"The Saffari Champagne", by George Ungar (France)

*THE SAFFARI CHAMPAGNE*	France

Documentary that is a record of the trajectory of Charles Bedaux, an eccentric French millionaire that during the years of the Great Depression in the U.S., at the end of the twenties, decided to embark on an unusual excursion. He set off across the Canadian territory accompanied by a caravan of hundreds of people including his wife, his mistress, and a film photographer from Hollywood, Floyd Crosby that was later to be part of the team in High Noon by Fred Zinnemann. The film that resulted from this adventure disappeared after Bedaux's death. Found later, it served as raw material for Director George Ungar to effect this brilliant documentary.

Director

DIRECTOR:	George Ungar
SCREENPLAY:	Steve Lucas, John Kramer e Harold Crooks
CINEMATOGRAPHER:	Kirk Tougas, Douglas Kiefer, Ray Dumas, Susan Gourley e Floy Crosby (in memoriam)
EDITION:	John Kramer
MUSIC:	Normand Roger e Denis Chartrand
PRODUCER:	George Ungar
NARRATION:	Colm Feore. A voz de Charles Bedaux é de David Hemblen
PRODUCTION:	Field Seven Films Inc. 335 Lonside Road - Suite 161 - Toronto, Ontário Tel: 00 1 416 489 2263 Fax: 001 416 489 4875
WORLD SALES:	Field Seven Films Inc. 335 Lonside Road - Suite 161 - Toronto, Ontário Tel: 00 1 416 489 2263 Fax: 001 416 489 4875
ORIGINAL TITLE:	The Saffari Champagne
	P & B e col., 100 min., 1996

Before he became a documentarist, George Ungar was painter and illustrator with work published in several Canadian magazines such as Maclean's Canadian Forum, Cinema Canada, This Magazine, Books in Canada and Music Magazine. His paintings were exhibited in Canada and Mexico.

In the eighties, he went on to teach in the department of Cinema at Concordia University in Montreal and, at the same time, he worked on film projects. During the period when he was making The Safari Champagne (that took 16 years to finish, from 1979 to 1995), he produced and directed The Wanderer, a short cartoon.

He took part in the team for Paradise (1984), a short film directed by Ishu Patel (indicated for the Oscar) and Heavy Metal (1980), directed by Gerald Potterton.