Ten years later: Oliver Stone at U of R

author: ethan butterfield | a&c writer

We look back the visionary director’s visit to the university in 2006.

Recently, I was searching through the archives of the Carillon, looking for news of notable nostalgia. Through this search, I found something amazing. On Oct. 26, 2006, ten years ago this week at the time of writing, there was an interview conducted with legendary director Oliver Stone.

Now, for those who aren’t sure who Oliver Stone is, let me give you with a quick update. This famous Hollywood director is known for such classics as JFK, Born on the Fourth of July and Platoon. He’s won three Oscars and has been nominated for numerous other awards. Even now, he’s managed to lead filmmaking into places that it has truly never been.

Following this, we move to the pressing question, what was Mr. Stone doing at the University of Regina? Well as A&E editor Dan MacRae would go on to write, he was attending a couple of student lectures on Oct. 18, 2006, “one with the University of Regina’s film and journalism students, another with the audience that attended his lecture,” MacRae went on to mention.

This recent find has been incredibly cool and, quite frankly, mind-blowing, especially for a film buff such as myself. Oliver Stone’s films, as also mentioned above, have been truly groundbreaking features. For example, even though it wasn’t his most well-received piece of work, I still enjoy the film Savages time and time again. Why? Because the name recognition behind it is phenomenal!

There are very few directors that you can name to get someone interested in going to a movie – usually you look at actors or story. Oliver Stone, among names like Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan, is one of those individuals.

What did this mean for the U of R, though? It was monumental, like when David Suzuki visited, someone with that presence coming out to our university to talk and discuss their career and process is unbelievable and has a huge impact on a film community. Especially one like Regina’s, which has only recently started to make an impact with movies like Wolfcop and Patient 62 taking over the scene.

So, Oliver Stone’s visit to the U of R was something that should not be lost to time. It’s a great benchmark in the history of this university, allowing us to see how far we’ve come and how far we can go.