Robert Lang is a Canadian film producer, director, and writer. His career began in Montreal in the early 70s working on independent productions and at 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 ...

as a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

and

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 ...

. In 1980, he moved to

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 ...

, where he founded his own independent production company,

Kensington Communications Kensington Communications is a Toronto-based production company that specializes in documentary films and documentary/factual television series. Founded in 1980 by president Robert Lang, Kensington Communications Inc. has produced over 250 produc ...

, to produce documentaries for television and non-theatrical markets. Since 1998, Lang has been involved in conceiving and producing interactive media for the Web and

mobile device A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...

Career

Robert Lang's work in television includes a number of documentary and factual series: ''

Museum Secrets ''Museum Secrets'' is a TV series on History Television in Canada and a website with videos and games exploring the world's renowned museums and their most enigmatic objects. Narrated by Canadian actor Colm Feore, the TV series ran for three seas ...

'', a 22-part television series that investigates the stories behind artifacts in great museums around the world for History, UKTV and BBC Worldwide; ''Shameless Idealists'', a five-part series that profiles a number of prominent change-makers and social activists for CTV; ''Diamond Road'', a three-part series about the diamond industry for TVO, ZDF Arte and Discovery Times; ''The Sacred Balance'', a four-part miniseries for CBC and PBS based on the book by geneticist and environmentalist Dr.

David Suzuki David Takayoshi Suzuki (born March 24, 1936) is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster, and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a PhD in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department at th ...

; ''72 Hours: True Crime'', a true crime factual series for CBC and TLC; and ''Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science'', a forensic crime series hosted by

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

for Discovery and TLC. Most recently, Lang's productions include: two one-hour science documentaries, ''Why We Dance'' and ''Nature's Cleanup Crew'', for

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

's ''

The Nature of Things ''The Nature of Things'' (also, ''The Nature of Things with David Suzuki'') is a Canadian television series of documentary programs. It debuted on CBC Television on 6 November 1960. Many of the programs document nature and the effect that hum ...

'' and Arte; ''The Shadow of Gold'' for

TVO TVO (stylized as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates flagship station CICA-DT (channel 19) in Toron ...

, Arte France and SVT, co-produced with Films å Çinq and CAPA in Paris, a feature documentary examination of the global gold industry from raw material to market; and between 2015 and 2017, Lang produced two one-hour documentaries, ''Champions vs Legends'' and ''The Equalizer'', produced by

in co-production with Berlin Producers for broadcast on CBC’s

, SRC Explora and ZDF/Arte. in 2017, he was director/writer/producer of a point-of-view 1-hour documentary for

TVOntario TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...

and Canal D, called ''Risk Factor''. In 2015, Lang produced a one-hour documentary for

and CPAC called ''The Drop: Why Young People Don't Vote''. Before that he was responsible for several documentary films, including: as producer, co-writer of ''Raw Opium'', which examines the failure of the War on Drugs through the lives of people involved in the international opium trade (TVO, ZDF Arte, SBS); as director/writer/producer of ''Return to Nepal'', in which musician Bruce Cockburn travels to the remote Humla district of Northwestern Nepal (CBC documentary); as co-writer/co-director/co-producer of ''Almost Home: a Sayisi Dene Journey'', an intimate portrait of a Canadian aboriginal community in transition for CBC Nature of Things and APTN; as director/producer of ''River of Sand'', which explores the ancient culture, popular music, and current struggles of the people of Mali, West Africa for Vision TV and

; as producer/co-director of ''Separate Lives'', the Gemini-winning documentary which follows the lives of conjoined twins from Pakistan and the pioneering operation that gave them a chance at a new life for Discovery; as director/co-producer of ''The Biggest Little Ticket'', a children’s musical fantasy special for CTV which won several awards and ''Mariposa: Under a Stormy Sky'', a documentary music special for CTV. He has produced many interactive digital projects over the years, from ''River of Sand'' interactive website (1998), to ''The Sacred Balance'' online (2003), ''Diamond Road'' interactive documentary (2007), ''Museum Secrets'' Interactive (2011), ScopifyROM, a mobile app to enhance the museum experience at the Royal Ontario Museum (2013) and ''Risk Navigator'' mobile app (2017). Lang was recipient of the

Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'or de la Reine Elizabeth II) or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

in 2002, was named North American Trailblazer of the Year by

MIPDOC MIPTV (french: Marché International des Programmes de Télévision) is an event which takes place annually in Cannes, France, using the facilities and infrastructure which the town has developed over the years to host other important events suc ...

in 2009 and his work in film and television has garnered many national and international awards (see Awards section below for details). He's also been active in the production community as a founding member of the

Documentary Organization of Canada The Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) is a non-profit organization representing the interests of independent documentary filmmakers in Canada. Founded as the Canadian Independent Film Caucus (CIFC) in the 1980s Canada. DOC advocates for ...

, as a board member for The Real News since 2007 and as the founder of the

Hot Docs The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

CrossCurrents Fund in 2013.

Filmography

TV Series credits

Select documentary credits

Accolades

* 2016 Platinum Remi Award - The Equalizer, Houston International Film Festival, Sports Documentary * 2016 Finalist, Sports Documentary, The Equalizer, International Sport Film Festival Palermo * 2016 Nominated, Best Sports Program, Canadian Screen Awards, 2016 * 2014

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

- Museum Secrets ( ACCT) Best Factual Series, Best Editing in an Information Program or Series * 2013

- Museum Secrets ( ACCT) * 2008 Canadian New Media Awards, Best News Information, Diamond Road Online (CNMA) * 2008

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

– Best Documentary Series, Diamond Road ( ACCT) * 2008 Platinum Award – Best Feature Documentary, Diamond Road (Houston Worldfest) * 2007 Worldmedal – Docudrama, 72 Hours:True Crime (New York Festivals) * 2005 Worldmedal – Docudrama, 72 Hours:True Crime (New York Festivals) * 2004 Golden Sheaf Award – Best Documentary, Social/Political Almost Home (Yorkton Festival) * 2004 NFB Kathleen Shannon Award, Almost Home (Yorkton Short Film & Video Festival) * 2004 Platinum Award – Ecology/Environment/Conservation, Sacred Balance Show 3 Fire of Creation (Houston Worldfest) * 2003 Prix Science & Societé, Sacred Balance Show 2: The Matrix of Life (Paris Festival International de l’Emission Scientifique de Télévision) * 1998 Prix Regard Canadien, River of Sand (Vues D’Afrique) * 1998

– Science, Technology, Nature, Separate Lives ( ACCT) * 1997

– Vision TV Humanitarian Award, A Place in the World * 1995 Award of Excellence – Best Variety, The Biggest Little Ticket (

Alliance for Children and Television Quality television (also quality TV or quality artistic television) is a term used by television scholars, television critics, and broadcasting advocacy groups to describe a genre or style of television programming that they argue is of higher qua ...

) * 1994 Blé D’Or Award, Fragile Harvest (Agrovidéo, Montreal) * 1990 Gold Award, Seeds (Berlin Agricultural Film Festival)

References

External links

*
Kensington Communications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Robert Living people Canadian film production company founders Canadian television producers Canadian documentary film producers Year of birth missing (living people) cs:Robert Lang fr:Robert Lang