Our dear friend, father, brother, colleague, militant, activist has passed away Thursday August 2nd, 2012, after a struggle with cancer.
Magnus, notre ami, père, frère, miltant, activiste, collègue est décédé jeudi, le 2 août suite à un combat contre le cancer.
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Read friend’s words in this post.
Read The Gazette’s obituary and the report from the CBC. Et ici, dans le Devoir.
Marc Glassman, editor of POV magazine, had conducted an extensive career interview with Magnus about six months ago.
One word comes to mind when I think of Magnus: integrity. As an artist, as a family man, as a friend, he was always full value. He never let himself—or anyone else—down.
He came to documentary out of a profound desire to expose injustices in the world. Magnus had a deep sense of what’s right and wrong and he used his camera to bring to light the causes and concerns of at-risk youths in Montreal North, Canada’s Native peoples and the homeless in city cores. He was fearless, taking on institutions ranging from McDonald’s to the Quebec government.
Magnus’ cinema became more personal as he matured as a filmmaker. The wonderful duo in Art in Action, the feisty Choir Boys and the amazing Raging Grannies came to life under Magnus’ quiet and compassionate gaze. Without losing a sense of the political, Magnus created indelible portraits of people he came to know and respect.
I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with Magnus and his wonderful family—-Jocelyne and Bethiele in Montreal and Anna in Toronto. What’s struck me is that Magnus was ever present, participating to the fullest in his personal life as he did in his work as a documentarian. Whether it was riding his bike up the mountain three times a week or keeping an insightful and intelligent doc blog or having a dinner with family and friends, Magnus did it with commitment and style. His life and work is an inspiration to us all.
Marc Glassman
The full version of the POV interview can be found online here: POV Magazine- Magnus Isacsson- Advocate and Auteur.
In the next while we will post some of the tributes that are coming in.
