Richard Leiterman (March 7, 1935 – July 14, 2005) was a Canadian

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

, best known for documentary and

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

work in the 1960s and 1970s. His cinéma vérité, or direct camera, style helped define

Canadian cinema ''Canadian Cinema'' was a Canadian television series about films which aired on CBC Television in 1974. Premise Feature films from Canada were presented in this series:Dates verifiable from TV listings July–August 1974 from ''The Globe and Ma ...

at the time.

Biography

Born in the small town of

South Porcupine The city of Timmins, Ontario, Canada contains many named neighbourhoods. Some former municipalities that were merged into Timmins continue to be treated as distinct postal and telephone exchanges from the city core. According to Barnes, "With the ...

in northern

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

in 1935, the brother of film producer Douglas Leiterman. He grew up in

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 ...

, where he spent his young years working as a waste collector, beachcomber and truck driver. During his mid-20s, he was encouraged by his brother-in-law,

Allan King Allan Winton King, (February 6, 1930 – June 15, 2009), was a Canadian film director. Life Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, during the Great Depression, King attended Henry Hudson Elementary School, in Kitsilano.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 ...

. Leiterman took to the

film camera A movie camera (also known as a film camera and cine-camera) is a type of photographic camera that rapidly takes a sequence of photographs, either on an image sensor or onto film stock, in order to produce a moving image to project onto a movie s ...

like a natural. He sold his car to buy a 16mm camera, and proceeded to shoot

stock footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...

, which he then sold to Canadian broadcasters like the CBC. Hired by Allan King as a second

camera operator A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmaking ...

on a documentary, Leiterman went to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and, in 1962, co-founded Allan King Associates with him. The company focused on news-related filmmaking. In 1963, Leiterman went to the Southern U.S. to shoot ''

One More River ''One More River'' is a 1934 American drama film mystery directed by James Whale. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures and starred Colin Clive, Diana Wynyard and stage actress Mrs Patrick Campbell in one of her very few films. T ...

'', a look at

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

in America. Over the next few years, his documentary work took him around the world. In 1969, Leiterman shot the Allan King-produced '' A Married Couple'', which was featured at the Director's Fortnight at the

1970 Cannes Film Festival The 23rd Cannes Film Festival ran from 3 to 18 May 1970. This year, Robert Favre LeBret, the founder of the festival, decided not to include any films from Russia and Japan (their flags were missing on the Croisette). He was tired of the "Slavi ...

. Leiterman next began a series of collaborations with famed Canadian director

Donald Shebib Donald Everett "Don" Shebib (born 27 January 1938) is a Canadian film director. Shebib is a central figure in the development of English Canadian cinema who made several short documentaries for the National Film Board of Canada and CBC Televisi ...

, starting with the Canadian classic ''

Goin' Down the Road ''Goin' Down the Road'' is a 1970 Canadian film directed by Donald Shebib, co-written by William Fruet and Donald Shebib. It tells the story of two young men who decide to leave the Maritimes, where jobs and fulfilling lives are hard to find, for ...

'' (1970), and followed by '' Between Friends'' (1973) and '' Wedding in White'' (1972). Leiterman used his documentary experience to provide a cinéma vérité look to his work. Leiterman continued to shoot a variety of material over the following three decades, from Canadian features such as ''

My American Cousin ''My American Cousin'' is a Canadian drama film, released in 1985. Written and directed by Sandy Wilson based on her own childhood, the film stars Margaret Langrick as Sandy Wilcox, a preteen girl growing up on a ranch in rural Penticton, British ...

'' (1985) to American made-for-TV movies such as

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

's '' It'' (1990). His

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

work earned him a Canadian Film Award (1975) a

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

, (1981), three

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s, and, in 2000, the Kodak New Century Award. During the late 1990s, Leiterman shot the Canadian TV series '' Cold Squad''. He taught cinematography for a brief time in the Advanced TV & Film program and Media Arts program at Sheridan College in

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton. At its Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population of 213,759, it is List of tow ...

, then finally retired. Leiterman died on July 14, 2005 at age 70 due to complications from a rare disease called

amyloidosis Amyloidosis is a group of diseases in which abnormal proteins, known as amyloid fibrils, build up in tissue. There are several non-specific and vague signs and symptoms associated with amyloidosis. These include fatigue, peripheral edema, weight ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leiterman, Richard 1935 births 2005 deaths Canadian cinematographers People from Vancouver Deaths from amyloidosis People from Timmins Best Cinematography Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners