UPEI Student’s Film Captures Top Prize

(from The Guardian, Charlottetown, Tuesday September 30, 1969)

A documentary film by University of PEI student Richard (Rick) Hancox won first prize at the first Canadian Student Film Festival at Sir George Williams University in Montreal this past weekend.

Mr. Hancox’s documentary entitled Cab 16 is a re-creation of a day in the life of Charlottetown taxi driver Elmer Larter. Mr. Larter received the Lloyd MacInnis Memorial award for 1969 in recognition of his outstanding voluntary service to the community. For more than fifteen years he has provided transportation to handicapped children in the Charlottetown area.

The prize-winning film was created by Mr. Hancox as a film class project at Prince of Wales College last spring. He conceived the idea for the documentary, wrote the script and did his own photography.

Prof. John W. Smith of UPEI said last night that Mr. Hancox travelled with Mr. Larter and the children for several days, tape recorder in hand. Following this he packed his camera and again joined Mr. Larter and his young friends in Cab 16 to record the day on film.

VERY REMARKABLE

“When you consider al the large universities that had films entered in the festival it is very remarkable that a small university like our has won such a high honour,” Mr. Smith said. There were thirty entries and the best in each of four categories-scenario, documentary, animation and experimental-were shown and judged during the weekend. The best films in the other categories at the Festival were:

Scenario: The Wine-up by Ronald Blumer of McGill University, and The Drink by Peter Duffy of Queen’s University.

Animation: Scream of a Butterfly by James Anderson of York University, Toronto.

Experimental: Amana by Gilles Fortin, a Montreal student at the University of Iowa.

Prof. Smith said it was much to Mr. Hancox’s credit that he ranks in national competition. The film appreciation and production course Mr. Hancox attended at P.W.C. by conducted by Prof. George Semsel, who has since taken a post at an American University.

CONSIDERED BEST

Prof. Semsel considered Mr. Hancox’s film the best in the group produced at P.W.C. Prof. Smith notes that Mr. Hancox has a good sense of timing, which he gets through his music. Mr. Hancox, who is a fourth year student, majoring in English, this year will do an advanced Tutorial on filmmaking at UPEI. He has submitted a proposal for another documentary.

This past summer he worked in a minor post, with Green City Films, a division of Universal International in new York. He hopes some day to make film producing his career. He is the son of Mr. And Mrs. William J. Hancox of Charlottetown.