Warrendal (1967)

Warrendale is a 1967 documentary film by Canadian filmmaker Allan King. It was originally produced for broadcast on CBC Television, but was never shown due to King's refusal to edit out the copious profanity in the footage.

The film is a cinéma vérité look at the lives of emotionally disturbed children housed in a facility named Warrendale, in Rexdale, at the time, a Toronto suburb. The facility was considered innovative, and met with approval when it first opened in December 1965. But almost a year after it opened, it became the centre of several controversies in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and was eventually closed.

Warrendale won awards at the Cannes Film Festival, and French director Jean Renoir declared King a great artist.

In 2002, Warrendale was honoured as a "MasterWork" by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada.

Synopsis

Le cinéaste expose les traitements expérimentaux dispensés à 12 enfants atteints de troubles affectifs dans l’établissement de Warrendale, près de Toronto. Cet établissement, d’abord considéré comme novateur, s’est rapidement retrouvé au cœur de plusieurs controverses.