Born 6 February 1930, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Allan King is one of Canada's leading filmmakers.The son of John Owen and Kathleen Mary (Keegan) King, he graduated from the University of British Columbia, with a B.A. in Philosophy, in 1954. His ... »
Born 6 February 1930, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Allan King is one of Canada's leading filmmakers.The son of John Owen and Kathleen Mary (Keegan) King, he graduated from the University of British Columbia, with a B.A. in Philosophy, in 1954. His career spans four decades and every genre except animation. Retrospectives of his work have been shown in Montréal 1961, London 1970 and 1984, Rome 1983, Cinematheque Ontario 1995.
As an independent filmmaker, he was responsible for the documentary SKIDROW (1956); THE YUKONERS (1956); DREAMS (1956); PEMBERTON VALLEY (1957); and RICKSHAW (1960), which won awards at both the Leipzig and Vancouver Film Festivals the following year. After forming "Allan King Associates Ltd.", he opened a studio in London, England ("Allan King Associates England Ltd.") in 1961. It pioneered the then novel techniques of cinéma vérité and "direct cinema". By the mid-sixties he moved toward a genre he describes as "actuality drama," shaping spontaneous action into dramatic form to explore personal experience. The first was WARRENDALE, a film about emotionally disturbed children. It won the Priz d'art et d'essai at Cannes in 1967. It also shared the British Academy's Best Foreign Film Award and the New York Critics' Award in 1968.
In the decade from 1974 to 1984, his credits included the television dramas A BIRD IN THE HOUSE, which won four Canadian Film Awards; BAPTISING, which won the Best Drama Award at the Yoletin Festival; RED EMMA; SIX WAR YEARS; READY FOR SLAUGHTER, which was a winner at the Banff Film Festival; and WHO'S IN CHARGE?, that was shown by invitation at the Landon Film Festival; and the dramatic feature film (his first), WHO HAS SEEN THE WIND, in 1976. It won the Grand Prix at the Paris International Film Festival and the Golden Reel Award for the highest grossing Canadian film of the year. In 1978, his ONE NIGHT STAND won four Canadian Film Awards including Best TV Drama; and SILENCE OF THE NORTH..
In 1988 King was given the Ontario Film Institute Award for Excellence in Canadian Cinema. 1998 saw Allan King awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from Hot Docs, the Canadian international documentary festival, in recognition for his long and distinguished career. In 2000 he received the Directors Guild of Canadas Distinguished Service Award and the Arts Toronto Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2002 "Warrendale" was denoted a masterwork by the AV Preservation Trust.
Allan King was married to Patricia Watson (30 June 1970), and they have two children, a daughter, Maggie Amarita; and a son, Robert Alexnader. Allan King alos has a daughter (Anna Augosta) by a previous marriage (Phyllis April Leiterman, 10 May 1952). He passed away at age 79 , June 15, 2009.
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