AL PURDY WAS HERE

Directed by BRIAN D. JOHNSON

Date

September 10, 2019

About Project

DIRECTOR

BRIAN D. JOHNSON

COUNTRY

CANADA

RUNNING TIME

92 mins

YEAR

2015

LANGUAGE

English

ABOUT THE FILM

Both colourful biography and entertaining foray into the realm of Canadian culture, this film examines the extraordinary life and wide influence of poet Al Purdy. Focusing on recent efforts to make Purdy’s infamous A-Frame cabin on Ontario’s Roblin Lake into a writer’s retreat, it utilizes a who’s who of CanLit and music, from Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje to Gord Downie and Sarah Harmer. Fitting for a man with “Voice of the Land” etched on his tombstone, a complex portrait of Purdy emerges with countless contradictions: the “sensitive” fighter, the blue-collar poet, the wine-stained mentor to generations. Pure Canadian poetry!