Roman Kroitor facts for kids

Roman Kroitor (born December 12, 1926 – died September 17, 2012) was a Canadian filmmaker. He was a true pioneer in the world of movies. He helped create Cinéma vérité, a style of filmmaking that shows real life as it happens.

Roman Kroitor also co-founded IMAX, the giant screen movie format. He invented the Sandde system, which lets artists draw in 3D. Plus, he was the original idea behind "The Force" in the Star Wars movies! He won many awards for his amazing work, including two BAFTA Awards and two Oscar nominations.

Early Life and Learning

Roman Boghdan Kroitor was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. His parents, Peter and Tatiana, were teachers from Ukraine. Roman's father passed away when Roman was only four years old. His mother then moved the family to Winnipeg and kept teaching. Roman went to the University of Manitoba and earned a Master's degree in Philosophy in 1951.

Working at the National Film Board of Canada

In 1949, Roman Kroitor started working as an intern at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). After finishing university, he was hired full-time. He began as a production assistant and later became a film editor.

His first film, Rescue Party (1953), helped start his unique Cinéma vérité style. This style focuses on showing real events and people without much interference. He then made other important films like Lonely Boy and Stravinsky. By 1958, Roman was producing documentaries. By 1964, he was helping the NFB create fiction films too.

Creating IMAX: Big Screens, Big Ideas

After watching the NFB film Universe (1960), famous director Stanley Kubrick wanted Roman Kroitor to work on his movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. But Roman said no. He was busy with a huge multi-screen film called Labyrinth. This film was shown at Expo 67 in Montreal and was a big hit!

In the same year, Roman Kroitor and his friend Graeme Ferguson left the NFB to start their own company. They called it Multi-Screen Corporation, which later became IMAX Corp. They worked with two other friends, Robert Kerr and engineer Bill Shaw. Their new system used a special camera and very large film. Each film frame was the size of a postcard!

In 1970, Roman Kroitor produced the very first IMAX film, Tiger Child, for Expo 70 in Osaka, Japan. He continued to make IMAX films even after returning to the NFB in 1973. In 1990, he helped direct Stones at the Max, the first IMAX feature film. He also produced the first IMAX 3D film, We Are Born of Stars, and the first full-color OMNIMAX (IMAX Dome) 3D film, Echoes of the Sun.

SANDDE: Drawing in 3D

Roman Kroitor wanted artists to be able to draw directly in 3D. He felt that the old ways of making 3D films were too complicated. They needed mathematicians and programmers to turn an artist's ideas into a 3D image.

So, he came up with the SANDDE system. This special hardware and software let artists draw exactly what they wanted to see in full stereoscopic 3D. It made creating 3D animation much easier for artists.

The Force and Star Wars

Did you know Roman Kroitor helped inspire "The Force" in Star Wars? Star Wars creator George Lucas said so! Lucas first heard about "the force" in a conversation from a 1963 NFB film called 21-87.

In the film, Roman Kroitor disagreed with someone who said humans are just complex machines. Roman argued that many people feel a "force" or "something" behind what we see in nature and other living things. He said they call it God. This idea stuck with George Lucas and became a key part of the Star Wars universe.

Life and Legacy

In 1955, Roman Kroitor married Janet Ferguson, who was the sister of his friend Graeme Ferguson. They had five children and lived in Montreal. Roman Kroitor passed away peacefully in his sleep on September 17, 2012, at the age of 85. He left behind an incredible legacy of innovation in filmmaking, from pioneering documentary styles to creating the giant screen experience we know as IMAX.

Awards and Recognition

Roman Kroitor's films received many awards throughout his career. Here are some of the most notable ones:

• Paul Tomkowicz: Street-Railway Switchman (1953) won First Prize at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen in 1958.
• The Back-Breaking Leaf (1959) received the Eurovision Grand Prize for Documentary Films at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival.
• Universe (1960) won a BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film in 1961 and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject in 1961. It also won the Genie Award for Film of the Year at the 13th Canadian Film Awards.
• Lonely Boy (1962) was named Film of the Year at the 15th Canadian Film Awards in 1963.
• Nobody Waved Goodbye (1964) won a BAFTA Award for Best Documentary in 1965.
• Henry Ford's America (1977) won an International Emmy Award for Best Non-Fiction Television Film in 1977.
• Bravery in the Field (1979) was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film in 1979.
• Challenger: An Industrial Romance (1980) received the Grierson Award for Outstanding Documentary in 1981.

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