For the first time ever, Michael Ondaatje’s films are being released on dvd. This special collector’s disc contains three seminal pieces of work created and shot in the 70’s by Canada’s award-winning and internationally recognized author.

The Clinton Special: A Film About The Farm Show (1974, 71 mins.) chronicles a group of actors who in 1972 went into an Ontario farming community to build a play of what they saw and learned. This famous experimental collaborative 'grass-roots' play by Paul Thompson and Theatre Passe Muraille brought to that community a sense of awe, delight and reflection of their own language and culture. In Sons of Captain Poetry (1970, 29 mins.) Ondaatje captures the work and spirit of bpNichol (1944-88), “Canada’s convention-shattering voice of poetry” (Globe & Mail). Ondaatje captures the artist/writer and sound performer and uncovers what made him influence a generation of North American and European poets and writers. Carry on Crime and Punishment (1970, 5 mins.), Ondaatje’s whimsical slapstick 'docu-drama' follows a couple of crooked Canadian Poets who try to kidnap a dog.

DVD Special Features
A conversation between Michael Ondaatje and David Young
Interviews with actors, directors and writers about how The Farm Show has continued to influence Canadian theatre
Inside Booklet Featuring Farm Show actors and bp nicol sketches and notes
Michael Ondaatje Biography

Michael Ondaatje’s books include “Anil's Ghost”, “In the Skin of a Lion”, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid and “Running in the Family”. His novel, “The English Patient”, won the Booker Prize and was turned into an Academy Award winning film by Anthony Minghella. Michael Ondaatje lives in Toronto.