Colin Low

Personal Info

Known For Director

Gender Male

Birthday 1926-07-24

Deathday 2016-02-24 (89 years old)

Place of Birth Cardston, Alberta, Canada

Colin Low

Biography

Colin Archibald Low CM RCA (July 24, 1926 – February 24, 2016) was a Canadian animation and documentary filmmaker with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). He was known as a pioneer, one of Canada's most important filmmakers, and was regularly referred to as "the gentleman genius". His numerous honors include five BAFTA awards, eight Cannes Film Festival awards, and six Academy Award nominations. Low was born and raised in Cardston, Alberta, to Gerald and Marion Low, ranchers who were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The town borders the Kainai Nation (Blood Tribe), which later became the subject of two of his films; his 1960 film Circle of the Sun marked the first time the Kainai Nation's sacred Sun Dance was filmed. Low studied graphic design and animation at the Banff School of Fine Arts and then the Calgary Institute of Technology. In 1946, while he was at the latter, the National Film Board of Canada was hiring and put out a call for student submissions; one of Low's teachers suggested that he send in his portfolio and, a week later, he was hired by the prominent NFB filmmaker Norman McLaren. McLaren placed Low under the tutelage of George Dunning, who would act as his mentor for five years. To hone his animation skills, he was also put to work with NFB animator Evelyn Lambart. Low was recognized as a filmmaker in 1949. In 1950, he was appointed Head of the Animation Unit. From 1972 to 1976, he was an executive producer for the NFB's Studio C; in 1976, he became Director of Regional Production. He would stay with the NFB for the rest of his life, making 203 films and acting as a researcher and advisor on many others. He officially retired in 1997, but continued to write about animation and large-format film, and to work on film projects.

Known For

Director

Emergency/Urgence

as Director

Fogo's Expatriates

as Director

2000
Moving Pictures

as Director

1992
Momentum

as Director

1986
Transitions

as Director

1983
1982
Standing Alone

as Director

1979
1970
The Winds of Fogo

as Director

1967
1967
A Woman's Place

as Director

1967
The Mercer Family

as Director

1967
In the Labyrinth

as Director

1967
1967
Jim Decker's Party

as Director

1964
The Hutterites

as Director

1963
Seven Surprizes

as Director

1961
1960
Circle of the Sun

as Director

1960
Universe

as Director

1959
City Out of Time

as Director

1957
City of Gold

as Director

1955
Gold

as Director

1955
The Jolifou Inn

as Director

1954
1954
Corral

as Director

1952
Age of the Beaver

as Director

1948
Time and Terrain

as Director

Producer

I Am an Old Tree

as Executive Producer

Log House

as Executive Producer

Bate's Car: Sweet as a Nut

as Executive Producer

1976
Christ Is Risen

as Executive Producer

1976
The Mad Canadian

as Executive Producer

1976
The Sword of the Lord

as Executive Producer

1976
No Way They Want to Slow Down

as Executive Producer

1976
Blackwood

as Executive Producer

1976
Los Canadienses

as Producer

1975
Earthware

as Producer

1975
Descent

as Producer

1975
Waiting for Fidel

as Producer

1975
Alberta Girls

as Executive Producer

1975
Musicanada

as Executive Producer

1975
Lumsden

as Executive Producer

1974
1974
In Search of the Bowhead Whale

as Executive Producer

1974
In Praise of Hands

as Producer

1974
Freshwater World

as Executive Producer

1974
King of the Hill

as Executive Producer

1974
The New Alchemists

as Producer

1973
Coming Home

as Producer

1973
Kainai

as Producer

1972
A Memo from Fogo

as Producer

1964
Free Fall

as Producer

1963
21-87

as Producer

1962
Pot-pourri

as Producer

1962
1961
1960
Appetizers

as Producer

1959
1954
One Little Indian

as Producer

Writer

1960
Universe

as Writer

1960
1954
Corral

as Writer

Visual Effects

1962
The Living Machine

as Animation

1948
Time and Terrain

as Animation

1947
Cadet Rousselle

as Animation

Editor

1955
The Jolifou Inn

as Editor

1948

Art

1960
Universe

as Production Design

Camera

1957
City of Gold

as Director of Photography

Crew

1958
The Living Stone

as Cinematography