2008

from Wed1366
For over 30 years, David Criswell, Director of the Institute for Space Systems Operations at the University of Houston, has proposed the moon-based conversion of solar energy to microwave energy beamed to the Earth where it would be converted to electricity. The moon belongs to no nation (1967 Space Treaty) and hence no national boundaries would be violated; the construction material is readily available there; and the moon has the capacity of collecting solar radiation and redirecting it to earth twenty-four hours a day. The cost of setting up and implementing the project is estimated at a relatively paltry sum ($500 billion to break even), its maintenance, virtually cost-free and the reduction in environmental damage on Earth, significant. The concept challenges the assumptions (and revenue base) of almost every corporate enterprise that generates power today. Critics do not deny the validity of the theory, the energy-generating potential of lunar materials, or that the technology exists, but suggest that Dr. Crisswill ‘glosses over’ the complexity of the process and that the estimated time factor is out by a factor of 10.

DANGEROUS WHEN PROVOKED: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TERRY MOSHER 2006

Few sharper eyes have turned their attention to the weaknesses and foibles of Canadian leaders than those of Terry Mosher. The veteran Montreal cartoonist, known to thousands of Gazette newspaper readers simply as Aislin, has been aptly described as "a barber with a chainsaw." Among the proud and mighty who have sat in his chair over the past 40 years are René Lévesque, Brian Mulroney and Jean Chrétien.

Best Biography Documentary Program
Dangerous When Provoked: The Life & Times of Terry Mosher
(Kaos Productions Inc.)
John Curtin

John Curtin wins Gemini CONGRATULATIONS!

Wednight October 15, 2007– At the first of three industry award evenings, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television awarded 29 winners in the Documentary,
A Song for Africa
Curtin documentary wins prize

By P.A. Sévigny, The Suburban

Photo by KAOS Productions

One of the many Ugandan orphans featured in John Curtin’s film.

Friday 19 October 2007 Last week, Montreal filmmaker John Curtin won the Canadian International Development Agency’s Deborah Fletcher prize for his documentary A Song for Africa.

Following the screening of the film at the Ex-Centris media centre on St. Lawrence Blvd., a solid crowd of people lined up to congratulate the filmmaker.

“Lord, it’s just great to see something positive come out of Africa,” said one guest. “Those children will be the ones who will save their nation,” said another.

With a lot of work and very little money, Curtin’s film tells the story of how Jennifer Banas, a Canadian woman out of Spruce Groves, Alberta, had only four months to transform a ragtag group of Ugandan orphans into a superb professional choir worthy of a North American tour. more

John Curtin’s “A Song for Africa” screening October 4

In recognition of the 2007 recipients of the Deborah Fletcher Award >br> of Excellence in Film making on International Development
You are invited to the award ceremony and screening of:
A Song for Africa (Kaos Productions)
and
Tsunami : La deuxieme vague (Thalie Prods.)
Ceremony and screening:
7 p.m. Thursday, October 4, 2007
Ex-Centris (Salle Cassavetes)
3536 Saint-Laurent Boulevard, Montreal

A Song for Africa follows18 young members of the Watoto Children’s Choir as they prepare for a tour of Canada and the United States. Like the other children living in the Canadian-run orphanage near Kampala, Uganda, these youngsters have lost their parents and relatives to AIDS, other diseases, or to civil war: they bear deep emotional and psychological wounds. During several months of intensive vocal coaching by dedicated music teacher Jennifer Banas from Spruce Grove, Alberta, the children gradually gain confidence and literally find their voices. By the time they arrive in North America, they are outgoing and passionate performers whose emotionally charged singing and dancing inspires audiences of adults and children alike. Set against the backdrop of a country, Uganda, plagued by war and disease, this story radiates hope and the healing power of love and music. The film premiered on Vision TV in 2006 and made its French debut on ARTV in 2007.
Director John Curtin is a Montreal filmmaker and journalist with 25 years’ experience in television, radio and print. As well as directing A Song for Africa, he has produced and directed fourteen one-hour documentaries that have been broadcast on the CBC, BBC, PBS, ARD, NHK, National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, and others.
A Song for Africa was selected for the exceptional creativity of its storytelling, and its superior production qualities. The judges were impressed with the strong narrative and the passionate and articulate central characters. This moving and entertaining documentary offers a strong, emotional message of hope: before our eyes, these marginalized children living in a war-torn country grow in confidence and self-empowerment through the vehicle of music and choir. More on the films:

John Curtin was congratulated on winning two Golden Sheaf awards at the 60th annual Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival last month for his wonderful documentary on Terry Mosher (Aislin): Dangerous When Provoked His next undertaking is a production for CTV, "To Hell with Manners: the decline of civility". It is profoundly hoped that he will not select Wednesday Night as an illustration.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2007 WINERS
YORKTON SHORT FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL
Golden Sheaf Awards Winners Announced

DANGEROUS WHEN PROVOKED: The Life & Times Of Terry Mosher

Deft and dangerous
He calls it mischief but the targets of Terry Mosher's cartoons might use different words. TV viewers can get a peek inside the artist's studio and head in Aislin, Dangerous When Provoked: The Life & Times of Terry Mosher which airs on CBC's Life and Times Aug 21 on CBMT-6 at 8 p.m.(EDT) and Aug. 27 at 2:30 p.m.(EDT)

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An HD view of the future

CBC documentary about National Ballet star
Rex Harrington is latest high-definition film from John Curtin, a
filmmaker with brilliant timing

KATHRYN GREENAWAY
The Gazette

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Harrington and Dale.
Photo: Cylla Von Tiedemann.

John Curtin's timing is brilliant. Four years ago, the
documentary filmmaker ventured out on a financial limb to invest
$250,000 in top-of-the-line high-definition television equipment.
Winning
the NHK HDTV Development Prize at the Banff Television Festival in 1999
for his HD documentary Ten Seconds of Eternity: The Sprint for Olympic
Gold got him thinking this HD thing might be worth the investment.
His
gamble paid off. The technology - which produces 35 mm-film quality
pictures - is quickly becoming the "must-have" in the television
industry.
John Curtin is one of the first directors in Canada to
shoot in HD and his documentary film company, Kaos Films, is the only
production company in Quebec to own its own HD gear.
"I'd say within the next year or two (networks) will be telling producers that (all shows) must be shot in (HD)," Curtin said.

John Curtin & www.kaosfilms.com
Curtin's latest HD documentary - Last Dance: Rex Harrington's Story - airs on CBC-TV's Life and Times tomorrow at 7 p.m.
Curtin
followed the 41-year-old star dancer during his final, emotional season
with the National Ballet of Canada. Even though CBC doesn't broadcast
in HD, the superior picture quality of the documentary is evident.
What is also evident is Curtin's lucky timing.
Harrington,
an openly gay man, was living the life of a confirmed bachelor when
Curtin began filming. Six weeks into the shoot, Harrington met the
partner of his dreams.
"You can't believe how romantic it all is," Curtin said, adding he watched the romance unfold.
It's
not the first time Curtin has been at the right place at the right
time. In 1997, he was making a documentary about sprinter Donovan
Bailey and caught Bailey's career-crippling fall during a race in
Zurich.
Luck has something, but not everything, to do with capturing the images that compel people to keep on watching.
Creating a rapport with the documentary subject is crucial.
"They mustn't feel as if you would take advantage of them if they tell you something intimate," Curtin said.
During the filming of his documentary Passion Before Reason: Margaret Trudeau's Story, Curtin was invited to film

Harrington and Cynthia Dale.
Photo: Cylla Von Tiedemann.

Margaret Kemper and Pierre Elliott Trudeau having lunch together. It was one of
the only times the two were filmed sharing a private moment in the
years following their divorce.
And Harrington called Curtin after
Last Dance was already completed to tell him he was about to reunite
with his estranged mother in England. The dancer had not seen his
mother in 17 years. Curtin hopped on a plane and filmed the reunion.
Curtin
worked as a journalist for 12 years before founding Kaos Films in 1995.
He has produced 12 documentaries, including five for Life and Times.
The
Kaos team consists of cameraman Glenn Weston, Splice Postproduction
online editor Eric Ruel and composer Robert Marcel Lepage. Curtin
produces, directs, and helps edit all Kaos productions.
Last Dance: Rex Harrington's Story airs on CBMT-6 tomorrow at 7 p.m.
kgreenaway@
thegazette.canwest.com

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John
Curtin: Producer/Director
John
Curtin is a Montreal filmmaker and journalist with 20 years of experience in television,
radio and print. He has freelanced for The New York Times and reported from abroad
for CBC and National Public Radio.
Curtin
has produced and directed eight full-length documentaries which have been broadcast
on the BBC, CBC, ARD (Germany) NHK (Japan), SBS (Australia), National Geographic,
Discovery Channel and others.
Curtin
recently completed Ten Seconds of Eternity: The Sprint for Olympic Gold,
a project which won NHK's HDTV Development Award at the Banff Film Festival. Made
for the Japan Broadcasting Corporation and CBC this is one of the first documentaries
in Canada to be shot in high definition format.
Curtin
produced and directed two critically acclaimed biographies for CBC & SRC:
Olympic Warrior: Donovan Bailey's Story which was nominated for a Gemini Award for Best Sports Program and Passion before Reason: Margaret Trudeau's Story.
Curtin's production, My Russian Campaign: From Montreal to Moscow, received a Gemini
Nomination for the Donald Brittain Award for Best Documentary Program. The Globe
& Mail called the piece on Moscow-based photographer Heidi Hollinger "a
provocative… thoroughly entrancing film."
Curtin
also made Back to Alaska, King of the Arctic and Resolute Bay
Stories, which scored the second highest ratings in the history of the popular
German adventure series Länder Menschen Abenteuer. Curtin's portrait
of his father, Light and Shadow: A Photographer in the 20th Century was
screened at the Kunsthalle Museum in Vienna.
Curtin
freelanced for CBC Radio in Paris and West Berlin for five years and was a staff
reporter at CBC TV in Montreal for seven years. He has a Masters degree in English
from the University of Toronto and also speaks French and German.
Find
out more about the director at Kaos
Films.

Friday Aug 20, 2004 ts ts Former principal dancer Rex Harrington is parting with National Ballet to pursue other dancing and acting opportunities. “I just realized there are certain things I’d like to try if I’m not going to dance.” Rex breaks from National Ballet
Three months ago Rex Harrington (41) waved goodbye to his cheering fans as the curtain came down on his final performance of The Four Seasons — marking the end of his 20-year-career as a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada. At that moment, Harrington, clutching a stuffed teddy bear and giving the audience a thumbs-up sign, had tears in his eyes. click for Greta Hodgkinson & Rex Harrington

John Curtin is a Montreal filmmaker and journalist with
25 years of experience in television, radio and
print. He has freelanced for The New York Times
and reported from abroad for CBC and National Public
Radio.

Curtin has produced and directed eleven
one-hour documentaries which have been broadcast
on the BBC, CBC, ARD, NHK, National Geographic,
ARTE, Discovery Channel and others.
Curtin recently completed Our
Grieving Hearts for CBC
Witness and Being Red Green:
Steve Smith’s Story for CBC
Life & Times.

The director’s film Ten
Seconds of Eternity: The Sprint for Olympic Gold
won NHK’s HDTV Development Award at the Banff
Television Festival in 1999 and was one of the first
documentaries in Canada to be shot in high definition.

Curtin also made two critically acclaimed
biographies for CBC & Radio-Canada: Olympic
Warrior: Donovan Bailey’s Story which
was nominated for a Gemini Award for Best Sports
Program and Passion before Reason:
Margaret Trudeau’s Story, one of the
highest rated documentaries in Canada in 1998.
Curtin’s production, My
Russian Campaign: From Montreal to Moscow,
received a Gemini Nomination for the Donald Brittain
Award for Best Documentary Program. The Globe &
Mail called the piece on Moscow-based photographer
Heidi Hollinger “a provocative… thoroughly
entrancing film.

Jul 08, 2001 Ten Seconds of Eternity: The Sprint for Olympic Gold is produced and directed by John Curtin for Kaos Films Worldwide Inc. in association with NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.), CBC and Radio-Canada.

Aug. 21, 1991 RCI reacts to Soviet coup Reporter: John Curtin

Guest(s): Yuri Bogolepoff, Elizabeth Olechowska
Duration: 1:36

Nov. 4, 1988 TV Reporter on 'Comrade' Bethune: A Controversial Hero with Guest(s): Ted Allan, Nicholas Clermont, Donald Sutherland

Movie by John Curtin Thursday May 21, 2004 CBC

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