Roman Kroitor (December 12, 1926 – September 17, 2012) was a
Canadian filmmaker who was known as a pioneer of Cinéma vérité, as the co-founder of
IMAX, and as the creator of the
Sandde hand-drawn stereoscopic 3D animation system. He was also the original inspiration for
The Force.[2][3] His prodigious output garnered numerous awards, including two
BAFTA Awards, three
Cannes Film Festival awards, and two
Oscar nominations.
Early life
Roman Boghdan Kroitor was born in
Yorkton,
Saskatchewan, to Ukrainian immigrants Peter and Tatiana (Shewchuk), both of whom were teachers. Peter died when Roman was four; Tatiana moved the family to
Winnipeg and continued teaching. Roman attended the
University of Manitoba, graduating in 1951 with a Master of Arts in Philosophy.
In 1949 and 1950, Kroitor attended the Summer Intern program at the
National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in Ottawa. Upon graduation from university, he was hired full-time, working as a production assistant and later as a film editor.[4] His first film, 1953's Rescue Party[1] laid the foundation for his pioneering
Cinéma vérité style, and he went on to produce influential films such as Lonely Boy, Glenn Gould: On the Record, Glenn Gould: Off the Record, and the concert film Stravinsky. By 1958, Kroiter was producing documentaries; by 1964, he was one of the producers leading the NFB into the production of fiction films.[5]
After seeing the ground-breaking NFB documentary Universe (1960),
Stanley Kubrick tried to recruit Kroiter and
Colin Low to work on 2001: A Space Odyssey. They declined because, with
Hugh O'Connor and
Tom Daily, they were working on a large-scale multi-screen film. This was In the Labyrinth, which the NFB exhibited at
Expo 67 in
Montreal. The film caused a sensation and, in the same year Kroitor and his friend and colleague, the director
Graeme Ferguson, left the NFB as employees, but physically stayed, founding Multi-Screen Corporation (later IMAX Corp.) in the NFB's Montreal studios (with two other friends,
Robert Kerr and engineer Bill Shaw).[6] The Multi-Screen process involved a purpose-built camera, and 70mm film projected horizontally rather than vertically, with each frame the size of a postcard.[7]
In 1970, for
Expo 70 in
Osaka, Kroitor produced the first
IMAX film, the 17-minute Tiger Child, directed by
Donald Brittain. In 1973, he returned to the NFB as a producer in charge of the Drama department, but continued to make IMAX films until his retirement. In 1990, he co-directed the first IMAX feature film, Stones at the Max. He also produced the first IMAX stereoscopic (S3D) film, We Are Born of Stars (anaglyph, 1985), and co-produced the first full-color
OMNIMAX (IMAX Dome) S3D film, Echoes of the Sun (alternate-eye, 1990).[1]
While working to create traditional (actuality) and early CG films in a stereoscopic format, Kroitor became frustrated with the lack of direct interaction between the desires of (right-brained) artists and the results on film, because everything had to pass through the (left-brained) mathematicians and programmers. He conceived of the
SANDDE hardware and software system as a way to allow artists to directly draw, in full stereoscopic 3D, what they want the audience to see.[citation needed]
Kroitor was credited by Star Wars creator
George Lucas, as being the origin of the concept of
The Force, an important thematic element in the Star Wars films.[8] As reported by The Globe and Mail, Lucas first heard about "the force" in a conversation between Kroitor and
Warren Sturgis McCulloch, an artificial intelligence guru, in 21-87, a 1963 collage film made by the NFB's
Arthur Lipsett. Disagreeing with McCulloch's assertion that humans are nothing more than highly complex machines, Kroitor argued,: "Many people feel that in the contemplation of nature and in communication with other living things, they become aware of some kind of force, or something, behind this apparent mask which we see in front of us, and they call it God."[1]
Personal life and death
In 1955, Kroitor married (Graeme Ferguson's sister) Janet Ferguson; they had five children and lived in Montreal. On September 17, 2012, he died of a
heart attack in his sleep at the age of 85.[1]
Laughter in My Soul - documentary short, Halya Kuchmij 1983 - co-executive producer with
Robert Verrall
Skyward - short film, IMAX,
Stephen Low 1985 - co-producer with Susumu Sakane[13]
Starbreaker - short film, Bruce Mackay 1984 - co-editor with Bruce Mackay, producer, co-executive producer with
Robert Verrall
A Freedom to Move - documentary short, IMAX,
Michel Brault 1985 - executive producer[14]
We Are Born of Stars - documentary short, IMAX 3D,
Nelson Max 1985 - producer, writer[15]
Heart Land - documentary short, IMAX,
Norma Bailey,
Richard Condie, Aaron Kim Johnston, Derek Mazur,
John Paskievich, Gail Singer & Brion Whitford 1987 - co-producer with Sally Dundas[16]
Echoes of the Sun - documentary short, IMAX 1990 - co-director with
Nelson Max, co-writer with Nelson Max &
Colin Low, co-producer with Fumio Sumi & Sally Dundas[17]
Flowers in the Sky, IMAX, 1990 - co-producer with Charles Konowal[citation needed]
HEMISFILM,
San Antonio TX: Bronze Medallion for the Best Film, Documentary Over 27 Minutes, 1978
American Film and Video Festival, New York: Red Ribbon, Features: History & Economics, 1978
U.S. Industrial Film Festival,
Elmhurst, Illinois: Silver Screen Award for Outstanding Creativity in the Production of Audio-Visual Communications in International Competition, 1978
Roman Kroitor (December 12, 1926 – September 17, 2012) was a
Canadian filmmaker who was known as a pioneer of Cinéma vérité, as the co-founder of
IMAX, and as the creator of the
Sandde hand-drawn stereoscopic 3D animation system. He was also the original inspiration for
The Force.[2][3] His prodigious output garnered numerous awards, including two
BAFTA Awards, three
Cannes Film Festival awards, and two
Oscar nominations.
Early life
Roman Boghdan Kroitor was born in
Yorkton,
Saskatchewan, to Ukrainian immigrants Peter and Tatiana (Shewchuk), both of whom were teachers. Peter died when Roman was four; Tatiana moved the family to
Winnipeg and continued teaching. Roman attended the
University of Manitoba, graduating in 1951 with a Master of Arts in Philosophy.
In 1949 and 1950, Kroitor attended the Summer Intern program at the
National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in Ottawa. Upon graduation from university, he was hired full-time, working as a production assistant and later as a film editor.[4] His first film, 1953's Rescue Party[1] laid the foundation for his pioneering
Cinéma vérité style, and he went on to produce influential films such as Lonely Boy, Glenn Gould: On the Record, Glenn Gould: Off the Record, and the concert film Stravinsky. By 1958, Kroiter was producing documentaries; by 1964, he was one of the producers leading the NFB into the production of fiction films.[5]
After seeing the ground-breaking NFB documentary Universe (1960),
Stanley Kubrick tried to recruit Kroiter and
Colin Low to work on 2001: A Space Odyssey. They declined because, with
Hugh O'Connor and
Tom Daily, they were working on a large-scale multi-screen film. This was In the Labyrinth, which the NFB exhibited at
Expo 67 in
Montreal. The film caused a sensation and, in the same year Kroitor and his friend and colleague, the director
Graeme Ferguson, left the NFB as employees, but physically stayed, founding Multi-Screen Corporation (later IMAX Corp.) in the NFB's Montreal studios (with two other friends,
Robert Kerr and engineer Bill Shaw).[6] The Multi-Screen process involved a purpose-built camera, and 70mm film projected horizontally rather than vertically, with each frame the size of a postcard.[7]
In 1970, for
Expo 70 in
Osaka, Kroitor produced the first
IMAX film, the 17-minute Tiger Child, directed by
Donald Brittain. In 1973, he returned to the NFB as a producer in charge of the Drama department, but continued to make IMAX films until his retirement. In 1990, he co-directed the first IMAX feature film, Stones at the Max. He also produced the first IMAX stereoscopic (S3D) film, We Are Born of Stars (anaglyph, 1985), and co-produced the first full-color
OMNIMAX (IMAX Dome) S3D film, Echoes of the Sun (alternate-eye, 1990).[1]
While working to create traditional (actuality) and early CG films in a stereoscopic format, Kroitor became frustrated with the lack of direct interaction between the desires of (right-brained) artists and the results on film, because everything had to pass through the (left-brained) mathematicians and programmers. He conceived of the
SANDDE hardware and software system as a way to allow artists to directly draw, in full stereoscopic 3D, what they want the audience to see.[citation needed]
Kroitor was credited by Star Wars creator
George Lucas, as being the origin of the concept of
The Force, an important thematic element in the Star Wars films.[8] As reported by The Globe and Mail, Lucas first heard about "the force" in a conversation between Kroitor and
Warren Sturgis McCulloch, an artificial intelligence guru, in 21-87, a 1963 collage film made by the NFB's
Arthur Lipsett. Disagreeing with McCulloch's assertion that humans are nothing more than highly complex machines, Kroitor argued,: "Many people feel that in the contemplation of nature and in communication with other living things, they become aware of some kind of force, or something, behind this apparent mask which we see in front of us, and they call it God."[1]
Personal life and death
In 1955, Kroitor married (Graeme Ferguson's sister) Janet Ferguson; they had five children and lived in Montreal. On September 17, 2012, he died of a
heart attack in his sleep at the age of 85.[1]
Laughter in My Soul - documentary short, Halya Kuchmij 1983 - co-executive producer with
Robert Verrall
Skyward - short film, IMAX,
Stephen Low 1985 - co-producer with Susumu Sakane[13]
Starbreaker - short film, Bruce Mackay 1984 - co-editor with Bruce Mackay, producer, co-executive producer with
Robert Verrall
A Freedom to Move - documentary short, IMAX,
Michel Brault 1985 - executive producer[14]
We Are Born of Stars - documentary short, IMAX 3D,
Nelson Max 1985 - producer, writer[15]
Heart Land - documentary short, IMAX,
Norma Bailey,
Richard Condie, Aaron Kim Johnston, Derek Mazur,
John Paskievich, Gail Singer & Brion Whitford 1987 - co-producer with Sally Dundas[16]
Echoes of the Sun - documentary short, IMAX 1990 - co-director with
Nelson Max, co-writer with Nelson Max &
Colin Low, co-producer with Fumio Sumi & Sally Dundas[17]
Flowers in the Sky, IMAX, 1990 - co-producer with Charles Konowal[citation needed]
HEMISFILM,
San Antonio TX: Bronze Medallion for the Best Film, Documentary Over 27 Minutes, 1978
American Film and Video Festival, New York: Red Ribbon, Features: History & Economics, 1978
U.S. Industrial Film Festival,
Elmhurst, Illinois: Silver Screen Award for Outstanding Creativity in the Production of Audio-Visual Communications in International Competition, 1978