

) director *''Louisbourg Under Siege'' - documentary 1997 - director, editor With Chbib Productions *''Bread'' - short film 1985 - director, editor *''Clair Obscur'' - feature, Bashar Shbib 1988 - editor *''Full of Grace'' - short film, Shernold Edwards 2006 - editor

Awards

''Ports Canada'' (1969) * Gold Camera Award, U.S. Industrial Film Festival, Chicago 1970 ''This is a Photograph'' (1971) *

Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film The Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film was a Canadian film award, historically presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television through its Genie Awards program to a film judged as the year's best short film.Maria Topalovich, ''And ...

24th Canadian Film Awards The 24th Canadian Film Awards were held on October 3, 1972 to honour achievements in Canadian film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . pp. 97-100. The ceremo ...

, Toronto 1972 * Canadian Film Award - Best Sound Re-recording,

, Toronto 1972 * Silver Medal,

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

1973 '' Los Canadienses'' (1975) *

BAFTA Award for Best Documentary This page lists the winners for the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, formerly known as the Robert Flaherty Documentary Award, for each year. History The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts an ...

(Robert Flaherty Award),

British Academy of Film & Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, London 1976 * Silver

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

1976 * Special Award for Best Television Film, and Special Mention by the

International Federation of Film Critics The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

, International Week of Cinema,

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

, Germany 1976 * Best Documentary Film,

Yorkton Film Festival Yorkton Film Festival (YFF) is an annual film festival held in late May in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council (YFC) was founded and in 1950 the first international documentary film festival officially opened in we ...

Yorkton Yorkton is a city located in south-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is about 450 kilometres north-west of Winnipeg and 300 kilometres south-east of Saskatoon and is the sixth largest city in the province. As of 2017 the census population of the ...

, Saskatchewan 1976 * Blue Ribbon Award, International History & Culture,

American Film Festival American Film Festival is a film festival held annually in October in Wrocław, Poland. The first festival was held from 20 to 24 October 2010. The festival is organized by Stowarzyszenie Nowe Horyzonty and co-funded by the Wroclaw Municipality a ...

, New York 1977 * TV Award, Best film made specifically for TV, Melbourne Film Festival, Australia 1977 ''Paper Wheat'' (1979) *

Chris Award The Columbus International Film + Animation Festival is a Columbus, Ohio, United States annual film festival which is designed to encourage and promote the use of film and video in all forms of education and communication. It is the first and o ...

, Business and Industry, Columbus International Film & Animation Festival,

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

1979 * Certificate for Outstanding Film,

Hong Kong International Film Festival The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), is one of Asia’s oldest international film festivals. Founded in 1976, the festival features different movies, filmmakers from different countries in Hong Kong. HKIFF screens around 230 films ...

, Hong Kong 1980 ''The Age of Invention'' (1984) * Blue Ribbon Award, Visual Essays,

, New York 1985 ''Bread'' (1985) * Blue Ribbon Award, Social Studies,

, New York 1984 * Special Mention,

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

1984 * Second Prize, Documentary, Alicante Film Festival,

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

, Spain 1985 ''Notman's World'' (1989) * Gold Apple Award, 2lst Annual Educational Film and Video Festival,

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

1991 * Honourable Mention, Art & Culture,

Columbus International Film & Animation Festival The Columbus International Film + Animation Festival is a Columbus, Ohio, United States annual film festival which is designed to encourage and promote the use of film and video in all forms of education and communication. It is the first and o ...

1991

References

External links

* Lyn Martin;
The NFB: Inventing Canada – Again?
* Loren R Lerner;
Canadian Film and Video A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature, Volume 2

Films by Albert Kish on NFB.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kish, Albert 2015 deaths 1937 births Film directors from Montreal Anglophone Quebec people National Film Board of Canada people