Jack Winston Darcus (born February 22, 1941, in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

) is a Canadian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. Since graduating from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1963, Jack Darcus has divided his artistic career between painting and filmmaking. In 1969, already an established painter, he directed his first feature film - a documentary entitled ''Great Coups of History''. Though consistently well received by critics, his films have never reached a large audience beyond film scholars and fanatics. In 1982 he wrote and directed ''

Deserters Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or Military base, post without permission (a Pass (military), pass, Shore leave, liberty or Leave (U.S. military), leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with u ...

'', his most acclaimed film which concerns two American Vietnam War deserters in Canada. The film earned Darcus three

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

nominations for his direction, screenplay and editing. Darcus had also directed for the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

and

Atlantis Films Atlantis Communications was a Canadian production company and television broadcaster that was formed in 1978 by Queen's University students Michael MacMillan, Janice L. Platt and Seaton S. MacLean. It was later merged in 1998 with Alliance Comm ...

. Darcus has not directed a film since 1997 but still remains a devoted painter whose paintings have been exhibited nationally and internationally, and he has also written three novels.

Selected filmography

*''Great Coups of History'' (1969) (Documentary) *'' Proxyhawks'' (1971) *''The Wolfpen Principle'' (1974) *''

'' (1983) *'' Overnight'' (1985) *''Kingsgate'' (1989) *''The Portrait'' (1992) *''Silence'' (1997)

References

External links

*
Jack Darcus Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darcus, Jack 1941 births Living people 20th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters 21st-century Canadian painters Artists from Vancouver Film producers from British Columbia Film directors from Vancouver Writers from Vancouver 20th-century Canadian screenwriters Canadian male screenwriters 20th-century Canadian male artists 21st-century Canadian male artists Screenwriters from British Columbia