Family Portrait

In the late 1960s, during an era of social and political re-imagining, filmmaker Liz Marshall’s father and mother, Grainger and Diane were at the centre of a Toronto-based communitarian movement of baby boomers. In 1971 the community co-purchased Midian Farm as a back-to-the-land social experiment, but its utopian vision eventually collapsed. The end of their marriage and the fall of the farm left a resounding residue; a hangover from hope. More than four decades later Liz Marshall stitches together a visually immersive treasure trove of archives and dips between memory and current day reflection to understand and put to rest a transformative piece of family history.

Written, Directed, Produced by Liz Marshall

Edited by Mike Munn, Liz Marshall

Assistant Editor Ellen DesRues

Cinematography by Liz Marshall, John Price, Justin Lovell

Music by Ken Whiteley

Production Coordinator Nathalie Klinck

Post-Production Technical Supervisor David Bitton

Sound Editor, Sound Mixer Ryan Wibowo

Location Sound Recordists Peter Sawade, Mike Filippov, Chris Miller

NOMINATED FOR THE
2017 York University Thesis Prize

MADE AT
Cinema & Media Arts MFA, York University 2017

SUPPORTED BY
The Susan Crocker and John Hunkin Award
in the Fine Arts, and Ontario Graduate Scholarship