short features up online

A number of Tim's short films and video features are now available for viewing online. They include excerpts from Upright Grand and The Last Weir, essays for the Hallmark Channel, and the demo for a feature documentary, titled Griefwalker, that he is writing and directing for the National Film Board of Canada.

Griefwalker

Counselor and palliative care worker Stephen Jenkinson takes a radically different approach to the care of the terminally ill.  He advises that they "abandon false hope" and turn instead to grief. "I teach the art," he says, "of being broken-hearted." Moreover, he insists that each of us has an obligation to die well.

© 2007 The National Film Board of Canada    demo online here

The Mystery of Listening

Personamedia and The Listening Centre in Toronto have released a new CD called The Mystery of Listening: Dr. Alfred Tomatis on the Ear, the Voice and Chant, produced by Tim Wilson. Alfred Tomatis (1920 – 2001) was the pioneering listening psychologist whose method has been successfully applied to everything from the treatment of autism and learning disabilities, to the singing of Benedictine monks, to “listening fitness” training for artists and business people.

The new CD is a revised and remastered version of Tim's landmark 1978 public radio documentary (aired on both CBC and National Public Radio) titled simply "Chant". The program has also been distributed on cassette by Sounds True and, in collaboration with Don Campbell, by Theosophical Publishing.

For this new edition, Tim revisited original interviews with Dr. Tomatis — including the only sound document in English featuring Tomatis in his own words — and added substantial new commentary by his longtime collaborator, Paul Madaule, Director of the Listening Centre in Toronto.

The new CDs are $18.95 CDN, $16.50 U.S.  To order, or for more information, contact The Listening Centre tel. (416) 588-4136, or here, where you can also listen to a sample.

The Last Weir wins "Best Atlantic Short Film"

The Last Weir, the haunting portrait of a vanishing way of life on Nova Scotia's Digby Neck, was awarded Best Atlantic Short Film at the 25th annual Atlantic Film Festival, held in Halifax.

Judges described the film, which premiered on CBC Television's CBC News Sunday, as "poetic, and deeply resonant."

Producer/Director Tim Wilson accepted the award, which carried a prize of $5,000. worth of post-production services from Eyes Post, based in Toronto.

Earlier awards given the same production include a "Chris", from the 52nd annual Columbus International Film and Video Awards, one of America's longest-running and most prestigious documentary festivals. The film won a Bronze Plaque (for first runner-up) in its Humanities section.

CBC Television also submitted “The Last Weir” to the 2004 Gemini Awards in the category of Best Writing in a Documentary. 

In the summer of 2005, Board Members of the Sierra Club, one of America's most active and energetic ecological organizations, were presented with copies of the film during their annual meeting in Boston.

"The Last Weir" deals with the impact of industrialization — particularly a huge proposed basalt quarry — on the community structure and delicate ecosystem of Nova Scotia's Digby Neck.

Bear River Blessing helps win major tourist award

A short video produced by Personamedia for the opening of the Bear River First Nation Heritage and Cultural Centre has helped the centre win one of Nova Scotia's major tourist awards, the 2004 Tourism Industry Association's Crystal Award of Excellence for Tourism Innovator.


The Centre interprets the heritage and culture of the Mi’kmaq of the Bear River area. You can download the complete video (5 mins.) from the Centre's website by clicking here.

Upright Grand wins awards

“Upright Grand”, a poignant personal essay about a mother's descent into dementia, has been awarded an Honorable Mention at the prestigious New York Film and Television Awards.

The film has also garnered awards at the “Freddies” (“the Oscars of Medicine”) in Los Angeles, the Columbus Journalism Awards, and a Golden Sheaf for Best Short Documentary at the Yorkton Festival.

Hallmark Channel's New Morning projects
The Hallmark Channel's “New Morning” program, through its production arm, Lightworks Production Group in New York, continues to commission short visual essays on themes ranging from “A Thing for Boats”, to “Physical Labour as a form of Prayer.”