The Stratford Film Festival was an annual film festival in Stratford,

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 ...

, Canada, which was staged from 1956 to 1961 and from 1971 to 1975. One of the first film festivals in North America ever to present international films, it was the preeminent film festival in the

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...

region until the launch of the Festival of Festivals in 1976 resulted in a loss of arts funding and audience support that led the Stratford Film Festival to permanently cease operations that same year.

Origins

The festival was launched in 1956 under the direction of Tom Patterson, screening films in the

Stratford Shakespeare Festival The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson (theatre producer), Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was fo ...

's Avon Theatre. The second festival, held in 1957, grew from the first year's one week of films screened only in the afternoon to a two-week program of films screened both days and evenings, and included the films ''

Oedipus Rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' ( grc, Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Gr ...

'', '' City of Gold'', '' The Naked Eye'', ''

On the Bowery ''On the Bowery'' is a 1956 American docufiction film directed by Lionel Rogosin. The film, Rogosin's first feature was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. After the Second World War, Lionel Rogosin made a vow to f ...

'', ''

Pacific Destiny ''Pacific Destiny'' is a 1956 British drama film directed by Wolf Rilla and starring Denholm Elliott, Susan Stephen and Michael Hordern. The screenplay concerns a young British couple who win the respect of the inhabitants of a South Pacific i ...

'', ''

French Cancan ''French Cancan'' (also known as ''Only the French Can'') is a 1955 French-Italian musical film written and directed by Jean Renoir and starring Jean Gabin and Francoise Arnoul. Where Renoir's previous film ''Le Carosse d’or'' had celebrated ...

'', ''Girl in Black'', ''The Girl and the Oak'', ''Back of the Beyond'', '' The Devil's General'', ''Trnka's Puppets'' and ''

Hill 24 Doesn't Answer ''Hill 24 Doesn't Answer'' ('' he, גבעה 24 אינה עונה; ''), the first feature film produced in Israel, is a 1955 Israeli war film directed by Thorold Dickinson. It was entered into the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. The plot revolves aro ...

''. Films scheduled for 1960 included ''

Hiroshima mon amour ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (, lit. , ), is a 1959 romantic drama film directed by French director Alain Resnais and written by French author Marguerite Duras. Resnais' first feature-length work, it was a co-production between France and Japan, and ...

'', ''

The World of Apu ''Apur Sansar'' ( bn, অপুর সংসার), also known as ''The World of Apu'', is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film produced, written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on the second half of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay's ...

'', ''

The Hidden Fortress is a 1958 Japanese ''jidaigeki'' adventure film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It tells the story of two peasants who agree to escort a man and a woman across enemy lines in return for gold without knowing that he is a general and the woman is a pr ...

'', ''

The Savage Eye ''The Savage Eye'' is a 1959 "dramatized documentary" film that superposes a dramatic narration of the life of a divorced woman with documentary camera footage of Los Angeles. The film was written, produced, directed, and edited by Ben Maddow, Sid ...

'', and ''

Sons and Lovers ''Sons and Lovers'' is a 1913 novel by the English writer D. H. Lawrence. It traces emotional conflicts through the protagonist, Paul Morel, and his suffocating relationships with a demanding mother and two very different lovers, which exert c ...

''. In its initial form the festival ran annually until 1961,Jan Uhde, ''Vision and Persistence: Twenty Years of the Ontario Film Institute''. University of Waterloo Press, 1990. . p. 27. when it was suspended because the increasingly decrepit Avon Theatre was no longer a suitable venue for the festival but no other replacement venue was available at the time.

Revival

After the Avon Theatre was renovated, the festival was relaunched in 1969 by

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 Cor ...

of the Ontario Film Institute, and staged its first revived iteration in 1971. Films screened at the 1971 festival included '' Mon oncle Antoine'', ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

'', '' Tomorrow My Love'', '' Playtime'', ''

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

'', ''

Doctor Glas ''Doctor Glas'', an epistolary novel by Hjalmar Söderberg, tells the story of a physician in 19th-century Sweden who deals with moral and love issues. Synopsis The novel is about Dr. Tyko Gabriel Glas who is a respected physician in Stockhol ...

'', '' The Confrontation'', '' A Little Fellow from Gambo'', '' Millhouse'', ''

Three to Go ''3 to Go'' is an Australian portmanteau film consisting of three stories (''Judy, Michael'', and ''Toula''), each presenting a young Australian at a moment of decision about their future. The film was first shown on commercial television in Marc ...

'', '' Deep End'', ''

Punishment Park ''Punishment Park'' is a 1971 American pseudo-documentary drama film written and directed by Peter Watkins. The setting is of a British and West German film crew following National Guard soldiers and police as they pursue members of a counterc ...

'', ''

Lola Montès ''Lola Montès'' is a 1955 historical romance film and the last completed film of German-born director Max Ophüls. Based on the novel ''La vie extraordinaire de Lola Montès'' by Cécil Saint-Laurent, the film depicts the life of Irish dancer an ...

'', ''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...

'', '' W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism'' and '' Bless the Beasts and Children''. The 1971 festival was successful, and it was announced that it would be scheduled again in 1972; however, the 1972 festival was marred by the Ontario Censor Board's refusal to clear the film ''

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song ''Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song'' is a 1971 American blaxploitation film written, co-produced, scored, edited, directed by, and starring Melvin Van Peebles. His son Mario Van Peebles also appears in a small role, playing the title character ...

'', as well as the

Liquor Control Board of Ontario The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation that retails and distributes alcoholic beverages throughout the Provinces of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It is accountable to the Legislati ...

's refusal to grant the theatre a liquor license for the festival. The final edition of the festival was staged in 1975."Two premieres at Stratford film festival". ''

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 3, 1975. Films screened that year included ''

Visit to a Chief's Son ''Visit to a Chief's Son'' is a 1974 American adventure film directed by Lamont Johnson and starring Richard Mulligan and Johnny Sekka. Plot An American arthropologist and his son benefit from their experiences with an East African tribe. Cast ...

'', ''

Between Wars ''Between Wars'' is an Australian 1974 drama/war film released on 15 November 1974. It was directed by Michael Thornhill and written by Frank Moorhouse. Plot Four episodes in the life of doctor Edward Trenbow: *In 1918 Trenbow is treating shell ...

'', ''

Royal Flash ''Royal Flash'' is a 1970 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the second of the Flashman novels. It was made into the film '' Royal Flash'' in 1975 and remains the only Flashman novel to be filmed. Plot summary ''Royal Flash'' is set durin ...

'', ''

Akenfield ''Akenfield'' is a film made by Peter Hall in 1974, based loosely upon the book ''Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village'' by Ronald Blythe (1969). Blythe himself has a cameo role as the vicar and all other parts are played by real-lif ...

'', ''

Cats' Play ''Cats' Play'' ( hu, Macskajáték) is a 1972 Hungarian drama film directed by Károly Makk. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was entered into the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. It is based on the novel by ...

'', ''

Lions for Breakfast ''Lions for Breakfast'' is a Canadian family drama film, directed by William Davidson and released in 1975.Bryan Johnson, "Heartwarming drama comes up cold". ''The Globe and Mail'', November 25, 1975. The film centres on two brothers, 22-year old ...

'', ''

F for Fake ''F for Fake'' (french: link=no, Vérités et mensonges, es, link=no, Fraude, "Truths and lies") is a 1973 docudrama film co-written, directed by, and starring Orson Welles who worked on the film alongside François Reichenbach, Oja Kodar, and G ...

'', ''

The Moon and the Sledgehammer ''The Moon and the Sledgehammer'' is a British 1971 cult documentary film directed by Philip Trevelyan and produced by Jimmy Vaughan which documents the eccentric lives of the Page family, consisting of the elderly Mr Page and his adult childr ...

'', ''

A Private Enterprise ''A Private Enterprise'' is a 1974 British film directed by Peter K Smith. It stars Salmaan Peerzada as Shiv Verma, an Indian immigrant in Birmingham who attempts to start his own business. It is regarded as the first British Asian British ...

'', ''

Nirmalyam ''Nirmalyam'' ( ml, നിര്‍മ്മാല്യം, ) is a 1973 Indian Malayalam-language film written and directed by M. T. Vasudevan Nair, and starring P. J. Antony, Sumithra and Ravi Menon. P. J. Antony won the National Film Award ...

'', ''

Impossible Object An impossible object (also known as an impossible figure or an undecidable figure) is a type of optical illusion that consists of a two- dimensional figure which is instantly and naturally understood as representing a projection of a three-d ...

'', '' The Men'', '' For Better or For Worse (Pour le meilleur et pour le pire)'' and ''

Eliza's Horoscope ''Eliza's Horoscope'' is a 1975 Canadian feature from Gordon Sheppard, one of the most enigmatic features made in Canada. Background Gordon Sheppard (1937–2006) began his career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1960 as a writer an ...

'', as well as a retrospective of the films of

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influential film co ...

. With the launch of the Festival of Festivals in 1976, the Stratford Film Festival's funding from government arts agencies was significantly cut back. In tandem with the expected decline in attendance given Stratford's proximity to Toronto, organizers decided to cancel the planned 1976 festival."Stratford closes film festival". ''

'', June 7, 1976.

References

{{reflist Film festivals in Ontario Film festivals established in 1956 1956 establishments in Ontario 1976 disestablishments in Ontario Defunct film festivals in Canada Festivals in Stratford, Ontario