This fonds consists of a single series Robert Lang Early Films that includes Robert Lang’s film productions from the 1970s.
The series includes the short films:
• 70 Cycles
o About the cycling road race at the Montreal Olympics
• Tracks
o Featuring a cross-country ski race from Montreal to Ottawa
• Jano
o Note from donor: Robert doesn't remember when this film was made or where, but he thinks Nigeria or elsewhere in Africa in the early 1970s
• Seeds (short version of Fragile Harvest)
• Woroko Po (filmed during A Great Tree Has Fallen)
• Elmina
o Filmed during A Great Tree Has Fallen and focuses on the slave castle on the Ghanaian coast. Elmina was produced independently by Lang, and later picked up by CBC.
And the longer films:
• A Great Tree Has Fallen (1973)
o This is the first film Robert Lang made. It remains in distribution today as the only documentary about the traditional 8-day funeral ceremonies and “enstoolment” of the king of the Ashanti people in Ghana – the Asantehene. Narrated by Roy Sieber, well known writer and art historian.
• Joe David: Spirit of the Mask
o Documentary about Indigenous artist Joe David
• Potatoes
o Directed by Robert Lang for the National Film Board in Montreal during the mid-70s. “Potatoes” was one of the documentaries that was commissioned by the short-lived Environment Unit at the NFB and was an early investigation of the corporatization of farming and loss of family farm-based communities.
• An Easy Pill to Swallow
o Directed by Robert Lang for the National Film Board in Montreal during the mid-70s
• Ridley: A Secret Garden
• Taking Chances
• Path to Nepal
The films are all finished productions (release print, video master, or screeners) and some include promotional sheets to accompany the films.
For A Great Tree Has Fallen, original A+B rolls are present. Original sound elements for music and effects and the final mix were included, but unfortunately they were in unplayable condition and they have been destroyed.
The series includes the short films:
• 70 Cycles
o About the cycling road race at the Montreal Olympics
• Tracks
o Featuring a cross-country ski race from Montreal to Ottawa
• Jano
o Note from donor: Robert doesn't remember when this film was made or where, but he thinks Nigeria or elsewhere in Africa in the early 1970s
• Seeds (short version of Fragile Harvest)
• Woroko Po (filmed during A Great Tree Has Fallen)
• Elmina
o Filmed during A Great Tree Has Fallen and focuses on the slave castle on the Ghanaian coast. Elmina was produced independently by Lang, and later picked up by CBC.
And the longer films:
• A Great Tree Has Fallen (1973)
o This is the first film Robert Lang made. It remains in distribution today as the only documentary about the traditional 8-day funeral ceremonies and “enstoolment” of the king of the Ashanti people in Ghana – the Asantehene. Narrated by Roy Sieber, well known writer and art historian.
• Joe David: Spirit of the Mask
o Documentary about Indigenous artist Joe David
• Potatoes
o Directed by Robert Lang for the National Film Board in Montreal during the mid-70s. “Potatoes” was one of the documentaries that was commissioned by the short-lived Environment Unit at the NFB and was an early investigation of the corporatization of farming and loss of family farm-based communities.
• An Easy Pill to Swallow
o Directed by Robert Lang for the National Film Board in Montreal during the mid-70s
• Ridley: A Secret Garden
• Taking Chances
• Path to Nepal
The films are all finished productions (release print, video master, or screeners) and some include promotional sheets to accompany the films.
For A Great Tree Has Fallen, original A+B rolls are present. Original sound elements for music and effects and the final mix were included, but unfortunately they were in unplayable condition and they have been destroyed.