# Phillip Borsos

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Canadian filmmaker (1953–1995)

Phillip Borsos Born (1953-05-05)May 5, 1953 Hobart, Australia Died February 2, 1995(1995-02-02) (aged 41) Vancouver, Canada Occupations Film director film producer screenwriter Known for The Grey Fox Nails The Mean Season Bethune: The Making of a Hero Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog Spouse Beret Paulsen Borsos Children 2

**Phillip Borsos** (May 5, 1953 – February 2, 1995) was an Australian-born Canadian film director, producer, and screenwriter.[1] A four-time [Canadian Film Award](/source/Canadian_Film_Award) and [Genie Award](/source/Genie_Awards) winner and an [Academy Award](/source/Academy_Awards) nominee, he was one of the major figures of Canadian and [British Columbian](/source/British_Columbia) filmmaking during the 1980s,[2][3] earning critical acclaim and accolades at a time when Canadian filmmakers were still struggling to gain attention outside of North America.[1][4]

## Early life and education

Borsos was born in [Hobart](/source/Hobart), Australia, in 1953. His father was a Hungarian sculptor and his mother an English nurse. His family emigrated to [Canada](/source/Canada) when he was five years old, settling in [Trail, British Columbia](/source/Trail%2C_British_Columbia). Borsos showed an early interest in filmmaking while attending high school in [Maple Ridge](/source/Maple_Ridge%2C_British_Columbia). He acquired a 16mm [Bolex camera](/source/Bolex) from his father and began making short films and documentaries. After high school, he studied film at the [Banff Centre](/source/Banff_Centre) School for Fine Arts and at the Vancouver School of Art, now the [Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design](/source/Emily_Carr_Institute_of_Art_and_Design).

## Career

His early work included several shorts notable for their cinematography and pacing. In 1976, he incorporated his own company, Mercury Pictures, to produce commercials and sponsored films. Borsos established himself as a filmmaker to watch in the 1970s with three assured short documentaries: *[Cooperage](/source/Cooperage_(film))* (1976), *[Spartree](/source/Spartree)* (1977) and *[Nails](/source/Nails_(1979_film))* (1979). All three won Best Theatrical Short at the [Canadian Film Awards](/source/Canadian_Film_Awards), and *Nails* received a nomination for an [Academy Award](/source/Academy_Awards) in the Documentary Short category.

In 1982, at the age of 27, he emerged as a major directing talent with his feature debut, *[The Grey Fox](/source/The_Grey_Fox)*. It told the story of [Bill Miner](/source/Bill_Miner), Canada's first train robber, and starred [Richard Farnsworth](/source/Richard_Farnsworth) as Miner, along with [Jackie Burroughs](/source/Jackie_Burroughs) as his mistress. This dramatic, authentic dissection of the Canadian West won seven [Genie Awards](/source/Genie_Awards), including Best Picture and Best Director, as well as being nominated for two [Golden Globe Awards](/source/41st_Golden_Globe_Awards), including Best Foreign Film.[5] It is still regarded as one of the best films ever made in Canada.

He followed that success with the serial killer thriller *[The Mean Season](/source/The_Mean_Season)* (1985), which starred [Kurt Russell](/source/Kurt_Russell) and [Mariel Hemingway](/source/Mariel_Hemingway); and the family drama *[One Magic Christmas](/source/One_Magic_Christmas)* (1985), starring [Mary Steenburgen](/source/Mary_Steenburgen) and [Harry Dean Stanton](/source/Harry_Dean_Stanton). Production problems dogged his biopic *[Bethune: The Making of a Hero](/source/Bethune%3A_The_Making_of_a_Hero)* (1990), which starred [Donald Sutherland](/source/Donald_Sutherland) as Dr. [Norman Bethune](/source/Norman_Bethune), and took four excruciating years to make. There were delays, crew mutinies, technical disasters and endless feuds over the script. On location in remote areas of rural China, with Chinese bureaucrats as his co-producers, Borsos was pushed to his limit. In the end, the producers froze him out of the final editing process and finished the film without him. Regardless, it received critical accolades, and earned him a [Genie Award](/source/Genie_Awards) nomination for [Best Director](/source/Canadian_Screen_Award_for_Best_Director).[6]

His final film, *[Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog](/source/Far_from_Home%3A_The_Adventures_of_Yellow_Dog),* was shot on and around his summer home on [Mayne Island](/source/Mayne_Island). Based on his script, with characters named after his children, it was his most personal film, an adventure about a boy stranded in the woods with his dog. It was released in 1995, only a month before his passing, and was nominated for Best Family Feature at that year's [Young Artist Awards](/source/Young_Artist_Award).

## Personal life

Borsos was married to his wife, Beret, with whom he had two sons.[7]

## Death

In early 1994, he was diagnosed with [acute myeloblastic leukaemia](/source/Acute_myeloblastic_leukemia).[8] He died on February 2, 1995, at age 41.[9]

## Legacy

The [Whistler Film Festival](/source/Whistler_Film_Festival) annually presents the [Borsos Competition](/source/Borsos_Competition), a set of juried awards named in honour of Phillip Borsos, for which Canadian films screening at the festival are eligible.[10][11] Borsos is considered a pioneer of the [British Columbian](/source/British_Columbia) film industry, being among the early directors to utilize and highlight its abundant and visually-stunning landscapes, and helping to establish the province's reputation as [Hollywood North](/source/Hollywood_North).[12][13]

## Filmography

Year Film Director Producer Writer Notes 1982 The Grey Fox Yes Yes No Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction Montréal World Film Festival Award for Best Canadian Film Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film[5] Nominated - Golden Taormina Charybdis 1985 The Mean Season Yes No No Cognac Festival du Film Policier TF1 Special Award One Magic Christmas Yes Yes Yes Nominated - Youth in Film Award for Exceptional Feature Film - Drama 1990 Bethune: The Making of a Hero Yes No No Nominated - Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction 1995 Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog Yes No Yes Nominated - Youth in Film Award for Best Family Feature

### Short films

Year Film Director Producer Writer Notes 1974 Cadillac[14] Yes No No 1975 The Barking Dog[15] Yes No No 1976 Cooperage[16] Yes No No Canadian Film Award for Best Theatrical Short Nominated - Chicago International Film Festival Gold Hugo for Best Documentary 1977 Spartree Yes Yes No Canadian Film Award for Best Theatrical Short 1977 Spartree/Making the Film[17] Yes No No 1979 Nails[18] Yes No No Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Nominated - Academy Awards for Best Documentary, Short Subjects Nominated - Genie Award for Outstanding Direction in a Documentary (Non-Feature) 1979 Racquetball[19] Yes No No

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-canenc_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-canenc_1-1) [Phillip Borsos](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/phillip-borsos) at [The Canadian Encyclopedia](/source/The_Canadian_Encyclopedia), dated March 4, 2015, accessed September 2, 2019

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Fonds PR-2086. Phillip Borsos fonds"](https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/phillip-borsos-fonds).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["British Columbia: From Head Hunters to Konelīne"](http://povmagazine.com/articles/view/british-columbia-from-head-hunters-to-koneliine). *povmagazine.com*. September 25, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Phillip Borsos | Canadian director"](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Phillip-Borsos). *Encyclopedia Britannica*. Retrieved June 9, 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_5-1) ["Grey Fox, The"](https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/grey-fox). *goldenglobes.com*. Retrieved January 20, 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["VIFF | Bethune: The Making of a Hero"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190716201247/https://viff.org/Online/f28962-bethune-the-making-of-a-hero). *viff.org*. Archived from [the original](https://viff.org/Online/f28962-bethune-the-making-of-a-hero) on July 16, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Phillip Borsos (Obituary)"](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/phillip-borsos-obituary). *The Canadian Encyclopedia*. Retrieved September 2, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Tribute to Phillip Borsos"](https://web.archive.org/web/20230930052450/https://www.northernstars.ca/borsos_phillip_tribute/). *Northernstars.ca*. May 5, 2014. Archived from [the original](http://www.northernstars.ca/borsos_phillip_tribute/) on September 30, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Philip Borsos; Film Director and Writer, 41"](https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/05/obituaries/philip-borsos-film-director-and-writer-41.html). *The New York Times*. February 5, 1995. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0362-4331](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved January 20, 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Awards & Juries"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160203200632/http://www.whistlerfilmfestival.com/festival-info/awards-and-juries). *Whistler Film Festival*. Archived from [the original](http://www.whistlerfilmfestival.com/festival-info/awards-and-juries) on February 3, 2016. Retrieved February 7, 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Etan Vlessing (December 2, 2012). ["Kate Melville's 'Picture Day' Wins Best Canadian Feature at Whistler Film Festival"](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/whistler-borsos-award-picture-day-396654). *The Hollywood Reporter*. Retrieved February 7, 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Fatah, Sonya (December 22, 2016). ["Playback's 2016 Canadian Film & TV Hall of Fame: Phillip Borsos"](http://playbackonline.ca/2016/12/22/playbacks-2016-canadian-film-tv-hall-of-fame-phillip-borsos/). Retrieved June 9, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["VIFVF, Philip Borsos Tribute"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190716201248/https://victoriafilmfestival.com/archive/pre2000/borsos99.html). *victoriafilmfestival.com*. Archived from [the original](https://victoriafilmfestival.com/archive/pre2000/borsos99.html) on July 16, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:1_14-0)** ["Cadillac"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190902210951/http://collection.tiff.net/mwebcgi/mweb/mweb/mweb?request=record;id=223646;type=102). *TIFF Film Reference Library*. Archived from [the original](http://collection.tiff.net/mwebcgi/mweb/mweb/mweb?request=record;id=223646;type=102) on September 2, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:2_15-0)** ["The Barking Dog"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190902210957/http://collection.tiff.net/mwebcgi/mweb/mweb%3Frequest%3Drecord;id%3D223645;type%3D102). *TIFF Film Reference Library*. Archived from [the original](http://collection.tiff.net/mwebcgi/mweb/mweb?request=record;id=223645;type=102) on September 2, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** [""Cooperage". A Film. Streaming Media online 17 minutes"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190625002342/http://www.thehazardgroup.com/cooperage/). *The Hazard Group*. Archived from [the original](http://www.thehazardgroup.com/cooperage/) on June 25, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Allen, Blaine (June 2002). Beard, William; White, Jerry (eds.). [*North of Everything: English-Canadian Cinema Since 1980*](https://www.uap.ualberta.ca/titles/350-9780888643902-north-of-everything). University of Alberta Press. p. 106. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-88864-398-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-88864-398-8).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** ["Nails"](https://www.nfb.ca/film/nails/), *National Film Board of Canada*, retrieved June 9, 2019

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Allen, Blaine (June 2002). Beard, William; White, Jerry (eds.). [*North of Everything: English-Canadian Cinema Since 1980*](https://www.uap.ualberta.ca/titles/350-9780888643902-north-of-everything). University of Alberta Press. p. 106. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-88864-398-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-88864-398-8).

## External links

- [Phillip Borsos](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0097491/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

v t e Films directed by Phillip Borsos Cooperage (1976) Spartree (1977) Nails (1979) The Grey Fox (1982) The Mean Season (1985) One Magic Christmas (1985) Bethune: The Making of a Hero (1990) Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995)

v t e Canadian Screen Award for Best Director Canadian Film Awards 1966–1978 Ron Kelly (1966) Allan King and Ron Kelly (1967) Don Owen (1968) Peter Pearson (1969) Paul Almond (1970) Claude Jutra (1971) Gilles Carle (1972) David Acomba (1973) No Award (1974) Michel Brault (1975) Harvey Hart (1976) Jean Beaudin (1977) Daryl Duke (1978) Genie Awards 1980–2011 Bob Clark (1980) Francis Mankiewicz (1981) Gilles Carle (1982) Phillip Borsos (1983) Bob Clark / David Cronenberg (1984) Micheline Lanctôt (1985) Sandy Wilson (1986) Denys Arcand (1987) Jean-Claude Lauzon (1988) David Cronenberg (1989) Denys Arcand (1990) Bruce Beresford (1991) David Cronenberg (1992) François Girard (1993) Atom Egoyan (1994) Robert Lepage (1995) David Cronenberg (1996) Atom Egoyan (1997) François Girard (1998) Jeremy Podeswa (1999) Denis Villeneuve (2000) Zacharias Kunuk (2001) David Cronenberg (2002) Denys Arcand (2003) Francis Leclerc (2004) Jean-Marc Vallée (2005) Charles Binamé (2006) Sarah Polley (2007) Benoît Pilon (2008) Denis Villeneuve (2009) Denis Villeneuve (2010) Philippe Falardeau (2011) Canadian Screen Awards 2012–present Kim Nguyen (2012) Denis Villeneuve (2013) Xavier Dolan (2014) Lenny Abrahamson (2015) Xavier Dolan (2016) Aisling Walsh (2017) Jasmin Mozaffari (2018) Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn (2019) Deepa Mehta (2020) Shasha Nakhai, Rich Williamson (2021) Clement Virgo (2022) Matt Johnson (2023) Matthew Rankin (2024) R. T. Thorne (2025)

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National United States France BnF data Spain Netherlands Korea Poland Israel Other IdRef Yale LUX

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Phillip Borsos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Borsos) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Borsos?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.