Giles Walker (January 17, 1946 – March 23, 2020) was a Scottish-born Canadian film director.

Biography

Giles Walker, born in 1946 in Dundee, Scotland, received a B.A. from the University of New Brunswick and an M.A. from Stanford University Film School in 1972. He joined the National Film Board of Canada soon after, directing documentaries, then switching to dramas in 1977. Bravery in the Field was nominated for a live-action short Oscar in 1979. The Masculine Mystique (directed with John N. Smith), the first of a trio of NFB movies dealing with issues of gender relations, showed Walker's experimental side, working with non-professional actors and the technique of improvisation. The two other films in the series, however, moved closer to an easy, palatable Hollywood style – successfully in 90 Days but less so in The Last Straw. Perhaps Walker's most successful fictional work is Princes in Exile, a film about a summer camp for children with cancer, notable for delicate treatment of the subject and a moving lack of sentimentality. Walker died in March 2020 after a 10-year battle with brain cancer.

Partial filmography

Short film

YearTitleDirectorWriter
1979Bravery in the FieldYesYes
Twice Upon a Time...YesNo

Feature film

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducer
1984The Masculine MystiqueYesYesYes
198590 DaysYesYesYes
1987The Last StrawYesYesYes
1990Princes in ExileYesNoNo
1993Ordinary MagicYesNoNo
1996Never Too LateYesNoNo
2001Blind TerrorYesNoNo

Television

YearTitleNotes
1999Little Men1 episode
2001Tales from the Neverending Story2 episodes
2004Fries with That?11 episodes
2007Doctor*Ology2 episodes

External links

  • at IMDb
  • at the National Film Board of Canada

See also