Gudrun Parker
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Gudrun Johanna Bjerring Parker (March 16, 1920 – November 15, 2022) was a Canadian filmmaker, writer, and producer. She worked on films with the
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 ...
(NFB) during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
and in the early 1950s. Parker wrote the script for ''
The Stratford Adventure ''The Stratford Adventure'' is a 1954 National Film Board of Canada documentary film about the founding of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, directed by Morten Parker. It tells the story of what was to become North America's premiere Shakespea ...
,'' which was nominated for an academy award, and directed part of ''
Royal Journey ''Royal Journey'' is a National Film Board of Canada documentary film chronicling a five-week Royal visit by The Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and her husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to Canada and the United States in the fa ...
,'' which won a BAFTA. She married fellow NFB filmmaker Morten Parker. They often worked as a team on films and in 1963, they established a production company, Parker Film Associates.Wise, Wyndum
"Gudrun Bjerring Parker."
''Canadian Encyclopedia''. Retrieved: April 21, 2016.
Although she left the NFB in 1956 to focus on raising her first child Julie, Parker remained active in the filmmaking industry. Her husband travelled to locations and filmed for their production company while she stayed at home producing, editing, and eventually working as a film studies teacher at
Vanier College Vanier College ( French: ''Collège Vanier'') is an English-language public college located in the Saint-Laurent borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1970 as the second English-language public college of Quebec's public coll ...
. She was appointed an
Officer of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with ...
(OC) in 2005. Gudrun Parker was of Icelandic descent, her parents came from the north of
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
and immigrated to Canada."Guð­rún Bjerring Parker látin 102 ára."
''
Fréttablaðið ''Fréttablaðið'' ( en, The Newspaper) is a free Icelandic newspaper. It is distributed five days per week. History and profile ''Fréttablaðið'' was established in 2001. It was originally owned primarily by the media group ''365''. The paper ...
'', December 10, 2022. Retrieved: December 10, 2022.


Career

Parker attended the
University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and kinesiology and applied health as well as gra ...
(then called United College). After graduating, she worked on the hotels and rails beat as a reporter for the ''
Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...
''. She met documentary filmmaker John Grierson, who was travelling across the country recruiting workers for the NFB. Grierson was impressed with her and interviewed her for a job with the NFB. Parker later said that she didn’t even know the film board existed when she was offered the job.Hammill, Judith Ellen. "Gudrun Parker: Her National Film Board career and films (Research Essay)." ''Canadian Studies: Carleton University''. 2000. Parker travelled from Winnipeg to Ottawa to begin working with the NFB in March 1942. In his memoir of the early days of the film board, scriptwriter Graham McInnes described Parker as "a very quiet, extremely persistent worker with an outwardly sweet and accommodating approach which masked a truly tremendous tenacity."McInnes 2004, pp. 154–155. After six months working as an assistant in the cutting room, Parker asked to direct her own film. She secured the funding for the film herself, asking for sponsorship from the Department of National Health and Welfare. Cinematographer Judith Crawley filmed and Parker directed the production, which was called ''Vitamins A, B, C.'' The film educated viewers about maintaining nutrition with wartime shortages and featured a great deal of footage of children. She later worked with Graham McInnes on a film called "A Friend for Supper." According to McInnes the slogan "a friend for supper," was Parker's idea, a way of encouraging Canadian children not to waste food by imagining they were having a 'friend' — a child refugee — over for a meal with them. McInnes was dubious because he thought this notion would encourage children to eat more instead of less but his "misgivings were without foundation," he later wrote. "She shot the film as planned. Despite the equivocal logic it was an instant and continuing success with children — and with adults." This success was the beginning of Parker's long involvement with children and education through film. Her next film, ''Before They Are Six'' (1943) also dealt with children, as well as women's challenges during wartime. This film details the efforts of women to establish daycares for their children while they went to work at munitions factories.


Postwar films

In 1944 Parker became the head of the NFB Educational Unit, continuing her focus on children. In the mid-1950s, Parker worked with Marjorie McKay to write three series of short educational films. The first "What Do You Think" was made for teenagers, the second "What's Your Opinion," for adults, and the third "What's Making up Your Mind," focussed on "media influence and conformity." Her films ''Musician in the Family'' and ''Being Different'' are notable for exploring alternative gender roles for boys. In ''Being Different'' a young boy must deal with the derision of his classmates after he takes an interest in the local butterfly society. According to Canadian Studies scholar Judith Hammill, "the subtext has all kinds of implications about the social formation of masculinity." Parker also highlighted the Canadian arts scene in her films. Her short documentary ''Listen to the Prairies'' (1946) is about an annual Manitoba music festival. Her award-winning ''Opera School'' (1951) profiles a young opera singer at the
Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...
. Parker also wrote the script for ''
The Stratford Adventure ''The Stratford Adventure'' is a 1954 National Film Board of Canada documentary film about the founding of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, directed by Morten Parker. It tells the story of what was to become North America's premiere Shakespea ...
'' (1954), a documentary about the creation of the Stratford Festival."The Stratford Adventure."
''National Film Board of Canada''. Retrieved: April 21, 2016.
Parker was slated to direct that film but she was pregnant at the time so her husband, filmmaker Morten Parker stepped in. ''The Stratford Adventure'' was a critical success and earned the NFB an Oscar nomination for best documentary feature. It was also named Film of the Year at the Canadian Film Awards. Parker later called the film a "historical document" ''The Stratford Adventure'' features British director
Tyrone Guthrie Sir William Tyrone Guthrie (2 July 1900 – 15 May 1971) was an English theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at h ...
, and stage stars
Irene Worth Irene Worth, CBE (June 23, 1916March 10, 2002) was an American stage and screen actress who became one of the leading stars of the British and American theatre. She pronounced her given name with three syllables: "I-REE-nee". Worth made her Br ...
and Alec Guinness. It also features a brief appearance from a young
Timothy Findley Timothy Irving Frederick Findley Timothy Findley's
entry in


Personal life and death

Parker died on November 15, 2022 in
Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Alberta, at the age of 102.


Legacy

Canadian Studies scholar Judith Hammill says Parker's films, "reflect a historical moment in Canadian film. In their evolution from the relatively spare Griersonian cinema of social purpose to a cinema that, while always retaining its social purpose, grew to embrace aesthetic innovation, technical polish, and a significant degree of personal expression, we can trace the growth of Canadian documentary over the period." Hammill argues that after the war "Gudrun's seminal work in an observational style was an influence on a whole generation of filmmakers who made it a Canadian genre."


Filmography

* ''Vitamins A, B, C and D'' (1943) Producer/Director/Writer/Editor * ''Before they are Six (1943)'' Producer/Director/Writer/Editor * ''The People's Bank'' (1944) Producer/Director/Writer/Editor * ''A Friend For Supper'' (1944) Director/Writer * ''Listen to the Prairies'' (1946) Producer/Director/Writer/Editor * ''The Policeman'' (1946) Producer/Director/Writer/Editor * ''New Chapters'' (1947) Producer/Director * ''The Postman'' (1947) Producer * ''The Home Town Paper'' (1948) Producer * ''Maps We Live By'' (1948) Producer/Director/Writer/Editor * ''
Who Will Teach Your Child? ''Who Will Teach Your Child?'' is a 1948 Canadian short documentary, directed by Stanley Jackson for the National Film Board of Canada."Documentary Film On Pupils And Teachers". ''Ottawa Citizen'', December 8, 1948. The film is about the import ...
'' (1948) Producer/Writer/Editor * ''Children's Concert'' (1949) Producer/Director/Writer/Editor * ''Family Circles'' (1949) Producer/Writer * '' Opera School'' (1951) Director/Editor * ''
Royal Journey ''Royal Journey'' is a National Film Board of Canada documentary film chronicling a five-week Royal visit by The Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and her husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to Canada and the United States in the fa ...
'' (1951) Director * ''A Musician in the Family'' (1953) Director/Editor * ''One Man's Opinion'' (1953) Director/Writer * ''The Majority Vote'' (1953) Director/Writer * ''The Honest Truth'' (1953) Director/Writer * ''
The Stratford Adventure ''The Stratford Adventure'' is a 1954 National Film Board of Canada documentary film about the founding of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, directed by Morten Parker. It tells the story of what was to become North America's premiere Shakespea ...
'' (1954) Director/Writer * ''Who's Running Things?'' (1955) Director/Writer * ''Having Your Say'' (1955) Director/Writer * ''Getting What You're After'' (1955) Director/Writer * ''The Public's Business'' (1955) Director/Writer * ''Community Responsibilities'' (1955) Director/Writer * ''Leaving it to the Experts'' (1955) Producer/Director/Writer * ''Seeing is Believing'' (1956) Producer/Director/Writer * ''The Story Behind the News'' (1956) Director/Writer * ''Getting on the Bandwagon'' (1956) Director/Writer * ''Making a Decision in the Family'' (1957) Writer * ''Being Different'' (1957) Writer * ''Choosing a Leader'' (1957) Writer * ''Popular Psychology'' (1957) Writer * ''Four Teachers'' (1961) Writer


Awards

* Officer of the Order of Canada. Awarded on November 17, 2005 and invested on October 6, 2006."Gudrun J.B. Parker, O.C., B.A."
''Honours database: Office of the Secretary to the Governor General''. Retrieved: February 9, 2016.
Other honours: * ''Who Will Teach Your Child:'' Canadian Film Award (CFA) for theatrical short (1949). * ''Family Circles:'' CFA for non-theatrical short (1950). * ''Royal Journey:'' CFA for best feature film, and a BAFTA (1952). * ''Opera School:'' CFA for theatrical short (1952). * ''The Stratford Adventure'': nominated for an Academy Award (1953). * ''A City Sings'': nominated for the Cannes Short Film of the Year (1946).


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* McInnes, Graham. ''One Man's Documentary: A Memoir of the Early Years of the National Film Board''. Winnipeg, Manitoba: University of Manitoba, 2004. . * Waugh, Thomas. ''Romance of Transgression in Canada: Queering Sexualities, Nations, Cinemas''. Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press. 2006. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Gudrun 1920 births 2022 deaths Canadian documentary film directors Canadian women film directors National Film Board of Canada people Officers of the Order of Canada Canadian film educators University of Winnipeg alumni Journalists from Manitoba Film directors from Winnipeg Canadian women film producers Canadian documentary film producers Canadian centenarians Women centenarians Canadian women documentary filmmakers Canadian people of Icelandic descent