David Cronenberg Collection

DESCRIPTION

David Cronenberg fonds [artifacts, textual records, graphic materials, moving images, sound recordings]; circa 1966-1999.

David Cronenberg (1943-) is a Canadian director and writer who came to prominence with ‘body-horror’ films such as “Videodrome” (1983), “The Fly” (1986) and more recent critically acclaimed films “A History of Violence” (2005) and “A Dangerous Method” (2011). Born and educated n Toronto, Ontario Cronenberg partnered with Ivan Reitman and Iain Ewing to create the Toronto Film Co-op in the 1970s. His films went on to become both critically acclaimed (his 1996 film “Crash” won the Special Jury Prize at the 49th Cannes Film Festival) and highly divisive for their depictions of gore.

The fonds contains objects relating to David Cronenberg’s professional life as a filmmaker from the late 1960s to the present, with extensive material related to recurring production collaborators. Records highlight Cronenberg’s complete production process, from script and development, to visual and design articulation, casting, shooting issues, post production, marketing and publicity, distribution and press reviews. The fonds is particularly strong in the area of three-dimensional materials and graphic artworks and includes props, accessories, costumes. Highlights include instruments from “Dead Ringers”, the Game Pods and game store products from “eXistenZ, the complete Chinese opera costume worn by John Lone in the role of Song in “M. Butterfly”, and the braces from “Crash” worn by Rosanna Arquette.

The fonds also contains a large volume of textual material related to the production and financial records for “Dead Ringers” (1998) as well as extensive correspondence with authors, William H. Burroughs and JG Ballard for the production of Cronenberg’s films “Naked Lunch” (1991) and “Crash” (1996). There is relatively little textual documentation from his earlier career; however, each of Cronenberg’s films are represented in the fonds.

128 artifacts/ three-dimensional materials : costumes, accessories, props

25 artworks / graphic materials : original drawings, mixed media work, photomechanical reproductions, photocopies

115 posters

20 m. textual records and printed matter : manuscript files, scripts, books, magazines, newspapers/ tabloids, catalogues, other publications and printed ephemera

approx. 7000 photographic items : colour and b+w prints (including contact sheets), hand-coloured b+w prints, colour and b+w negatives, colour positives, Polaroid prints

175 moving image records : 162 video tapes ( ½ in. VHS cassettes, Betacam cassettes, 1-inch open reel), 2 film rolls ( 35 mm picture), 1 DVD

15 sound recordings : tape reels, cassettes and compact discs