Talk:The Defender (1989 film)

Film: Awards / Canadian / Documentary / War

	Film portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Film. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see lists of open tasks and regional and topical task forces. To use this banner, please refer to the documentation. To improve this article, please refer to the guidelines.FilmWikipedia:WikiProject FilmTemplate:WikiProject Filmfilm articles
	This article is supported by the Film awards task force.
	This article is supported by the Canadian cinema task force.
	This article is supported by the Documentary films task force.
	This article is supported by the War films task force.

Canada: Manitoba / Cinema Low‑importance

	Canada portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Canada, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Canada on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CanadaWikipedia:WikiProject CanadaTemplate:WikiProject CanadaCanada-related articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject Manitoba.
	This article is supported by the joint Canadian film and cinema task force

Aviation

This article is within the scope of the Aviation WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see lists of open tasks and task forces. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.AviationWikipedia:WikiProject AviationTemplate:WikiProject Aviationaviation articles

This article has not yet been checked against the criteria for B-class status:
Referencing and citation: not checked Coverage and accuracy: not checked Structure: not checked Grammar and style: not checked Supporting materials: not checked	To fill out this checklist, please add the following code to the template call: \| b1<!--Referencing and citation--> = <yes/no> \| b2<!--Coverage and accuracy --> = <yes/no> \| b3<!--Structure --> = <yes/no> \| b4<!--Grammar and style --> = <yes/no> \| b5<!--Supporting materials --> = <yes/no> assessing the article against each criterion.

Year

Bit of a problem here in that the film appears in three films by year categories, 1988 through 1990. WP:MOSFILM has some useful pointers. I know the NFB classifies it as a 1988 film, but according to our guidelines it may need be renamed as a 1989 film, because of the release. Also, the 1989 and 1990 categories are being auto-generated by the infobox, I guess. User:Bovineboy2008 seems to patrol new film articles and he may sort this out, if we don't. Rome wasn't built in a day! It's a great article and we'll just need to tweak it this. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 23:44, 1 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I probably would "err on the side of caution" as to the date. I hosted a NFB film festival last year and had to come up with some resolution as to the date of the film, eventually settling on what the NFB considered was its date of completion, not release. The actual film end title says "© 1988". The same film was also screened in an earlier film festival, two years previously, and the same issue arose, again, ending with the NFB's official date being used. The 1990 date is from IMDb and reflects a broadcast air date, rather than a date for general release. Turner Classic Movies has the first screening as the Vancouver International Film Festival September 30 and October 4, 1989. I was at the premiere of The Defender in Winnipeg but I do not remember the exact date. In the past, I have hosted the duo featured in the film, Chris Ball and Bob Diemert, and have spoken to Charles Konowal, the producer. I wonder if it makes sense to contact these individuals again, still cognizant of the slippery slope of acquiring and using first-hand resources. FWiW Bzuk (talk) 07:23, 2 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

On Director Stephen Low's website, he lists The Defender as a 1998 release. I have also contacted him after writing the Wikipedia article, and am awaiting a reply to some of my queries, including fixing the date of release of the film. FWiW Bzuk (talk) 07:32, 2 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it's possible that the film was completed in late 1988 but only premiered in 1989, in which case, there would be an unfortunate discrepancy in the years, as Wikipedia's guidelines do seem clear (?) that we classify films by year of release rather than copyright. Or so I believe. Anyway, it's fortunate that you know the director and no doubt he can shed some light. thanks, Shawn in Montreal (talk) 10:24, 2 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Stephen Low contacted me today and indicated that the film was a 1988 release, which tends to tell me that the premiere dates were wrong or the only ones that other sources could get ahold of. I will keep searching for a showing that occurred in 1988, that would solve the conundrum. FWiW Bzuk (talk) 21:51, 2 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

See Further discussion on this topic. FWiW Bzuk (talk) 16:14, 3 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]