• Cinema & Media Arts

  • Manfred Becker

  • Associate Professor

  • Graduate Program Director, MA/MFA Film

Manfred Becker profile image

E bmanfred@yorku.ca

EDUCATION

2017 PhD, Communications & Culture York & Ryerson Universities
The Frankenbite – Ethics in Factual Programming (York Dissertation Prize)
2011 Masters, Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Studies, York University
Capturing the Platform – Public Relations and the Olympic Games
1984 Bachelor, Journalism & Film, Universität Dortmund, West Germany

BIOGRAPHY

CURRICULUM VITAE

Manfred Becker, PhD
Associate Professor & Filmmaker
AMPD, Department of Cinema and Media Arts, York University
(416) 998 4903, bmanfred@yorku.ca

DEGREES:
2017 PhD, Joint Graduate Program Communication & Culture, York University &
Ryerson University, The Frankenbite – Ethics in Factual Programming
2011 Masters, Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Studies, York University
Capturing the Platform – Public Relations and the Olympic Games
1984 (Pre-) Bachelor, Journalism & Film, Universität Dortmund, West Germany

ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:
2018 – 2022 – Assistant Professor, Department of Cinema & Media Arts (CMA), York University
2017 – Course Director, RTA School of Media at The Creative School, Ryerson University
2014 – 2018 – Course Director & Thesis Advisor, Documentary Media Graduate Program, Ryerson University
2013 – 2018  – Course Director, School of Image Arts, Ryerson University
2011 – Course Director, School of Media Studies, Humber College
2010 – 2017 – Instructor, Documentary Institute, Seneca College
2005 – 2018 – Course Director, CMA, York University

PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
2000 – 2022 – Independent Documentary Writer and Director
1984 – 2014  -Independent Sound, Film and Video Editor

HONOURS AND AWARDS
2020 Nomination, Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary Program, Canadian Screen Awards – In Search for a Perfect World (Director)
2014 Special Jury Award, Best Canadian Documentary, Hot Docs When the Last Curtain falls (Editor, Co-writer)
2014 Nomination, Best Documentary Editing, Canadian Cinema Editors (CCE) – When the Last Curtain falls
2015 ­Grimme Online Award – The Polar Sea (Co-Director)
2013 Best Documentary Series, Canadian Screen Awards – The Photograph (Director, Writer)
2013 Webby Award – Official Selection; One Show Interactive Competition & Prix Numix – Official Selection; Prix Boomerang – Grand Prix;  FWA Site of the Day – At Home/Chez Soi (Co-Director)
2012 Nomination, Golden Sheaf Award, Yorkton – Dark Tourism (Director, Writer)
2011 Special Jury Award, Hot Docs Festival – Guantanamo Trap (Editor, Co-Writer)
2011 Nomination, Best Feature Documentary, Genie Awards – Guantanamo Trap
2007 Best Documentary, Directors Guild of Canada – Hitler’s Children (Director, Writer, Editor)
2007 Nomination, Best Historical Documentary, Gemini Award – Hitler’s Children
2007 Best Social Documentary, Donald Brittain Gemini Award – Hitler’s Children
2007 Nomination, Directors Guild of Canada Award – Hitler’s Children
2007 Chris Award, Columbus International Film & Video Festival – fatherland (Director, Writer, Editor)
2007 Best Documentary Series, Gemini Awards – Diamond Road (Co-Director)
2005 Nomination, Directors Guild of Canada Award – fatherland
2005 Gold Camera Award, US Film & Video Festival – fatherland
2005 Chris Award, Columbus – The Siege (Director, Writer, Editor)
2004 Best Biography and Best Documentary Series, Gemini Awards) – Diamond Road
2004 Nomination, Directors Guild Award – Neighbours (Director, Writer, Editor)
2004 Best Direction, Hugo Awards, Chicago – Neighbours
2004 World Film Fest Award, Houston – Neighbours
2002 Nomination, Canadian Directors Guild Award – Death of a Warrior (Director, Co-Writer, Editor)
2002 Best of Festival, World Film Fest, Houston – Death of a Warrior
2002 Finalist, BASC, Australia – Death of a Warrior
2001 Donald Brittain Award for Best Social Documentary, Gemini Awards – Breakaway (Editor, Co-Writer)
1999 Nomination, Best Editing, Gemini Awards – Thin Ice (Editor)
1997 Best Feature Documentary, Genie Awards – A place called Chiapas (Editor, Co-Writer)
1996 Best Editing and Best Biography, Gemini Awards – Wrestling with Shadows (Editor)
1995 International Emmy Award – Gerrie and Louise (Editor)
1995 Donald Brittain Award for Best Social Documentary, Gemini Awards – Gerrie and Louise
1990 Nomination, Best Short Documentary, Genie Awards – Who Gets In (Editor)

ACADEMIC DISTINCTIONS
2017 Faculty of Graduate Studies Dissertation Prize, York University

PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTION & STANDING IN DEVELOPMENT:
Goose Boat Multi-channel installation by Visual Arts Professor Emerita Katherine Knight, seeking a multifaceted portrait of this singular object – a boat designed for hunting waterfowl.
Father – Videographer on Prof. Moussa Djigo’s personal hybrid film on his family in Senegal & Mauretania.
Smoke and Gifts – Story editor on feature length documentary on the alternative music group Broken Social Scene, directed by Stephen Chung, produced by Fathom Films.
Chai – Audio-visuals on an augmented book of photography on the Shoah by Edward Burtynsky, Steidl Verlag, Germany.

BOOK PUBLICATIONS
2021 Creating Reality in Factual Television: The Frankenbite and Other Fakes. Monograph, print and e-book. London, UK: Routledge (refereed).

ESSAY PUBLICATION
2023 Lying the Truth in Story Architecture, Media, Politics, Society (AMPS) Applying Education, Conference Proceedings (accepted).
2023 Vaccine Against Fake News Critical Media Literacy – Literacidade Mediática Crítica – Literacidade Crítica da Mídia edited by McGraw Hill-Aula Magna (Q1 in SPI). (contributor).

ACADEMIC FUNDING
2023 Co-Applicant, Social Science & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Insight Grant – Who is free to do what they love? Digital Platform Work and Leisure (submitted).
2023 Co-Applicant, with Prof. Julia Creet, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Social Science & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Insight Grant – Digital Afterlives (received).
2021 Principal investigator, SSHRC Insight Development Grant – A Vaccine against Fake News (received).
2021 Ahmad F (PI), Morrow M (Co-PI), Becker M, Bohr Y, Daftary A, Flicker S, Gaetz S, Hankey J, Gorman RS, Orbinski J, & Weiss J. – Community-engaged Research for Health Equity (CeRHE). Submitted to Catalyzing Interdisciplinary Research Cluster, Office of VPRI, York University. (to be resubmitted)

CREATIVE/ARTISTIC ENDEAVOURS

Director/Writer/Editor
2019 Saving Rabbit – Process documentary on a young homeless man wanting to beat his fentanyl addiction, for CBC’s ‘POV’ strand. Director/Writer. Media Headquarters. https://gem.cbc.ca/cbc-docs-pov/s03?autoplay=1
Rabbit’s story displays the contradictory approaches available in the crisis from helping users change their lives completely, as opposed to keeping them safe while they fight to do it themselves. Perhaps the best way to understand the crisis is to go beyond the statistics and help those in the middle of it tell their stories. CITY News
2019 The Divided Brain Feature length documentary about neuroscientist Iain McGilchrist’s monumental work, The Master and his Emissary, featuring the Archbishop of Canterbury and John Cleese. Director. Matter-of-Fact-Media, https://www.tvo.org/video/documentaries/the-divided-brain
The Divided Brain is a very powerful documentary that has not shied from including critical voices. It conveys, with great clarity and conviction, the immeasurable dangers of the colonisation of the brain by the left-brain hemisphere. Sunil Kumar, former Dean, London School of Economics
2018 In Search for a Perfect World International Co-production between the CBC and ZDF on the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, with Peter Mansbridge. Director and Writer. Primitive Entertainment. https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/specials/in-search-of-a-perfect-world-1.5086982
2017 No Joke – feature length documentary on a singer/songwriter who is saved from his traumatic past by music. Director/Writer. Lofty Sky Media https://loftysky.com/projects/nojoke/
No Joke doesn’t condemn bullies, rather it attempts to open up conversation. It explores how fear divides us into the powerful and the powerless. What began as a documentary about a song becomes a compelling, thoughtful film about empathy. Millicent Thomas, Fim Stories.
2013 The Photograph – portrait of the 1942 Toronto Hurricanes football team which lost more men in WW II than any other professional sports team, as part of the CTV “Engraved on a Nation” series. Director/Writer. Infieldfly Productions. https://www.infieldflyproductions.com/the-photograph
The lot of a TV critic is not a happy one. I spend my evenings in the dark relentlessly searching for something passable on my flickering TV set. And then something as evocative as The Photograph comes along. Surely, it’s one of the best Remembrance Day specials I have seen. The Photographplays like an old-time movie…masterfully directed by Manfred Becker. – Jim Bawden, television critic
We all know the adage ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ Well, The Photograph is worth a lotmore than that—and it also serves as a timely reminder of what a poppy stands for in this country. –Stu Cowan, Montreal Gazette
2012 Dark Tourism – vérité documentary on the phenomenon of tourists seeking out places of conflict and fear. Director/Writer/Editor. History Television https://vimeo.com/50454616
Dark Tourism is made for thoughtful fans of non-fiction. This sober meta- travelogue makes you wonder if the documentary genre itself is guilty of the same voyeurism as the gawking tourists. It’s an irresistible, if repellent sight. – Bill Staments, Chicago Sun
A fascinating examination of the phenomenon revealing that there is a good deal of confusion and conflict. – John Doyle, Globe and Mail, Dark Tourism raises some unsettling questions. Have people already forgotten their history? It’s a worthwhile, and unsettling, question. – Rick McInnis, Metro News, Manfred Becker’s eerie, thought-provoking documentary is a morality tale. Montreal Gazette, Hot Box—TV worth talking about.– Toronto Star – One of three to see. – Alex Strachan, Financial Post, Welcome to the dark side! – Lisa-Marie Brennan, TV Guide
2006 Fatherland – feature-length personal essay documentary on history, memory and fatherhood, History Television. Director/Writer/Editor. https://vimeo.com/734970450/62ec480d98
Intense, substantial and satisfying. Difficult emotional moments and disturbing images. Profoundly intimate portrait of the relationships between fathers and sons. – Henrietta Walmark, Globe Television, Opens a poignant landscape. One of those few truly great films that jumps right out at you. –  Jim Bawden, StarWeek, Tough questions are asked, tough answers are given, and what emerges is a deeper understanding of personal and collective guilt. – Peter Howell, Toronto Star, Uncomfortable and raw. – RickMcGinnis, Metro News, A profoundly intimate portrait. – Lynne Fernie, HotDocs,  Enlightening. A stirring look. You won’t find a better program to watch this Father’s Day weekend. – Andrew Borkowski, TV Guide, A lyrical drama that illustrates the illustrates the question how complicated the question ‘What did you do in the war’ can get. – Eye Weekly,  Sobering and provocative. Top pick of festival. – Globe and Mail
2004 Hitler’s Children: Germany in Autumn 1977 – Historical documentary on the Baader-Meinhof urban guerilla group that challenged West German democracy. Director/Writer/Editor. History Television. https://vimeo.com/194907995, pw:Baader
Becker manages to bring both terrorists and victims together. A fascinating blueprint for dealing with future terrorist threats. – Bill Brioux, Toronto Sun, Becker has scored a real coup. Nothing could be more relevant. Explains where terrorism comes fromand how states should react. The must-see program of the week. – Jim Bawden, Starweek.
2003 The Siege – Historical documentary on the 1999 siege of a UN compound in East Timor. Director/Writer/Editor.  History Television, https://vimeo.com/68796683
Becker has an eye for personal detail and an ear for the way people talk and think. Exceedingly wellmade…a living, breathing record…paced like a thriller, the result is both sobering and thought-provoking filmmaking that puts most dramatized re-creations to shame…a relentless drive that puts viewers right inside. Surprisingly clear-headed and objective. – Alex Strachan, National Post, Deftly paced and dramatic without overdoing either the heroism or the horror, a fine insight into what happened in a part of the world that was failed by journalism and the world’s most powerful countries. – JohnDoyle, Globe and Mail, This is one of TV’s surprises…amazing…a major work. – Jim Bawden, Starweek, The one to catch! – Toronto Star, Dramatic, with powerful lessons for today’s conflicts. – Ann Marie McQueen, Ottawa Citizen
2003 The Life of Me Vérité documentary following the workshop of a play for the “Madness in the Arts Festival,” featuring actors with mental illness. Director/Writer/Editor. TV Ontario https://vimeo.com/255067412
Heartbreaking. – John Doyle, Globe and Mail,  Intimate and challenging. – Henrietta Walmark, Broadcast Week
At times it is almost impossible to believe that these rehearsals will ever result in a positive outcome in the documentary. – Network Magazine
2002 Neighbours – Historical documentary on the fin-de-siècle Vienna of Sigmund Freud and Adolf Hitler. Director/Writer/Editor. History Television https://vimeo.com/234313564
In my eyes, both Hitler and my grandfather were false prophets of the 20th century. – Sophie Freud, granddaughter, Boston. Becker uses archival and new material with masterful editing touch. – John Goodman, Vancouver N. ShoreNews, Freud goes up in smoke. – Judy Gerstel, Toronto Star Definite irony. – Catherine Monk, Georgia Straight, Riveting. – Jewish Tribune, Pick of the week. – Now Magazine.
2001 Death of a Warrior – Documentary about the bombing of the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior by French secret agents. Director/Co-Writer/Editor. History Television https://vimeo.com/68798181
A crisply made, clear-eyed look at a tale full of intrigue and courage…gripping, full of suspense and hidden surprises. Remarkable, paced like a thriller. Proves that a well-made documentary can trump allother forms of visual storytelling. A must see. – Alex Strachan, National Post, An excellent documentary. In Becker’s well-crafted program all the twists and turns of the murky eventsare made clear. – John Doyle, Globe and Mail Film tracks the thriller-like hunt for the saboteurs, the diplomatic skullduggery and the bittersweet outcome of the case. – Olivia Ward, Toronto Star, In the vein of a true-crime detective story, unraveling the mystery. – Taos Talking Pictures, Saga unfolds like a pulp spy novel, a fine recap of the investigation. The film makes one uneasy in a post-9/11 world. Required viewing. – Andrew Ryan, Globe & Mail

Co-Director
2018 From the Vaults – Six-part series of the CBC Music Archives that tell the history of Canada. Banger Films. Co-Director with Adrian Callender, Sam Dunn, Nicolina Lanni and Ann Shin. https://www.cbc.ca/television/fromthevaults
There’s some amazing music on the show. It’s where you can see blues jam, Joan Baez playing an anti-warsong at the height of Vietnam, a young cowpunk k.d. lang being critiqued by a present-day k.d. lang, Jackie Mittoo and Oscar Peterson writing new languages for Canadian reggae and jazz. Now Magazine
2015 Satan Lives – Feature length theatrical documentary on the collective hysteria that gripped North America in the 1980s, HBO Canada. Co-director with Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen. Banger Films. https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/141675158 pw: satanisreal
2014 The Polar Sea – 10-part series on the effects of climate change in Canada’s North, ARTE and TV Ontario. Director Of Episode 6 Surviving Civilization & Episode 7 Arctic Crossroads. Primitive Entertainment – http://www.primitive.net/the-polar-sea.html
The Polar Sea—a 10-part TV series beginning Monday on TVO—is a thrilling epic that takes us on a magical 10,000-kilometre mystery tour through the legendary Northwest Passage. Hugely entertaining andmind-bogglingly educational at the same time, it instantly stands as one of the landmarks in the long and rich history of Canadian documentary filmmaking. – Martin Knelman, Toronto Star
By personalizing the problem, the brilliant 10-hour documentary manages to make us understand the enormity of the situation. Made on a mammoth scale, the Polar Sea is instead an intimate look at the changing world of the north, beautifully photographed and crisply edited. All of which indicates to meTVO has seized the initiative from CBC in showing and celebrating where public television should beheaded. – Jim Bawden, television critic, Fascinating with a firm point of view but no preaching. – Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail – A brilliant three-parter … a must-see of the fall season. – Jim Bawden, Starweek
2013 At Home/Chez Soi – Interactive website about the “largest social experiment in the world” – housing the homeless. Director of 10 Toronto segments. National Film Board of Canada https://www.nfb.ca/interactive/here_at_home/
2009 Diamond Road – 3 x 1-hour HD documentary series on the global diamond industry, Discovery Times & HD, ARTE, ZDF, NHK, ABC Australia. Co-Director with Nisha Pahuja. https://kensingtontv.com/index.php/2007/09/20/diamond-road/

Editor/Co-Writer
2014 Before the Last Curtain Falls Theatrical documentary on experimental dance performed by aging homosexual and transsexual actors. (credited as ‘dramaturgy’) Director: Thomas Wallner. https://vimeo.com/121639102
2013 The Defector Feature-length documentary on the odyssey of North Koreans escaping their country.  TV Ontario. Director Ann Shin https://www.fathomfilm.ca/the-defector
2011 Guantanamo Trap Theatrical feature documentary about four people’s lives that connect during the War on Terror. Director Thomas Wallner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6lkgA9ThgE
2001 Breakaway – Portrait of two brain-injury survivors. CTV. Co-Writer with Director Mathew Welsh https://vimeo.com/524002844/994a669739
A visionary piece of factual filmmaking. – Take One Magazine, I found it extremely potent and powerful and I could not take my eyes away from it for a second. – Shelagh Rogers, CBC Radio, A fascinating portrait of power, love and psychological obsession. Strongly recommended…this is the raresort of film that does not come around very often. – Library Journal.
1999 Out of Orbit – Biography of Marshall McLuhan, CBC. Director Carl Bessai  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvpPb89ChM0
1996 A Place Called Chiapas – Feature-length documentary about the Zapatista uprising in Mexico. Director Nettie Wild, https://www.kanopy.com/en/torontopl/video/5322086
Electric, alive, commendable, coincidentally surreal. A humorous, awkward, imperiled cat’s cradle of history, fury and injustice. Bold ways of showing unexpected sides of a story that sometimes has the transcendent urgency of a luscious and troubled agit-prop fable. – Wesley Morris, San Francisco Examined,  Exquisitely shot and edited. – Jon Gralick, Boston Phoenix, Wild and her crew bring out an affecting intimacy rare in documentaries with a news sensibility. Inspiring and chilling point bang glimpse leaves powerful impressions. – Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle

Story Editor
2022 To Kill a Tiger – Feature length documentary on masculinity in India. National Film Board. TIFF Diverse Voices Award 2022. Canadian Screen Award 2023. Director: Nisha Pahuja.
2022 Undeniably Young – Animated Short on Six-Day racer Nora Young. Director: Julia  Morgan, Evoke Films.
2020 Road to Roxham – CBC  short documentary on a road travelled by refuges to escape the US and enter Canada. Consulting Producer. Director: Cristian Gomez
2015 Shadow Girl – Feature-length documentary on a filmmaker’s journey into blindness. Director: Maria Teresa Larrain.
2014 Fractured Land – A charismatic First Nations chief in British Columbia takes on the oil and gas industry and coming of age, CBC. Directors: Fiona Rayner and Damien Gillis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe591PtCfa0
2014 Lost and Found – Objects swept into the ocean by a tsunami in Japan are washed up on the beaches on the Pacific West Coast. Directors: Nicolina Lanni & John Choi
2013 Chi – Actress Babz Chula battling cancer, Director: Ann Wheeler https://www.nfb.ca/film/chi_en/
2012 Spring & Arnaud – Two artists and their shared life. Directors: Marcia Connelly & Katherine Knight, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzXR0CUEze0&abchannel=S1T3M3D1A
2012 Buying Sex – on the debate between the legalization versus a criminalization of the sex trade the sex trade, NFB. Directors: Teresa MacInnes and Kent Nason. https://www.nfb.ca/film/buying_sex/
2012 Occupy Love – part III of Director Velcrow Ripper’s documentary trilogy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cTBlGcZCeA
2011 A Sorry State – Director Mitch Miyagawa’s filmic essay on the meaning of government-issued apologies, TV Ontario, https://vimeo.com/50831235
2010 Kids in Jail – NFB documentary on children who kill. Director: Larry Lynn http://www.nfb.ca/film/kids_in_jail/trailer/kids_in_jail_trailer/
2008 Griefwalker – Tim Wilson’s portrait of Stephen Jenkinson, the palliative care counsellor at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, NFB. https://www.nfb.ca/distribution/film/griefwalker
2008 Fierce Light – Velcrow Ripper’s theatrical documentary on finding spirituality in places of darkness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh5Qvv3UIEg
2006 That’s my Time – Adamm Liley’s portrait of comedian Irwin Barker’s life with terminal cancer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcIEHYDk0c8
2005 Scared Sacred – Velcrow Ripper’s spiritual search for places of darkness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSx68p7ItDk
2002 Fix – Nettie Wild’s feature-length documentary about drugs and resistance on Vancouver’s East Side, NFB, https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thenettiewildcollection/288057487
Political struggle is emotionally grounded by two very different yet similarly stubborn, rabble-rousing personalities whose loyal alliance is like a quarrelsome marriage. – Variety

EDITOR
2014 The Polar Sea – 2 D editor on the 360 VR component of the 10-part series. Producers: Irene Vandertorp & Thomas Wallner, https://littlstar.com/videos/66276b4a
2010 Prosecutor – Feature-length documentary on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, for the BBC and TVO. Director/Writer: Barry Stevens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04s_Y1zCxQc
2008 Biodad – Follow-up feature-length documentary on the search for the biological father of the filmmaker, CBC. Director/Writer: Barry Stevens
2001-04 Blue Murder–  4×13 prime-time dramatic series, Global Television. Senior picture editor. Executive Producers: Laszlo Barna and Steve Lucas
2001 Offspring – Documentary on the search for the filmmaker’s biological father, CBC. Director/writer: Barry Stevens, https://vimeo.com/128603400?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=27168387
1999 Lola – Theatrical fiction film, Invited to Sundance and Berlin, Toronto and Vancouver Film Festivals. Director: Carl Bessai, https://vimeo.com/13211692
1999 Obachan’s Garden – feature-length docu-drama on the Japanese immigrant experience, NFB Pacific  Centre. Supervising Editor. Director/Producer: Linda Ohama https://www.nfb.ca/film/obachans_garden/
Ohama’s emotionally exhilarating with dozens of emotionally wrenching and uplifting scenes. – LouisHobson, Canoe.ca,
Obachan’s Garden is a film to be watched again and again, a reminder of the impressive depth of ability in Canadian documentary filmmakers. Highly Recommended. – Deborah Begoray, University of Victoria
1998 Thin Ice – Biography of Bruce McCall, Canadian-born New Yorker magazine illustrator, NFB. Director: Laurence Green. https://vimeo.com/142279795 , pw: brucemccall
A subtle investigation of the processes of colonialization and psychology of need, Thin Ice is a film about one expatriate Canuck’s strangely desperate desire for American affirmation. – Tom McSorley, Take One
1997 Johnny – Theatrical fiction. Toronto, Vancouver and Thessalonica Film Festivals.  Director/Producer: Carl Bessai, https://vimeo.com/4540260
1996 Machine Gun – 3-part documentary series on the history of the 19th and 20th centuries viewed through the barrel of a machine gun. Discovery US and Canada. Supervising Editor. Director: Steven Silver
1997 Wrestling with Shadows – Feature-length study of a modern-day hero in the world of professional wrestling, BBC, ARTE, TV Ontario and A&E. Director/Producer: Paul Jay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3wZhA5s3kI
This is one whale of a tale! – Newsday,  A classic story of a modern-day hero, one of the most riveting Canadian films in years. – Eye Magazine,  Jay, along with seamless editing by Manfred Becker, tracks this progression all the way to its bitter, bitter end. Watching Wrestling With Shadows is still great entertainment. In fact, it’s a knockout. – Antonia Zerbisias,Toronto Star, Like great art, its essence lies not in the subject matter at hand, but in the universal themes that drive it—loyalty, betrayal, jealousy, revenge. You must see the great doc.- Grant McIntyre, Broadcast Week, A tale as bizarre as Kafka and tragic as Shakespeare…riveting. – T. Atherton, Ottawa Citizen
1996 Gerrie and Louise – Feature-length documentary about the relationship between a South African soldier of apartheid and an investigative journalist. Director: Sturla Gunnarsson. https://vimeo.com/154442032, pw: niagara
That sense of the indelible presence of awful memories is heightened by the film’s use of skillfully selected footage heightening the sense of their subjectivity at the same time as underscoring for the viewer what is meant by the euphemistic and evasive terms used by Hugo and other former apartheid agents and victims in the film. – Simon Lewis, Charleston College
1995 Whispers in the Air – Biography of the Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi, A&E, TV Ontario. Director: Tom Perlmutter.
1999 Who Gets In? Documentary on Canadian immigration, NFB/CBC co-production. Director: Barry Greenwald. https://www.nfb.ca/film/who_gets_in/
1987 The Journey – 14.5-hour Global Peace film. Co-editor with Director/Producer Peter Watkins. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmFxcTIzUog
I went expecting a great movie. What I got was more information, emotion, despair and transcendent hope thanI ever dreamed a mere length of celluloid could possibly convey. – New Zealand Herald, Extraordinary, spellbinding and ultimately filled with hope. – The Raleigh Times

Consultant
2022 rebel angel – feature length portrait of Canadian poet and teacher Ross Woodman. Director: Christopher Lowry, Ecotone Productions.
2014 Biology of Story –  interactive website by Professor Amnon Buchbinder https://biologyofstory.com/#/

CONFERENCE PAPERS PRESENTED (R = refereed)
2024 Learning. Life. Work. Pedagogy Series. San Francisco R (invited)
2023 Teaching Beyond the Curriculum, Focus on Pedagogy, Virtual: UK, USA, China R (invited)
2023 Nord Media Conference, Bergen, Norway. “Vaccine Against Fake News” R
2023 Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences Congress, Toronto. “Vaccine Against Fake News” R
2023 AMPS (Architecture, Media, Politics, Society) Applying Education, Toronto. “Vaccine Against Fake News” R
2023 World Literacy Summit, Oxford, UK. “Vaccine Against Fake News” R.
2023 Global Media Education Summit, Vancouver, BC, “Vaccine Against Fake News” R.
2022 Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas, Oakland. “Vaccine Against Fake News” R.
2019 Visible Evidence XXVI, Los Angeles. “Ethics in the Edit rooms of Factual Television” R.
2019 Media Ecology Conference, Toronto. “Ethics in the Edit rooms of Factual Television” R.
2019 The European Conference on Media, Communication & Film, Brighton, UK “Ethics in the Edit rooms of Factual Television” Invited
2019 International Association of Media & Communication Research, Madrid, Spain “Ethics in the Edit rooms of Factual Television” Invited
2019 4th Intern. Conference on Communication & Media Studies, Bonn, Germany “Ethics in the Edit rooms of Factual Television” Invited
2015 C.I.L.E.C.T. conference on post-production. The Frankenbite  Chicago. R.
2011 New York City Jewish Heritage Museum, Screening of Fatherland. R.
2009 Centennial College, Culture and Heritage Institute conference. Screening of War Tourism R.
2009 Canadian Psychiatric Association conference. Screening of Hitler and Freud’s Vienna Toronto. R.
2008 Worldviews Conference on Media and Higher Education, TIFF Lightbox. On Documentary Film R.
2008 in flagrante depictor New York University, Law and Film Conference Children of Perpetrators symposium, Cardozo School of Law. Screening of Fatherland R.
2008 The Holocaust: Children of the Perpetrators Confront Their Parents Nazi Past symposium, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Screening of Fatherland. R.

FILM/MEDIA INDUSTRY PRESENTATIONS

2022 Music Conservatory of Toronto, German Film history post WWII
2014 Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) Industry breakfast on data visualization
2013 L.I.F.T. Toronto, Panel on New Media
2010 Toronto District School Board, Professional development
2008 Documentary Association of Canada conference on post-production, Innis College, U. of Toronto, (keynote speaker)
2008 Filmhaus Bremen, Germany
2009 Documentary Association of Canada, Masters Series
2008 Reel Diversity Program, NFB Montreal

WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONS
2018 Belleville Doc Fest (workshop leader)
2013 Docs North Workshop, Thunder Bay (workshop leader)
2012 Toronto International Film Festival Film Circuit, Masters Workshop, Kingston
2011 Documentary Summit, Ryerson University
2007 Docs North Workshop, Thunder Bay (workshop leader)
2007 Hot Docs Film Festival, Toronto (workshop leader)
2007 Saskatchewan Motion Pictures Association, Regina (workshop leader)
2005 Inspired Workshop Series, NFB Atlantic Studio
2001 NIFCO – Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers Cooperative (workshop leader)
2002 Yorkton Film Festival (workshop leader)
2001 Moving Images Group, Halifax, 3-day workshop on story editing

PANEL CHAIR
2015 Visible Evidence XXII International Conference, Toronto (invited)

PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO SERVICE
Festival Programmer
2004-2012 Rendez-Vous with Madness Festival (also panelist and presenter)
Juror
2022 Ethics Bowl, Ontario High Schools
2007 – 2017 Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, also jury chair
2011 Hot Docs Film Festival, also workshop facilitator and panel moderator
2010-2014 Bishop Marrocco High School, Toronto

Board Member
2021 The News Analysis Organisation, a charitable podcast to provide unbiased news reporting, investigation and academic historical Inquiry, produced by Paul Jay

Magazine Editor
1996 DOC Magazine POV, co-editor & contributor with Geoff Bowie and Petra Valier

Professional Associations
2005 – 2017 Documentary Association of Canada presenter & panelist
1992  Canadian Film Caucus (CIFC). Executive Board member

MEDIA APPEARANCES
2021 News Point 3
2020 Interview York YU file
2013 CTV morning radio I/V
2007 & 2013 CBC Metro Morning I/V
2007 Capturing Reality, NFB documentary, I/V subject
2004 Edgecodes – The Art of Motion Picture Editing, documentary, I/V subject

TEACHING
York University
UNDERGRADUATE
       2022-2023

  • FA/FILM 3002 Documentary workshop

2018-2019

  • FA/FILM 3130 Introduction to Picture Editing I
  • FA/FILM 4130 Intermediate Picture Editing II
  • FA/FILM 4135 Advanced Picture Editing III
  • FA/FILM 1020 Introduction to Filmmaking

2017-2018

  • FA/FILM 3130 Introduction to Picture Editing I
  • FA/FILM 4130 Intermediate Picture Editing II
  • FA/FILM 4135 Advanced Picture Editing III
  • FA/FILM 1020 Introduction to Filmmaking

2016-2017

  • FA/FILM 3130 Introduction to Picture Editing I
  • FA/FILM 4130 Intermediate Picture Editing II
  • FA/FILM 4135 Advanced Picture Editing III
  • FA/FILM 1020 Introduction to Filmmaking

2015-2016

  • FA/FILM 3130 Introduction to Picture Editing I
  • FA/FILM 4130 Intermediate Picture Editing II
  • FA/FILM 4135 Advanced Picture Editing III
  • FA/FILM 1020 Introduction to Filmmaking

2014-2015 F

  • FA/FILM 3135, Postproduction
  • FA/FILM 4135 Advanced Picture Editing III

2013-2014

  • FA/FILM 3130 Introduction to Picture Editing I
  • FA/FILM 4130 Intermediate Picture Editing II
  • FA/FILM 4135 Advanced Picture Editing III

2012-2013

  • FA/FILM 3001/4001 Documentary Production (co-instructor)
  • FA/FILM 3130 Introduction to Picture Editing I,
  • FA/FILM 4130 Intermediate Picture Editing II
  • FA/FILM 4135 Advanced Picture Editing III

2011-2012

  • FA/FILM 3130 Introduction to Picture Editing I
  • FA/FILM 4130 Intermediate Picture Editing II
  • FA/FILM 4135 Advanced Picture Editing III

2010-2011

  • FA/FILM 3130 Introduction to Picture Editing I
  • FA/FILM 4130 Intermediate Picture Editing II
  • FA/FILM 4135 Advanced Picture Editing III

2009-2010

  • FA/FILM 3130 Introduction to Picture Editing I
  • FA/FILM 4130 Intermediate Picture Editing II
  • FA/FILM 4135 Advanced Picture Editing II

2008-2009

  • FA/FILM 3130 Introduction to Picture Editing I
  • FA/FILM 4130 Intermediate Picture Editing II
  • FA/FILM 4135 Advanced Picture Editing III

2007-2008

  • FA/FILM 3130 Introduction to Picture Editing I
  • FA/FILM 4130 Intermediate Picture Editing II

2006-2007

  • FA/FILM 3130 Introduction to Picture Editing I
  • FA/FILM 4130 Intermediate Picture Editing II

2005-2006

  • FA/FILM 3130 Introduction to Picture Editing I (co-instructor)

2006-2019

  • Supervisor for Independent Studies (various)

GRADUATE

2023 – 2024

  • FA/FILM 5010 Production
  • FA/FILM 6251 Essay Film

2021 – 2022

  • FA/FILM 5010 Production
  • FA/FILM 5400 Graduate Seminar

2020 – 2021

  • FA/FILM 5200 Selected Topics in Production
  • FA/FILM 5400 Graduate Seminar

2019 – 2020

  • FA/FILM 5400 Graduate Seminar
  • FA/FILM 5600 Art of Event

Cinema & Media Arts

People of AMPD

Technical Staff

Michael Irwin

Contract Faculty

Karen Walton

Contract Faculty

Thomas Wallner

Contract Faculty

Michael Trommer

Contract Faculty

Jonathan Silveira

Contract Faculty

Brigitte Sachse

Contract Faculty

Steve Sanguedolce

Contract Faculty

Jim Munroe

Contract Faculty

JP Marchant

Contract Faculty

Jenn McGouran

Contract Faculty

Caroline Klimek

Contract Faculty

Shant Joshi

Contract Faculty

Wendy Donnan

Contract Faculty

Meagan Byrne

Contract Faculty

Bazir Adrienne

Contract Faculty

Erik Anderson

Contract Limit Appointment

Matthew I Thompson

Assistant Professor

Fabio Montanari

Assistant Professor

Sue Johnson

Assistant Professor

Hector Centeno Garcia

Contract Faculty

Morgan Fics

Assistant Professor

Moussa Djigo

Contract Faculty

Bill Robertson

Contract Faculty

Michelle Szemberg

Contract Faculty

Matthew Miller

Contract Faculty

Francisca Duran

Administrative Staff

Yukari Hayakawa

Associate Professor

Michael Darroch

Administrative Staff

Gilbert Kwong

Administrative Staff

Stephanie Adamson

Administrative Staff

Lauren O'Brien

Technical Staff

Marcos Arriaga

Contract Faculty

William Robertson

Contract Faculty

Vladimir Paskaljevic

Contract Faculty

Matthew Johnson

Contract Faculty

Chris Romeike

Associate Professor

Patricio Dávila

Contract Faculty

Tony Nardi

Technical Staff

Jon Hedley

Technical Staff

Claudius Pinto

Associate Professor

Ingrid Veninger

Assistant Professor

Taien Ng-Chan

Associate Professor

Mary Bunch

Associate Professor

Manfred Becker

Associate Professor

Kenneth Rogers

Contract Faculty

Rebecca Schechter

Contract Faculty

Steve Munro

Contract Faculty

Carol McBride

Sessional Assistant Professor

Gillian Helfield

Contract Faculty

Maureen Dorey

Professor Emeritus

Antonin Lhotsky

Professor Emeritus

Jim Fisher

Professor Emeritus

Evan W. Cameron

Associate Professor

Michael Zryd

Professor Emerita

Suzie Young

Associate Professor

Howard Wiseman

Professor Emerita

Renate H. Wickens

Professor Emerita

Colleen Wagner

Associate Professor

Temenuga Trifonova

Professor Emerita

Marie Rickard

Associate Professor

John McCullough

Professor

Janine Marchessault

Professor

Brenda Longfellow

Professor

Ali Kazimi

Professor Emeritus

Philip Hoffman

Associate Professor

Sharon Hayashi

Associate Professor

John Greyson

Associate Professor

Laurence Green

Professor Emeritus

Scott Forsyth

Professor

Caitlin Fisher

Professor Emeritus

Seth Feldman

Associate Professor

Barbara Evans

Associate Professor

Tereza Barta