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Robert A. Duncan

Robert A. Duncan

Directing

Biography

Robert A. Duncan, a writer and director, has worked on notable films such as John McCrae's War: In Flanders Fields, Family: A Loving Look at CBC Radio, The Road to Patriation, 64000000 Years Ago, W.O. Mitchell: Novelist in Hiding, and Margaret Laurence.

Known For

First Wave
7.1

Framed for murder and on the run, a former thief struggles to expose the vanguard of an alien invasion with the help of a conspiracy theorist and newly discovered prophecies of Nostradamus.

First Wave

1998
The First Emperor of China
5.3

This historical drama tells the story of Qin Shihuang, who unified China's vast territory and declared himself emperor in 221 B.C. During his reign, he introduced sweeping reforms, built a vast network of roads and connected the Great Wall of China. From the grandiose inner sanctum of Emperor Qin's royal palace, to fierce battles with feudal kings, this film re-creates the glory and the terror of the Qin Dynasty, including footage of Qin's life-sized terra cotta army, constructed 2,200 years ago for his tomb.

The First Emperor of China

1989
The Cap
7.0

A baseball crazed 12 year old gets, and loses, a prized cap. A father struggles for dignity in his son's eyes. Based on Morley Callaghan's short story "A Cap for Steve."

The Cap

1985
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10.0

Canadian author, humorist and storyteller W.O. Mitchell talks about his career as a writer and performer. Known for his witty radio and television appearances, Mitchell shows a more serious side as he reveals his personal views on writing and on the meaning of life and death.

Darts in the Dark: An Introduction to W.O. Mitchell

1980
His Worship, Mr. Montréal
9.0

This feature documentary is a fascinating and spirited portrait of the life and times of the legendary Quebec politician and four-time mayor of Montreal Camillien Houde. Using rare archival footage and interviews with ex-colleagues, aides and friends, the film presents a comprehensive profile of this incredible, and, to some, infamous, man.

His Worship, Mr. Montréal

1976
The Point
8.0

This documentary is a portrait of Point St. Charles, one of Montreal’s notoriously bleak neighbourhoods. Many of the residents are English-speaking and of Irish origin; many of them are also on welfare. Considered to be one of the toughest districts in all of Canada, Point St. Charles is poor in terms of community facilities, but still full of rich contrasts and high spirits – that is, most of the time.

The Point

1978
Canada Vignettes: McIntosh
7.0

A vignette based on the story of John McIntosh, the Ontario developer of the McIntosh apple.

Canada Vignettes: McIntosh

1979
Burning Candles: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay
10.0

She was her generation’s Madonna and Bob Dylan rolled into one—and yet, by the 1970s, major poetry anthologies no longer mentioned Edna St. Vincent Millay. She had become a lost poet, her literary status mirroring her untimely death. This program documents the brief yet bright “candle” of Millay’s artistic development, from her early years in Maine to her achievements in the literary world of New York, while exploring her celebrity, sexuality, and personal relationships. Among the many eye-opening locations featured in the film is the house in which Millay spent her final years; its contents have remained untouched since the poet’s death and provide a catalyst for the study of her troubled, exuberant life. Never-before-seen archival images and interviews with Millay scholars also enrich the narrative.

Burning Candles: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay

2008
Family: A Loving Look at CBC Radio
9.0

Family offers a candid look at CBC Radio in action and the unique cast of characters who make up Canada's coast-to-coast radio family. The film brings home the enormous complexity of producing across six time zones, with the mandate to deliver quality programs, often live, throughout the country. Accomplished filmmaker Donald Brittain was able to capture critical moments of live radio in progress and documents the history and development of CBC Radio.

Family: A Loving Look at CBC Radio

1991
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8.0

A portrait of and tribute to the author who, with the publication of Barometer Rising in 1941, set a precedent in Canadian literature by writing about Canadian topics and places and, in so doing, paved the way for a thriving national literary movement. Through the use of still photographs, archival footage and interviews, this documentary traces seven decades of MacLennan's public and private life--as a young boy in Nova Scotia, brought up in a strict Presbyterian family of Scottish descent, as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford, as a professor at McGill University, and as the author of seven novels and numerous essays. Also featured in the film are several readings from MacLennan's work.

Hugh MacLennan: Portrait of a Writer

The Road to Patriation
9.0

This feature documentary retraces the century of haggling by successive federal and provincial governments to agree on a formula to bring home the Canadian Constitution from England. This film concentrates on the politicking and lobbying that finally led to its patriation in 1982. Five prime ministers had failed before Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau took up the challenge in the early 1970s. Principal players in this documentary are federal Minister of Justice Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister Trudeau, 10 provincial premiers and a host of journalists, politicians, lawyers, and diplomats on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Road to Patriation

1982