Directing

Hugh O'Connor

Born — Died

1962-04-07 — 1995-03-28

Place of birth

Rome, Italy

Known for

Directing

Credits

16 titles

Hugh O'Connor (March 12, 1924 - September 20, 1967) was a Canadian director and producer who worked for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). His best-known film is the ground-breaking In the Labyrinth (1967), but his promising career ended shortly after that film's release when he was tragically murdered while filming in Kentucky.

Known for

The Vice President poster
10.0

Elevation to the position of Vice-President brings prestige responsibility and freedoms of action, but it also means a shifting of loyalties and the losing of personal contact. This is shown in the dramatised story of John Harvard who rising from Branch Director to Vice-President finds himself having to put pressure on the men who a short time ago were his near equals. Only by going against their wishes can he serve the best interests of his company.

The Vice President

1958

No artwork available
10.0

From a sun-drenched bathing beach to an awesome “gamma garden,” this film explores how heat, radio waves, x-rays and gamma rays affect various forms of life. It takes you to the radiological department of a modern hospital, to Canada’s atomic research center at Chalk River, and to the Brookhaven National Laboratory in the United States, where plant growth is subjected to gamma radiation.

Radiation

1959

Above the Horizon poster
9.0

An exciting exploration of the weather and how man may one day learn to control it. For this film a great deal of extraordinary colour footage of the sky was put together, including a demonstration of rain-making. There are views of the geysers of the sun, of bright streamers of northern lights, of wind-stirred clouds, and even the awesome fury of a hurricane.

Above the Horizon

1964

In the Labyrinth poster
8.5

"Labyrinth" is a groundbreaking multi-screen 45-minute presentation produced for Chamber III of the Labyrinth at Expo 67 in Montreal, using 35 mm and 70 mm film projected simultaneously on multiple screens. A film without commentary in which multiple images, sometimes complementary, sometimes contrasting, draw the viewer through the different stages of a labyrinth. The tone of the film moves from great joy to wrenching sorrow; from stark simplicity to ceremonial pomp. It is life as it is lived by the people of the world, each one, as the film suggests, in a personal labyrinth. Re-released in 1979 as "In the Labyrinth" by the National Film Board of Canada in a 21-minute single projection format.

In the Labyrinth

1967

No artwork available
8.0

This film is centered on a mini-drama in which a successful design engineer encounters many problems when he is promoted to a managerial position. The film raises questions about the sources of job satisfaction, the perils of promotion from within the organization, and the demands that are put on a person placed for the first time in an administrative or managerial role.

The Department Manager

1958

Magic Molecule poster
10.0

A film showing the new world created by the techniques and processes of the plastics industry. Transmuted from coal, oil or wood, synthetic substances can make thousands of new products, from silk threads to furniture. With a light and lively treatment, this film explores the colorful, versatile world of these synthetic materials.

Magic Molecule

1962

Film credits

Behind the camera

The Vice President poster
10.0

Elevation to the position of Vice-President brings prestige responsibility and freedoms of action, but it also means a shifting of loyalties and the losing of personal contact. This is shown in the dramatised story of John Harvard who rising from Branch Director to Vice-President finds himself having to put pressure on the men who a short time ago were his near equals. Only by going against their wishes can he serve the best interests of his company.

The Vice President

1958

No artwork available
10.0

From a sun-drenched bathing beach to an awesome “gamma garden,” this film explores how heat, radio waves, x-rays and gamma rays affect various forms of life. It takes you to the radiological department of a modern hospital, to Canada’s atomic research center at Chalk River, and to the Brookhaven National Laboratory in the United States, where plant growth is subjected to gamma radiation.

Radiation

1959

No artwork available
10.0

From a sun-drenched bathing beach to an awesome “gamma garden,” this film explores how heat, radio waves, x-rays and gamma rays affect various forms of life. It takes you to the radiological department of a modern hospital, to Canada’s atomic research center at Chalk River, and to the Brookhaven National Laboratory in the United States, where plant growth is subjected to gamma radiation.

Radiation

1959

Above the Horizon poster
9.0

An exciting exploration of the weather and how man may one day learn to control it. For this film a great deal of extraordinary colour footage of the sky was put together, including a demonstration of rain-making. There are views of the geysers of the sun, of bright streamers of northern lights, of wind-stirred clouds, and even the awesome fury of a hurricane.

Above the Horizon

1964

Above the Horizon poster
9.0

An exciting exploration of the weather and how man may one day learn to control it. For this film a great deal of extraordinary colour footage of the sky was put together, including a demonstration of rain-making. There are views of the geysers of the sun, of bright streamers of northern lights, of wind-stirred clouds, and even the awesome fury of a hurricane.

Above the Horizon

1964

In the Labyrinth poster
8.5

"Labyrinth" is a groundbreaking multi-screen 45-minute presentation produced for Chamber III of the Labyrinth at Expo 67 in Montreal, using 35 mm and 70 mm film projected simultaneously on multiple screens. A film without commentary in which multiple images, sometimes complementary, sometimes contrasting, draw the viewer through the different stages of a labyrinth. The tone of the film moves from great joy to wrenching sorrow; from stark simplicity to ceremonial pomp. It is life as it is lived by the people of the world, each one, as the film suggests, in a personal labyrinth. Re-released in 1979 as "In the Labyrinth" by the National Film Board of Canada in a 21-minute single projection format.

In the Labyrinth

1967

No artwork available
8.0

This film is centered on a mini-drama in which a successful design engineer encounters many problems when he is promoted to a managerial position. The film raises questions about the sources of job satisfaction, the perils of promotion from within the organization, and the demands that are put on a person placed for the first time in an administrative or managerial role.

The Department Manager

1958

Magic Molecule poster
10.0

A film showing the new world created by the techniques and processes of the plastics industry. Transmuted from coal, oil or wood, synthetic substances can make thousands of new products, from silk threads to furniture. With a light and lively treatment, this film explores the colorful, versatile world of these synthetic materials.

Magic Molecule

1962

Islands of the Frozen Sea poster
7.0

This short documentary offers a look at the life forms on the Queen Elizabeth Islands within the Arctic Circle. Even in this frigid zone of icebergs and glaciers a surprising variety of wildlife and vegetation is seen. Writings from the logbooks of early explorers provide vivid descriptions of scenes as arresting to them in their century as to today's explorer. Note: Originally produced for the television series Perspective, this film was distributed separately on 16mm for schools and libraries, qualifying it as a standalone documentary.

Islands of the Frozen Sea

1958

Islands of the Frozen Sea poster
7.0

This short documentary offers a look at the life forms on the Queen Elizabeth Islands within the Arctic Circle. Even in this frigid zone of icebergs and glaciers a surprising variety of wildlife and vegetation is seen. Writings from the logbooks of early explorers provide vivid descriptions of scenes as arresting to them in their century as to today's explorer. Note: Originally produced for the television series Perspective, this film was distributed separately on 16mm for schools and libraries, qualifying it as a standalone documentary.

Islands of the Frozen Sea

1958

No artwork available
7.0

This film looks at the formation and forecasting of weather systems and at the effect weather has on individuals in three different Canadian communities.

The Winds of Weather

1957

Birth of a Giant poster
9.0

Birth of a Giant (Naissance d'un géant in French) is a 29-minute 1957 Canadian documentary film, directed by Hugh O'Connor and produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) television series, Perspective. The film depicts the role of story of the conception, construction and testing of the Canadair Argus aircraft, designed as a maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). The title is an acknowledgement, that at the time, the Argus was the largest aircraft ever built in Canada. Note: This film was distributed separately on 16mm for schools and libraries, qualifying it as a standalone documentary.

Birth of a Giant

1957

Birth of a Giant poster
9.0

Birth of a Giant (Naissance d'un géant in French) is a 29-minute 1957 Canadian documentary film, directed by Hugh O'Connor and produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) television series, Perspective. The film depicts the role of story of the conception, construction and testing of the Canadair Argus aircraft, designed as a maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). The title is an acknowledgement, that at the time, the Argus was the largest aircraft ever built in Canada. Note: This film was distributed separately on 16mm for schools and libraries, qualifying it as a standalone documentary.

Birth of a Giant

1957

No artwork available
10.0

Animated short documentary produced by the National Film Board of Canada in 1958, directed by Hugh O’Connor, focusing on school and education themes. (Note: Exact plot details not available; this is based on the title and known context.)

Tales Out of School

1958

The Persistent Seed poster
7.0

A film by Christopher Chapman, known for his lyrical films of countryside and wilderness. He turns his colour camera on the growing city and there finds cheering proof that despite concrete and bulldozer, the persistent seed prevails. The film is without commentary and the camera work is a constant delight, for Chapman has the gift of catching life smiling wherever he may look. Film without words.

The Persistent Seed

1963