David Christensen is an Alberta film director and producer who since October 2007 has been an executive producer with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) at its Northwest Centre, based in Edmonton.

Directing

His directorial credits include the 2003 NFB-co-produced documentary War Hospital, co-directed with Damien Lewis, and his 2006 dramatic feature debut film, Six Figures. A documentary filmmaker until Six Figures, Christensen prepared for the project by taking a workshop on directing actors with Judith Weston.[1] Six Figures was nominated for the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Award for Best Screenplay at the 26th Genie Awards, and was a runner up for the Best Canadian Film Award from the Toronto Film Critics Association.[2]

Producing

As head of the NFB's Edmonton studio, Christensen develops films from across the province of Alberta as well as northern Canada.

In 2015, Christensen produced Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson's feature, The Forbidden Room, and the feature documentary Hadwin's Judgement, based in part on John Vaillant's book The Golden Spruce about Grant Hadwin.[3] The same year, Christensen also developed a short film series to tell the stories of small rural communities across southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, The Grasslands Project.[4]

His recent productions also include Everything Will Be, a 2014 documentary film about the fate of Vancouver's Chinatown, for which he approached Vancouver filmmaker Julia Kwan to direct her first non-fiction film.[5][6] Other credits include Wiebo's War (executive producer), Vanishing Point (producer/executive producer) and We Were Children (producer/executive producer).[7][8]

Other film work

He is a co-founder of the Calgary Cinematheque and curated two film programs for the Alberta College of Art and Design.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Christensen makes feature film debut with 'Six Figures'". Regina Leader-Post. 27 September 2006. Archived from the original on 30 May 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Six Figures". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2014. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  3. ^ Volmers, Eric (22 January 2016). "Documentary chronicles the strange tale of logger-turned-environmentalist Grant Hadwin". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  4. ^ Wild, Tennessa (1 September 2016). "Southern stories told on film". The Western Producer.
  5. ^ Eisner, Ken (24 September 2014). "VIFF 2014: Julia Kwan's Everything Will Be captures Vancouver's Chinatown in transition". Georgia Straight. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  6. ^ Leirin-Young, Mark (24 September 2014). "VIFF: Julia Kwan rediscovers Chinatown in debut documentary". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  7. ^ Volmers, Eric (29 September 2012). "Calgary International Film Festival: National Film Board documentary, Vanishing Point, offers environmental message with a subtle touch". Calgary Herald. Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  8. ^ "NFB doc on Inuit dog slaughter debuts in Nunavut". CBC News. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  9. ^ Nayman, Adam (Summer 2008). "David Christensen, from indie filmmaker to NFB producer". Point of View. No. 70. Retrieved 11 March 2014.

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