A portrait of John Grierson, the first Canadian Government Film Commissioner and founder of the National Film Board in 1939. Interweaving archival footage, interviews with people who knew him and footage of Grierson himself, this film is a sensitive and informative portrait of a dynamic man of vision. Grierson believed that the filmmaker had a social responsibility, and that film could help a society realize democratic ideals. His absolute faith in the value of capturing the drama of everyday life was to influence generations of filmmakers all over the world. In fact, he coined the term 'documentary film'.
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Michael Kane
Narrator (voice)
John Grierson
Self (archive footage)
Norman McLaren
Self (archive footage)
Sydney Newman
Self
Basil Wright
Self
Lorne Greene
Self
Woodrow Wilson
Self (archive footage)
Roberto Rossellini
Self
Joseph McCarthy
Self (archive footage)
Joris Ivens
Self
Indira Gandhi
Self
Margaret Grierson
Self
Alberto Cavalcanti
Self
Bosley Crowther
Self
Pierre Juneau
Self
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