''The Living Stone'' is a 1958 Canadian short

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by John Feeney and produced by the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

. It shows the inspiration behind Inuit sculpture, where the aim of the artist is to release the image he or she sees imprisoned in the stone. Among its numerous honours was a nomination, at the

31st Academy Awards The 31st Academy Awards ceremony was held on April 6, 1959, to honor the best films of 1958. The night was dominated by '' Gigi'', which won nine Oscars, breaking the previous record of eight set by ''Gone with the Wind'' and tied by '' From He ...

, for Best Documentary Short Film. The 32-minute film is included in the 2011

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

film anthology '' Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories'', bringing together over 100 films by and about Canadian Inuit, distributed on DVD to Inuit communities across the

Canadian North Bradley Air Services, operating as Canadian North, is a wholly Inuit-owned airline headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, Canada. It operates scheduled passenger services to communities in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Nunavik region ...

and available online.

Awards

11th Canadian Film Awards The 11th Canadian Film Awards were held on June 5, 1959 to honour achievements in Canadian film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . pp. 45-47. At this time ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

: Award of Merit, General Information, 1959 *

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

Locarno Locarno (; ; Ticinese dialect, Ticinese: ; formerly in ) is a southern Switzerland, Swiss List of towns in Switzerland, town and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district Locarno (district), Locarno (of which it is the capita ...

, Switzerland: Diploma of Honour, 1959 *

International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg The Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (), often referred to by the German-language initialism IFFMH, is an annual film festival established in 1952 hosted jointly by the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg, the ...

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

: Special Commendation, 1959 * Robert J. Flaherty Film Awards, City College Institute of Film Techniques: Honourable Mention, 1959 * Winnipeg Film Council Annual Film Festival,

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

: Best Canadian Film, Short Subject, 1959 * Festival of Tourist and Folklore Films,

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

: CIDALC Medal of Honour, 1960 * American Film and Video Festival, New York: Blue Ribbon, Graphic Arts, Sculpture and Architecture, 1960 * Rapallo International Film Festival,

Rapallo Rapallo ( , , ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, in the Italy, Italian region of Liguria. As of 2017 it had 29,778 inhabitants. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, on the Tigullio Gulf, between Portofino and ...

, Italy: Special Prize, Cup of the Minister of Tourism and Entertainment for Best Foreign Film, 1960 * Rapallo International Film Festival,

, Italy: Second Prize, Silver Cup of the Province of Genoa, 1960 * SODRE International Festival of Documentary and Experimental Films,

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Uruguay: Honourable Mention 1960 * International Festival of Films on People and Countries,

La Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguria ...

, Italy: Silver Cup for the Most Popular Film of the Festival, 1967 * International Festival of Films on People and Countries,

, Italy: Medal for Best Ethnological Film, 1967 * International Maritime and Exploration Film Festival,

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

, France: Ergo Prize of the Presidency of the Republic, 1969 *

, Los Angeles: Nominee: Best Documentary Short Film, 1958

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Living Stone, The 1958 films 1958 short documentary films Canadian short documentary films English-language Canadian films National Film Board of Canada documentaries Films directed by John Feeney Documentary films about visual artists Inuit art Films produced by Tom Daly National Film Board of Canada short films Documentary films about Inuit in Canada 1950s Canadian films