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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!