Selwyn Jacob facts for kids

Selwyn Jacob is a Canadian filmmaker. He makes documentary films that often explore the lives of Black Canadians. He also tells stories from other multicultural communities in Canada. Selwyn Jacob has worked as an independent director and as a producer for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) since 1997.

Early Life and Education

Selwyn Jacob was born in Trinidad, West Indies, in 1941. He went to a teacher's college there. In 1968, he moved to Canada. He studied at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where he earned a Bachelor of Education degree.

While in Edmonton, a film producer named Fil Fraser helped and guided him. After finishing his first degree, Jacob went on to get a master's degree in film studies. He studied at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Becoming a Director

In the late 1970s, Selwyn Jacob was teaching in Lac La Biche, Alberta. This is where he got the idea for his first film. It was a documentary about Black immigrants from Oklahoma. They had settled in Amber Valley, Alberta. After several years of research, the film was finished in 1984. It was called We Remember Amber Valley. Jacob said he was the only Afro-Canadian film director in Alberta at that time.

Jacob directed other films too. These include:

• The Saint from North Battleford (1989), a film about Rueben Mayes.
• Carol's Mirror (1991), an educational film about racism and being equal.
• Al Tasmim, a film about Canada's oldest mosque.
• The Road Taken (1996), a documentary about Black railway porters. This film won the Canada Award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

Producing Films at the NFB

Selwyn Jacob continued to be interested in telling stories about Black Canadians. As a producer at the NFB, he also helped make many films by Asian Canadian filmmakers. These films explored the culture and history of their communities in western Canada.

Some of the films he produced at the NFB include:

• The Journey of Lesra Martin, about Lesra Martin. Lesra was a Canadian youth who helped a person who was wrongly imprisoned.
• Jeni LeGon: Living in a Great Big Way (1999), a film about Jeni Le Gon. She lived in Vancouver and was one of the first Black women entertainers in Hollywood to sign a long-term contract with a big studio.
• John McCrae's War: In Flanders Fields (1998), which looked at Canadian army doctor John McCrae. He wrote the famous poem, "In Flanders Fields".
• Letters from Home (2001) by Colleen Leung.
• Obāchan's Garden (2001) by Linda Ohama.
• From Harling Point (2003) by Ling Chiu, about the first Chinese cemetery in Canada.
• A Tribe of One (2003) by Eunhee Cha.
• Mighty Jerome (2010), a documentary about African-Canadian track star Harry Jerome. This film was directed by Charles Officer.

In 2014, Selwyn Jacob produced Ninth Floor. This film was directed by Mina Shum. It tells the story of a student protest against racism in Montreal in 1969. This event is known as the Sir George Williams Affair. The film was made in Montreal on the 45th anniversary of the event. Jacob knew about this event at the time. Many of the students involved were from Trinidad, including one from his home village. Jacob always wanted to make a film about this important incident.