Silvio Narizzano

Silvio Narizzano is among the vanguard of early English Canadian filmmakers that also included Sidney J Furie Ted Kotcheff Norman Jewison Lindsay Shonteff and Arthur Hiller Born in Montreal his first theatrical work was with the citys Mountain Playhouse before joining the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation He was the first among the aforementioned Canadian filmmakers to emigrate to England to work in British television and was creatively instrumental in the formation of Granada Television In transitioning to cinema later than Furie Kotcheff and Jewison he made his debut with the Hammer Studios classic Die Die My Darling 1965 before scoring his greatest acclaim as director of Georgy Girl 1966 He followed that up with Blue 1968 a misunderstood critical and commercial flop but a film that remained to him the most personal film of his career He continued making films in mainland Europe throughout the 70s before returning to Canada to make Why Shoot the Teacher 1977 and England to make The Class of Miss Macmichael 1978 Narizzano spent his twilight years in relative seclusion having immersed himself in religious studies