Mort Ransen - Wikiwand

Mort Ransen (August 16, 1933 – September 4, 2021) was a Canadian film and television director, editor, screenwriter and producer, best known for his Genie Award-winning 1995 film Margaret's Museum.^[1]

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Mort Ransen
Born	(1933-08-16)16 August 1933 Montreal, Canada
Died	4 September 2021(2021-09-04) (aged 88) Salt Spring Island, British Columbia
Occupation(s)	Director, writer, editor, producer
Years active	1961–2003

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Early life

Ransen was born Moishe Socoransky to Ukrainian immigrants, the youngest of four children in the Yiddish-speaking household of Shimmel and Fanny (née Bordoff) Socoransky. He attended Baron Byng High School, where a teacher suggested that he pursue a career in acting. He left school after grade nine and went to New York, where he studied under the highly-regarded acting teacher Peggy Feury. He returned to Montreal, changed his name and began building an acting and directing career in theatre.^[2]

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Career

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In 1960, Ransen was hired by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). Over the next 24 years, he directed, wrote, edited and/or produced 21 films for the NFB. He also taught film studies classes at McGill University, where he gave his students cameras to create the celebrated 1968 film Christopher's Movie Matinee. He left the NFB in 1984 and directed film and TV projects for other producers. He then created two additional films produced by the NFB: Ah... the Money, the Money, the Money: The Battle for Saltspring, and his most successful film, Margaret's Museum.^[3]

Ransen was also credited for many years as director of the 1969 documentary film You Are on Indian Land.^[4] As a professional filmmaker and NFB employee, he had assisted film student Mike Kanentakeron Mitchell in making the film, but NFB policy at that time led to Ransen being credited as the director rather than Mitchell.^[4] Ransen always opposed that, saying that it was properly Mitchell's film, and the film's directorial credit was reassigned to Mitchell in 2017.^[4]

In 1997, Ransen moved to Salt Spring Island, British Columbia to live as a (self-described) 'hippie'. He did some theatre work and formed his own company, Ranfilm Productions, through which he created three more films, including the critically-acclaimed My Father's Angel.

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Personal life and death

Ransen was married twice and had four children. He had been with his partner, theatre director Libby Mason, since 2000. After developing dementia, Ransen spent the last year of his life in a care home and died in Saltspring Island’s Lady Minto/Gulf Islands Hospital on September 4, 2021.^[2]

Filmography

The Teacher: Authority or Automaton? - documentary short, NFB 1961 - director
Jacky Visits the Zoo - short film, NFB 1962 - writer, director
The Fatal Mistakes - training film, NFB 1963 - director
Fighting Fit - training film, NFB 1964 - director
Zero Point One - training film, NFB 1964 - director
The Inner Man - documentary short, NFB 1964 - co-producer, co-director
Among Fish - documentary, short NFB 1964 - co-director
The Transition - documentary short, NFB 1964 - writer, director
John Hirsch: A Portrait of a Man and a Theatre - documentary short, NFB 1965 - director
Labour College - documentary short, NFB 1966 - director
No Reason to Stay - short film, NFB 1966 - co-writer, co-editor, director
The Circle - documentary, NFB 1967 - writer, director
Christopher's Movie Matinee - documentary, NFB 1968 - editor, director
Falling from Ladders - documentary short, NFB 1969 - editor, director
Overspill - documentary short, NFB 1970 - director
The Burden They Carry - documentary short, NFB 1970 - director
Untouched and Pure - documentary, NFB 1970 - co-director
Running Time - feature, NFB 1974 - writer, co-editor, director
The Russels - short film, NFB 1978 - co-writer, co-director
Bayo - feature, NFB 1985 - co-writer, director
Mortimer Griffin and Shalinsky - short film, NFB 1985 - co-writer, director
Street Legal - A Matter of Honour - series episode, CBC 1987 - director
Shades of Love: Sincerely, Violet - video, Blackthorn Productions 1987 - co-director
Shades of Love: The Emerald Tear - TV Movie, Blackthorn Productions 1988 - director
Shades of Love: Tangerine Taxi - TV Movie, Blackthorn Productions, 1988 - director
Falling Over Backwards - feature, Moving Image Productions 1990 - writer, co-producer, director
Margaret's Museum - feature, NFB 1995 - co-writer, co-producer, director
Touched - feature, Ranfilm Productions 1999 - co-writer, co-editor, producer, director
My Father's Angel - feature, Ranfilm Productions 1999 - producer
Ah... the Money, the Money, the Money: The Battle for Saltspring - documentary, NFB 2001 - writer, director
Bastards - feature, Ranfilm Productions 2003 - writer, editor, producer, director

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Awards

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Jacky Visits the Zoo (1962)

International Festival of Films for Television, Rome: Second Prize, Silver Plaque, Children's Films, 1963

No Reason to Stay (1966)

American Film and Video Festival, New York: Blue Ribbon, Personal Guidance, 1967
Columbus International Film & Animation Festival, Columbus, Ohio: Chris Award, Education & Information, 1967
La Plata International Children's Film Festival, La Plata, Argentina: Best Film of the Festival - Gold Plaque, 1968
Annual Landers Associates Awards, New York: Award of Merit, 1966
Melbourne International Film Festival, Melbourne: Diploma of Merit, 1967
International Exhibition of Scientific Film, Buenos Aires: Diploma of Honour, 1968

Christopher's Movie Matinee (1968)