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David Bairstow (filmmaker)

David Bairstow (1921-1985) was a Canadian producer and director and one of the most prolific filmmakers at the National Film Board of Canada.[1][2][3]

Over the course of his career, he made 200 films, notably the critically-acclaimed Morning on the Lièvre (1961) as well as Royal Journey (1951) and Grierson (1973), both of which won the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary.[4]

Early life

David Steele Bairstow was born in Toronto in 1921, the only child of William Bairstow and Florence Steele, both of whom were immigrants—William from England, Florence from the United States. Bairstow successfully competed to attend University of Toronto Schools, and then went to University College, Toronto, graduating with an Honours degree in Sociology in 1944. In university, he was a member of the Sociology Club and the Historical Club, and was keenly interested in the arts. He was the Literary Director of the University College Literary and Athletic Society, through which he wrote and produced plays and musicals. He was a member of the Glee Club, the Music Club, the Victoria College Bob Committee[5] and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.[6] In 1946, he moved to Ottawa and joined the National Film Board of Canada.

Career

Bairstow was placed in the NFB’s storied Studio B, where his first film, Safe Clothing, was an award-winning comedic short film about the importance of wearing appropriate clothing. He moved through the 1940s with a long list of documentaries, and then spent 1951 through 1957 making scientific films, and training films and sponsored documentaries involving the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Canadian Navy.

In the early 1960s, Bairstow became very interested in environmental issues. He believed that humans inadvertently disturb the environment when they try to control it. But as to solving the problem of pollution, he agreed with the government’s solutions; just after making Morning on the Lièvre, Bairstow made a film about the 'national disgrace' that was the heavily-polluted Ottawa River. In River with a Problem (1961),[7] he and director Graham Parker proposed that state experts and scientists should solve the problems of the past. Their position was that government funding, specialist knowledge and waste management were vital to restoring the balance of nature, and that economic growth was not incompatible with environmental protection.[8]

Bairstow’s views, and those of colleagues such as Parker and Larry Gosnell, though slightly different, had a tremendous impact on how nature was represented in NFB cinema. The approach became more sophisticated and journalistic, as interviews about the effects of pollution became spontaneous, and cinematographers equipped with lightweight gear could record instances of ecological destruction at a moment’s notice. In some cases, the camera mimicked the perspective of wildlife. These filmmakers often went off-script, looking at the root causes of environmental destruction without the blessing of the government or sponsors. Poison, Pests, and People (1960),[9] illustrated that uses of nature, and solutions for pollution, had to be addressed based on individual communities, an approach that was new at the time.[10]

In the mid-1960s, Bairstow worked with Laurence Hyde to produce a 13-film series on the traditional Inuit way of life, using footage of the Netsilik people of Pelly Bay, Nunavut to illustrate the tales told by Tuktu, a fictional elder.[11]

In 1970, Bairstow spent a year producing films for the Australian Commonwealth Film Unit. Upon his return, now as Executive Producer of Studio B, he created the board’s Multiculturalism Program, which was seen as an innovative response to discursive racism and a way of increasing racial diversity among the NFB’s films. Some of the films to come out of this program are The People of the Book (Felix Lazarus, 1973), Kaszuby (André Herman, 1975), I've Never Walked the Steppes (Jerry Krepakevich 1975), Seven Shades of Pale (Les Rose, 1975), a 1977 trilogy from Beverly ShafferGurdeep Singh Bains, Kevin Alec and Veronica, and three 1977 films from Albert Kish: Bekevar Jubilee, Our Street Was Paved with Gold, and Hold the Ketchup.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

Bairstow also produced Who Were the Ones?,[20] a Challenge for Change film directed by Mike Kanentakeron Mitchell for the NFB’s Indian Film Crew. His last two films, Tomorrow Is Too Late and the award-winning Oceans of Science were about fisheries depletion and species survival.[21][22]

Bairstow retired in 1974 and died in Montreal in 1985. He was survived by his wife Frances and two sons.[23]

Filmography

National Film Board of Canada

Australian Commonwealth Film Unit

Awards

Safe Clothing (1946)

Royal Journey (1951)

Aircrew (1954)[35]

Early Handling of Spinal Injuries (1955)[36]

First Aid for Aircrew (1955)[37]

Road of Iron (1955)[38]

Harvest in the Valley (1955)[39]

Fish Spoilage Control (1956)[40]

Log Drive (1957)[41]

Flagged for Action (1957)[42]

The Salmon's Struggle for Survival (1957)[43]

One Day's Poison (1958)[44]

Eternal Children (1959)[45]

Morning on the Lièvre (1961)

Music from Montreal (1963)[46]

Autobiographical by A.M. Klein (1965)[47]

Tuktu and the Indoor Games (1967)[48]

Total Approach (1971)[49]

28° Above Below (1973)[50]

Grierson (1973)

The Sunny Munchy Crunchy Natural Food Shop (1973)[51]

Tomorrow Is Too Late (1974)[52]

Oceans of Science (1974)[53]

References

  1. ^ "David Bairstow". cfe.tiff.net. Canadian Film Encyclopedia. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Producer: David Bairstow". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Director: David Bairstow". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Royal Journey". Collection. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  5. ^ "Student Groups". library.vicu.utoronto.ca. University of Toronto. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Torontonensis, 1944". archive.org. Archive.org. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  7. ^ "River with a Problem". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  8. ^ Clemens, Michael D. "Screening Nature and Nation" (PDF). aupress.ca. Athabasca University Press. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Poison, Pests and People". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  10. ^ Clemens, Michael D. "Screening Nature and Nation" (PDF). aupress.ca. Athabasca University Press. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  11. ^ "Tuktu". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  12. ^ "Bekevar Jubilee". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Veronica". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  14. ^ "Hold the Ketchup". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  15. ^ "The People of the Book". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  16. ^ "Seven Shades of Pale". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  17. ^ "Gurdeep Singh Bains". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Kevin Alec". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  19. ^ "Our Street Was Paved With Gold". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  20. ^ "Who Were the Ones?". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  21. ^ "Oceans of Science". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  22. ^ "Tomorrow Is Too Late". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  23. ^ "Obituary for David Bairstow, Montreal Gazette". newspapers.com. Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Better Pastures, Better Beef". faclibrary.com. Film Australia. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  25. ^ "Paddington Lace". faclibrary.com. Film Australia. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  26. ^ "Marsupials Naturally - The Numbat". faclibrary.com. Film Australia. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  27. ^ "Kangaroos, Biography". faclibrary.com. Film Australia. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  28. ^ "Kangaroos: Varieties". faclibrary.com. Film Australia. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  29. ^ "Sheltered Workshops". acmi.net.au. ACMI. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  30. ^ "Desert Landforms". faclibrary.com. Film Australia. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  31. ^ "Faces of the City". acmi.net.au. ACMI. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  32. ^ "Urban Patterns". acmi.net.au. ACMI. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  33. ^ "Man in the Desert". acmi.net.au. ACMI. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  34. ^ "Safe Clothing". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  35. ^ "Aircrew". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  36. ^ "Early Handling of Spinal Injuries". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  37. ^ "First Aid for Aircrew". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  38. ^ "Road of Iron". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  39. ^ "Harvest in the Valley". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  40. ^ "Fish Spoilage Control". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  41. ^ "Log Drive". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  42. ^ "Flagged for Action". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  43. ^ "The Salmon's Struggle for Survival". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  44. ^ "One Day's Poison". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  45. ^ "Eternal Children". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  46. ^ "Music from Montreal". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  47. ^ "Autobiographical by A.M. Klein". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  48. ^ "Tuktu and the Indoor Games". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  49. ^ "Total Approach". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  50. ^ "28° Above Below". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  51. ^ "The Sunny Munchy Crunchy Natural Food Shop". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  52. ^ "Tomorrow Is Too Late". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  53. ^ "Oceans of Science". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  54. ^ Maria Topalovich, And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-7737-3238-1. pp. 57-60.

External links