The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam

20031 h 28 min 5 secFilm: Documentary

G

Direction: Ann Marie Fleming

Production: Ann Marie Fleming (Long Tack Film Inc.)Svend-Erik Eriksen (National Film Board of Canada)Ruth Vincent (Long Tack Film Inc.)Bruce Alcock (Long Tack Film Inc.)Rina Fraticelli (National Film Board of Canada)

Script: Ann Marie Fleming

Produced by Long Tack Film Inc. in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada.

Long Tack Sam was an internationally renowned Chinese acrobat and magician. He overcame isolation, poverty, cultural and linguistic barriers, extreme racism and world wars to become one of the most successful vaudeville acts of his time. His showmanship was unrivalled, yet he refused to appear in movies because of the way Chinese were portrayed at the time.

Why don't we know anything about him? Filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming travels the globe searching for the story of ther great-grandfather, the cosmopolitan Long Tack Sam. To unravel the mystery of a man she knows nothing about, she turns to family, friends, acrobats and magicians. Their anecdotes and memories, interwoven with gorgeous animated archival material, paint a visually stunning portrait of a fascinating individual, a particular world at a particular time.

A celebration of the spirit of Long Tack Sam's magic and art, this richly textured first person road movie is an exhilarating testament to his legacy and a prismatic tour through the 20th Century.

It all begins in a small village in China...

Subject categories


  • Arts > Performing Arts
  • Theater > Performing ArtsPortraits

Credits


writer
Ann Marie Fleming
director
Ann Marie Fleming
producer
Ann Marie Fleming
Svend-Erik Eriksen
executive producer
Ruth Vincent
Bruce Alcock
Ann Marie Fleming
Rina Fraticelli
editor
Ann Marie Fleming
Ileana Pietrobruno
music composer
Patric Caird
cinematographer
Ann Marie Fleming
animation services
Global Mechanic
production services
Global Mechanic
animation supervisor
Bruce Alcock
animation
Nathaniel Akin
Bruce Alcock
Cesare Battista
Hannah Cho
Mark Cutler
Ted Dave
Hillary Denny
Iain Gardner
Ian Godfrey
Scott Kiborn
Ruby Li Long
Ceile Prowse
Patrick Siemer
Tim Stuby
Ted Tozer
Jorge Veloso
Younger Yang
illustrations
Nathaniel Akin
Bruce Alcock
Cesare Battista
Hannah Cho
Mark Cutler
Ted Dave
Hillary Denny
Iain Gardner
Ian Godfrey
Scott Kiborn
Ruby Li Long
Ceile Prowse
Patrick Siemer
Tim Stuby
Ted Tozer
Jorge Veloso
Younger Yang
colouring
Nathaniel Akin
Bruce Alcock
Cesare Battista
Hannah Cho
Mark Cutler
Ted Dave
Hillary Denny
Iain Gardner
Ian Godfrey
Scott Kiborn
Ruby Li Long
Ceile Prowse
Patrick Siemer
Tim Stuby
Ted Tozer
Jorge Veloso
Younger Yang
design
Nathaniel Akin
Bruce Alcock
Cesare Battista
Hannah Cho
Mark Cutler
Ted Dave
Hillary Denny
Iain Gardner
Ian Godfrey
Scott Kiborn
Ruby Li Long
Ceile Prowse
Patrick Siemer
Tim Stuby
Ted Tozer
Jorge Veloso
Younger Yang
comics designer
Julian Lawrence
sound design
MX Solutions Inc.
voice editor
Dan Gagnon
effects editor
Dan Gagnon
sound mixer
Shawn Pierce
music mixer
Shawn Pierce
musician
Coco Alcorn
Doug Balfour
David Bernstein
Miles Black
Graham Boyle
Tom Colclough
Dennis Esson
Mark Ferris
Deanna Gestrin
Miles hill
John Payne
Bill Runge
Robbie Steininger
Ron Thompson
Brad Turner
Cameron Wilson
music - performance
Silk Road Music
music performer
Feng Jun Wang
Jian Ming Pan
Qiu Xia He
Rong Jun
André Thibault
lyrics
Patric Caird
Ann Marie Fleming
Feng Jun Wang
Qiu Xia He
Rong Jun
voice
Bill Meilen
Alessandro Juliani
narrator
Ann Marie Fleming
voice recording
Wayne Kozak Studios
assistant editor
Ted Tozer
second assistant editor
Bethany Handfeld
executive consultant
Peggy Case
script consultant
Michael Gross
production manager
Elizabeth Murray
Tina Ouellette
production co-ordinator
Melissa Riley
assistant to the producer
Glace W. Lawrence
Ceile Prowse
clearances
Julie Burtinshaw
Judith Downes
Angela Grams
Elizabeth Klinck
Stanley Ottenstein
Melissa Riley
production accounting
Fion Yung
legal consultant
Ori Kowarsky
scanning
Zachery Longboy
Tammie Yamada
video digitizing
Brendan Woollard
colour timer
Gary Shaw

Awards


  • Award for Best DocumentaryFilm Festival
  • Best Documentary Feature AwardNewport Beach Film Festival
  • Award for Best Feature DocumentaryInternational Film Festival
  • Bronze Plaque - Category: Humanities International Film and Video Festival