The Geographies of DAR

The Geographies of DAR is a captivating and deeply evocative film that delves into the life and literary works of acclaimed Canadian author David Adams Richards.

Through stunning visuals, insightful interviews and poignant excerpts from his writings voiced by fellow authors, the film explores the profound connection between Richards’ personal geography and his literary landscapes, revealing how the intertwining of his own experiences and Eastern Canada’s Miramichi shaped his storytelling.

The masterful black-and-white cinematography captures Richards’ Miramichi in all its harshness and beauty. Rivers flowing and far-spread forests, dirt roads and highways, a tavern, or a burning house: the film takes viewers on a journey through the complex roads and paths of his characters’ lives, tracking their race towards self-destruction or their quest for freedom and redemption.

In the film, one of the most reserved of Canadian literary giants confides like never before. With disarming candour and striking perceptivity, he tells the story of his childhood and adolescence, his struggles, and demons, and declares his love of family and friends. Speaking openly about the importance of faith, David Adams Richards believes in God and makes no apologies for it.

The Geographies of DAR is an elegy to being human. It is about the joys, the suffering, the big and small mercies, the crimes against those we love, the violence we inflict upon ourselves, the love of words, the inevitable despair, the lies we choose to believe and the courage to see the beauty of it all.

It is a spellbinding testimony to a great Canadian writer’s life and work, his indomitable spirit, his love of humankind, his unwavering faith, and his courage to march to his own drum.