Giles Walker (January 17, 1946 - March 23, 2020) was a Scottish-born Canadian film director.

Biography

Giles Walker, born in 1946 in Dundee,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, received a B.A. from the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Ameri ...

and an M.A. from Stanford University Film School in 1972. He joined the Canadian National Film Board soon after, directing documentaries, then switching to dramas in 1977. ''Bravery in the Field'' was nominated for a live-action short Oscar in 1979. ''The Masculine Mystique'' (directed with

John N. Smith John N. Smith OC (born July 31, 1943 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. Career Smith graduated with a B.A. in political science from McGill University in 1964. He joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1 ...

), the first of a trio of NFB movies dealing with issues of gender relations, showed Walker's experimental side, working with non-professional actors and the technique of improvisation. The two other films in the series, however, moved closer to an easy, palatable Hollywood style – successfully in ''90 Days'' but less so in ''The Last Straw''. Perhaps Walker's most successful fictional work is ''Princes in Exile'', a film about a summer camp for children with cancer, notable for delicate treatment of the subject and a moving lack of sentimentality. Walker died in March 2020.

Partial filmography

* ''

Bravery in the Field ''Bravery in the Field'' is a 1979 Canadian short drama film, produced by the National Film Board of Canada and directed by Giles Walker. The film stars Les Rubie as Tommy, an aging World War II veteran, and Matt Craven as Lennie, a young street t ...

'' (1979) - director, writer * '' The Masculine Mystique'' (1984) - co-writer, co-producer, co-director with

* '' 90 Days'' (1985) – writer, producer, director * '' The Last Straw'' (1987) – writer, producer, director * '' Princes in Exile'' (1990) – director * ''

Ordinary Magic ''Ordinary Magic'' is a 1993 Canadian film about a boy who is raised in India by his father. The story is based on the novel Ganesh by Malcolm Bosse with Canada substituting in the film for the book's Midwestern USA location. This film marked the ...

'' (1993) - director * '' Never Too Late'' (1996) – director * ''

Little Men ''Little Men,'' or ''Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys,'' is a children's novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), which was first published in 1871 by Roberts Brothers. The book reprises characters from her 1868–69 two-volume ...

'' (1999) – director, 1 episode * ''

Blind Terror ''Blind Terror'' is a 2001 thriller film directed by Giles Walker and starring Nastassja Kinski, Stewart Bick and Gordon Pinsent Gordon Edward Pinsent (born July 12, 1930) is a Canadian actor, writer, director, and singer. He is known for h ...

'' (2001) – director * ''

Tales from the Neverending Story ''Tales from the Neverending Story'' is a single-season TV series that is loosely based on Michael Ende's 1979 novel ''The Neverending Story'', produced (in Montreal, Quebec, Canada during December 2000-August 2002) and distributed by Muse Entert ...

'' (2001) – director, 2 episodes * ''

Fries with That? ''Fries with That?'' is a YTV produced sitcom. It first aired in April 2004. This sitcom revolves around a group of high school students who work at a local fast-food restaurant named Bulky's in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The sitcom follows pri ...

'' (2004, YTV) – director, 11 episodes * '' Doctor*Ology'' (2007, Discovery Channel) – director, 2 episodes

References

External links

*
Films by Giles Walker
at the National Film Board of Canada

Biography

Partial filmography

References

External links

See also