Dan Petrie Retrospective

The Nova Scotian-born Hollywood-based film director, producer, editor and script writer Daniel Petrie Senior was one of the most respected Canadian motion picture artists. A contemporary of giants such as Arthur Penn, Martin Scorsese and Robert Altman, his work has rarely been considered in the same context despite the many awards he won over nearly 50 years of filmmaking. A modest man who declined self-promotion, he was the consummate industry insider whose work, especially the television mini-series Sybil and Eleanor and Franklin, helped define the new trend for veracity in filmmaking in the disillusioned 1970s. Petrie returned to his native Nova Scotia to make three motion pictures, The Neptune Factor (1972), The Bay Boy (1984) and Calm at Sunset (1997). He died in August 2004. Thanks to a grant from the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada and Heritage Canada, administered by the Gorsebrook Research Institute for Atlantic Canada Studies at Saint Mary's University, the Atlantic Film Festival and Dalhousie Art Gallery are proud to present this retrospective of Daniel Petrie Senior's films, curated by AFF Senior Programmer and DAG Film Curator Ron Foley Macdonald, who will give an illustrated lecture on Petrie and introductory remarks for each film.

Thursday 15 September, 5pm: Lecture: Dan Petrie, the Ultimate Hollywood Insider

Friday 16 September, 5pm: Bang the Drum Slowly, 1956, USA, 48 minutes.

Saturday 17 September, 5pm: The Bramble Bush, 1960, USA, 105 minutes.

Sunday 18 September, 5pm: Silent Night, Lonely Night, USA, 1969, 92 minutes.

Monday, 19 September, 5pm: Buster and Billie, USA, 1974, 100 minutes.

Tuesday, 20 September, 5pm: Lifeguard. USA, 1976, 96 minutesr.

Wednesday, 21 September, 5pm: Eleanor and Franklin—The White House Years, Episode 2. USA, 1977, 95 minutes.

Thursday, 22 September, 5pm: The Dollmaker. USA, 1984, 140 minutes.

Friday, 23 September, 5pm: Kissinger and Nixon. USA, 1995, 95 minutes.

Saturday, 24 September, 5pm: Calm At Sunset. USA/Canada, 1997, 95 minutes.