Phillip Borsos | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1953-05-05)May 5, 1953 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia |
| Died | February 2, 1995(1995-02-02) (aged 41) Vancouver,British Columbia, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation(s) | Film director,film producer,screenwriter |
| Known for | |
| Spouse | Beret Paulsen Borsos |
| Children | 2 |
Phillip Borsos (May 5, 1953 – February 2, 1995) was an Australian-bornCanadian film director, producer, and screenwriter.[1] A four-timeCanadian Film Award andGenie Award winner and anAcademy Award nominee, he was one of the major figures of Canadian andBritish Columbian filmmaking during the 1980s,[2][3] earning critical acclaim and accolades at a time when Canadian filmmakers were still struggling to gain attention outside of North America.[1][4]
Borsos was born inHobart,Tasmania,Australia in 1953. His father was a Hungarian sculptor and his mother an English nurse. His family emigrated toCanada when he was five years old, settling inTrail, British Columbia. Borsos showed an early interest in film-making while attending high school inMaple Ridge. He acquired a 16mmBolex camera from his father and began making short films and documentaries. After high school, he studied film at theBanff Centre School for Fine Arts and at the Vancouver School of Art, now theEmily Carr Institute of Art and Design.
His early work included several shorts notable for their cinematography and pacing. In 1976, he incorporated his own company, Mercury Pictures, to produce commercials and sponsored films. Borsos established himself as a filmmaker to watch in the 1970s with three assured short documentaries:Cooperage (1976),Spartree (1977) andNails (1979). All three won Best Theatrical Short at theCanadian Film Awards, andNails received a nomination for anAcademy Award in the Documentary Short category.
In 1982, at the age of 27, he emerged as a major directing talent with his feature debut,The Grey Fox. It told the story ofBill Miner, Canada's first train robber, and starredRichard Farnsworth as Miner, along withJackie Burroughs as his mistress. This dramatic, authentic dissection of the Canadian West won sevenGenie Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, as well as being nominated for twoGolden Globe Awards, including Best Foreign Film.[5] It is still regarded as one of the best films ever made in Canada.
He followed that success with the serial killer thrillerThe Mean Season (1985), which starredKurt Russell andMariel Hemingway; and the family dramaOne Magic Christmas (1985), starringMary Steenburgen andHarry Dean Stanton. Production problems dogged his biopicBethune: The Making of a Hero (1990), which starredDonald Sutherland as Dr.Norman Bethune, and took four excruciating years to make. There were delays, crew mutinies, technical disasters and endless feuds over the script. On location in remote areas of rural China, with Chinese bureaucrats as his co-producers, Borsos was pushed to his limit. In the end, the producers froze him out of the final editing process and finished the film without him. Regardless, it received critical accolades, and earned him aGenie Award nomination forBest Director.[6]
His final film,Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog, was shot on and around his summer home onMayne Island. Based on his script, with characters named after his children, it was his most personal film, an adventure about a boy stranded in the woods with his dog. It was released in 1995, only a month before his passing, and was nominated for Best Family Feature at that year'sYoung Artist Awards.
Borsos was married to his wife, Beret, with whom he had two sons.[7]
In early 1994, he was diagnosed withacute myeloblastic leukemia.[8] He died February 2, 1995, at age 41.[9]
TheWhistler Film Festival annually presents theBorsos Competition, a set of juried awards named in honour of Phillip Borsos, for which Canadian films screening at the festival are eligible.[10][11] Borsos is considered a pioneer of theBritish Columbian film industry, being among the early directors to utilize and highlight its abundant and visually-stunning landscapes, and helping to establish the province's reputation asHollywood North.[12][13]
| Year | Film | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Cadillac[14] | Yes | No | No | |
| 1975 | The Barking Dog[15] | Yes | No | No | |
| 1976 | Cooperage[16] | Yes | No | No | Canadian Film Award for Best Theatrical Short Nominated -Chicago International Film Festival Gold Hugo for Best Documentary |
| 1977 | Spartree | Yes | Yes | No | Canadian Film Award for Best Theatrical Short |
| 1977 | Spartree/Making the Film[17] | Yes | No | No | |
| 1979 | Nails[18] | Yes | No | No | Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Nominated -Academy Awards for Best Documentary, Short Subjects Nominated -Genie Award for Outstanding Direction in a Documentary (Non-Feature) |
| 1979 | Racquetball[19] | Yes | No | No |
