Ron Hallis(1945-2006)
- Cinematographer
- Director
- Producer
Ron Hallis has produced, directed and photographed more than twenty
five films and videos in Canada, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Iran. The
subjects of his films have ranged from African political leaders,
Islamic fundamentalism, to ethnomusicology and traditional African
dance. He has worked as sound recordist and director of photography on
a number of independent films and videos. In 1975 he established a
small 16mm black and white processing laboratory and began developing
his own films and those of other filmmakers. He processed and
supervised the optical blow-up from 16mm to 35mm of Gilles Carle's
feature film, L'Ange et la femme. Ron was hired by the National Film
Institute of Mozambique in 1977 to upgrade their processing facilities
in Maputo and train young Mozambican technicians in film processing,
laboratory maintenance and photochemistry. He and his partner, Ophera
Hallis, lived in Mozambique for almost four years, working at the
National Film Institute and occasionally traveling in the countryside
filming village life and recording traditional music. They made films
for the Zimbabwean Ministry of Education in exile in Mozambique and
then later in independent Zimbabwe. In 1996, Ron began teaching film at
a college in Montreal, Canada, and continued to do so until his death
in 2006.