Kent Mackenzie
| Kent Mackenzie | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Kent Robert Mackenzie 6 April 1930 Hampstead, England |
| Died | 16 May 1980 (aged 50) Marin County, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Director, producer, writer, cinematographer, editor |
| Years active | 1950s to 1970s |
Kent Robert Mackenzie (6 April 1930 – 16 May 1980) was a film director and producer who is mainly remembered for his film The Exiles, which was about Native American young people in Los Angeles. He was also involved with Dimension Films in making educational films such as Can a Parent be Human.
Mackenzie was born on April 6, 1930 in Hampstead, England. His mother was English and his father was Dewitt Mackenzie, who was head of the London Bureau of the Associated Press. After finishing school, Kent Mackenzie would enlist in the air force and later end up in Hollywood, where, after gaining a scholarship, he made his first film, Bunker Hill. His next film, The Exiles, was released in 1961.
In later years he worked as an editor on television documentaries and medical and industrial films and shorts. During the 1960s and 1970's he taught certain aspects of film making to high school classes. He also directed some films for Dimension Films.
Since the mid 1970s he had been suffering from seizures. He died on 16 May 1980 in Marin County, California as a result of his medication and related complications.
The setting for The Exiles was in Bunker Hill. This was the second time Mackenzie had used the Hill in a film. The first instance was in 1956, when he made a film about the displacement of pensioners being moved because of high rise buildings being built in their area.The Exiles was an independent film and took three-and-a-half years to make and had its share of issues. During the course of the film some of the cast were imprisoned and therefore never appeared in later scenes. He also lost two of his cameramen. The film is about Native Americans who move from the reservation to the city and some of the issues they encounter. Christina Rose of the Indian Country Today Media Network said in an article that it gave an accurate portrayal of urban natives and it was the first film to do so.
Prior to making The Exiles, Mackenzie made Bunker Hill in 1956. He was still a student at USC at the time. The film was centered on elderly pensioners and their community and the displacement they experienced because of a high rise office block that was to be built there.
In 1965, he produced and directed The Teenage Revolution, which featured Barry Brown in an early role and was narrated by Van Heflin. It looked at six teenagers and their society and culture, as well as their current lives while speculating about their futures.
He directed and produced Saturday Morning, a film about teenagers, which was released in 1971 through Dimension Films, of which Gary Goldsmith was chief and producer. It was a non-fiction film that involved a group of twenty teenagers being filmed over a period of a week.
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