A cinephile who played a central role in Winnipeg's film scene over the years has died.

Leonard Klady, 67, died of cancer last week.

Klady was one of the founding members of the Winnipeg Film Group in 1974. He served as film critic for the Winnipeg Free Press before moving on to Hollywood and landing a similar job with Variety.

It was in Los Angeles where Klady made a name for himself outside Manitoba and became friends with notable directors and filmmakers such as David Cronenberg and Brian de Palma.

"He was an amazing sort of mover and shaker in the film scene in Winnipeg," said Greg Klymkiw, the current executive director of the Winnipeg Film Group.

"He was amazing. The guy knew everything about movies."

The Winnipeg manifesto

In the years before helping to found the Winnipeg Film Group, Klady was the driving force behind the Canadian Film Symposium at the University of Manitoba.

The symposium screened independent movies and facilitated critical discussions of Canadian film, and he and others in attendance once signed "The Winnipeg manifesto." It outlined issues in the current film distribution and production model that were working against Canadian filmmakers, said Klymkiw.

"Out of this Winnipeg manifesto came this amazing, brilliant idea to form an independent filmmaking co-operative in Winnipeg called the Winnipeg Film Group," said Klymkiw.

He was like a walking encyclopedia of film history and the film industry, and it was always fascinating. - Greg Klymkiw

"It was something he was always very, very passionate about and proud of."

He fondly remembers meeting Klady in 1976. Klady would screen films in the auditorium at the Manitoba Museum. A teenage Klymkiw soon became a regular.

"One day he just said, 'Hey kid, you're coming here to every movie. Would you take tickets for me, and I'll let you in for free?' And that was the beginning of a really great friendship and long, long, long mentorship."

'Warm and giving'

Klymkiw cites Klady as an important early inspiration behind his interest in film. He recalled the "incredibly rich" period of cinema during the 1960s and '70s gave the pair lots to talk about, despite being separated in age by about a decade.

"It was always fascinating to talk with Len, but in those early years he did most of the talking, and he was so wonderful and warm and giving and generous of his knowledge," Klymkiw said with a laugh.

"He was like a walking encyclopedia of film history and the film industry, and it was always fascinating."

The screenings eventually led Klady to the Winnipeg Free Press where he became the resident film critic. But for several years before landing that gig, and as further evidence of his dedication to film, Klady had already been attending film festivals the world over, said Klymkiw.

"It was amazing because in addition to the articles he would write about film.… He would also write amazing articles about his experiences going to all these film festivals around the world," said Klymkiw.

"It was really wonderful for people to actually read about this guy going to Berlin and Cannes and all these amazing places."

'His destiny'

That experience put him in a good position to make the leap to writing for Variety in L.A. in the 1990s, said Klymkiw.

"That was his destiny, and it played itself out beautifully," he said. "It was obvious he loved it."

We are saddened to hear of the passing of Len Klady. He was a veteran critic, longtime member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and passionate advocate for films and filmmakers. Every time we go to the Farmers Market, one of his favorite L.A. spots, we'll think of him. —@LAFilmCritics

He said his last encounter with Klady was this past fall during the Toronto International Film Festival, somewhere the pair oftened bumped into each other and shared an endless amount of cigarettes outside theatres talking movies.

It's those run-ins Klymkiw said he'll miss most of all.

"That's what I'm going to miss. I'm going to miss this brilliant, wonderful man who loves movies and just celebrated movies with every fibre of his being."

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