Laurence Lionel "Larry" Kent (born May 16, 1937, in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

filmmaker, who is regarded as an important pioneer of independent filmmaking in Canada.

Biography

Larry Kent emigrated from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada in 1957 to study psycjology and theatre at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

.Jim Leach
"Laurence L. Kent"
''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

'', October 14, 2010. A devout film buff and scholar, Kent made the transition from the stage to screen in the early 1960s. Kent wrote and directed the existential Canadian indie, post-beatnik, pre-hippie classic ''

The Bitter Ash ''The Bitter Ash'' is a Canadian drama film, directed by Larry Kent and released in 1963. One of the first narrative feature films ever shot in Vancouver, the film stars Alan Scarfe as Des, an unhappy blue collar man who is drawn into the city's ...

'' in 1962 and tirelessly toured the film despite the controversy it garnered nationwide."TIFF movie review: The Bitter Ash". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', September 6, 2012. Filled with profanity and brief nudity, the picture was produced on a shoestring, shot silent with audio dubbed in later and featured a

jazz music Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major f ...

score. His follow-up film, '' Sweet Substitute'' (1964) made money in the United States, a first for any Canadian independent picture."Caressed: gutsy view of teen lust". ''

'', June 24, 1967. Together with his third picture, the proto-feminist film '' When Tomorrow Dies'', these three movies comprise Kent's "Vancouver Trilogy". Kent moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in the late 1960s, briefly working for 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 ...

before quitting to make films that exemplified the wild, drug informed spirit of the youth driven counterculture.Eric H. Wilson, "Larry's At It Again: Movie-maker Kent reels opinions and talks about High, his new banned film". ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', August 11, 1967. His 1967 film ''

High High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

'' was slated to premiere at the

Montreal International Film Festival The Montreal International Film Festival was an annual Canadian film festival, which took place in Montreal, Quebec from 1960 to 1967.

, but was banned by the

Quebec Censor Board Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

at the last minute, while ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...

'' (1971) was one of the first films ever to directly address the linguistic and cultural tensions between anglophones and francophones in Montreal in that era.

Gerald Pratley Gerald Arthur Pratley (September 3, 1923 – March 14, 2011) was a Canadian film critic and historian.Piers Handling"Gerald Arthur Pratley" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', September 18, 2011. A longtime film critic for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp ...

, ''A Century of Canadian Cinema''. Lynx Images, 2003. . p. 16. Although none of these early films received wide distribution, his cultural and critical esteem began to increase when several of them were included in Front & Centre, a retrospective program of historically significant Canadian films which screened at the 1984 Toronto International Film Festival.

Jay Scott Jeffrey Scott Beaven (October 4, 1949 – July 30, 1993), known professionally by his pen name Jay Scott, was a Canadian film critic."Critic Jay Scott, 43 among world's best". ''Toronto Star'', July 31, 1993. Early life Scott was born in Lincol ...

, "Mon Oncle Antoine No. 1 with critics". ''

'', August 2, 1984. ''The Bitter Ash'', ''Sweet Substitute'', ''When Tomorrow Dies'' and ''High'' were also screened as a Kent retrospective at a number of venues in 2002 and 2003, including Cinematheque Ontario in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, the

Pacific Cinémathèque The Cinematheque (legal name: Pacific Cinémathèque Pacifique), founded in 1972, is a Canadian charity and non-profit film institute, media education centre, and film exhibitor based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The organization’s mission i ...

in Vancouver and the

Canadian Film Institute The Canadian Film Institute (CFI) (french: Institut canadien du film (ICF)) Canadian Film Institute involves Canada in the film production, study, appreciation process of film/moving images for cultural and educational purposes. The Canadian Film ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Matthew Hays Matthew Hays is a Canadians, Canadian film critic, writer, film festival programmer and academic. He won a Lambda Literary Award for his 2007 book ''The View from Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers''. Hays teaches film studies, j ...

, "Catch up on your Kent". ''

'', February 1, 2003. He also had occasional acting roles in other directors' films, including '' Q-Bec My Love (Un succès commercial)'' and '' One Man''."Larry Kent"
''Canadian Film Enyclopedia''. During the 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Kent continued to explore various aspects of

the human condition ''The Human Condition'', first published in 1958, is Hannah Arendt's account of how "human activities" should be and have been understood throughout Western history. Arendt is interested in the ''vita activa'' (active life) as contrasted with ...

in his work. Though he slowed down in the 1990s, he returned in 2005 with ''

The Hamster Cage ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', a black comedy/psychodrama which won the jury prize at the 2005 Austin Fantastic Fest. In 2007, Kent completed post-production work on ''Hastings Street'', a 20-minute Vancouver drama which he had actually made in 1962 as his first-ever film but had never completed due to lack of funding.

Select filmography

* ''

'' (1963) * '' Sweet Substitute'' (1964) * '' When Tomorrow Dies'' (1965) * ''

'' (1967) * ''Facade'' (1968) * ''

'' (1971) * '' Keep It in the Family'' (1973) * ''The Slavers'' (1977) * '' Yesterday'' (a.k.a. ''This Time Forever'') (1981) * ''High Stakes'' (1986) * ''Mothers and Daughters'' (1992) * ''

'' (2005) * ''Hastings Street'' (1962 photography / 2007 post-production) 20:28 * ''

She Who Must Burn ''She Who Must Burn'' is a 2015 horror film that was directed by Larry Kent. He co-wrote the film with Shane Twerdun, who also stars. The movie had its world premiere on 26 July 2015 at the Fantasia Film Festival and stars Sarah Smyth as a woma ...

'' (2015) * '' Short Film No. 6'' (2020)Norman Wilner
"Canadian directors are making films in self-isolation"
''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

'', May 12, 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Larry 1937 births Living people South African film directors South African emigrants to Canada People from Johannesburg Film directors from Vancouver