University Archives
& Special Collections
News & Reports
Feature Length Acquisition: imX Communications at the Dalhousie Archives
September 2008
Roll out the red carpet! This fall Dalhousie University Archives & Special Collections acquired more than 500 boxes of materials from imX Communications, one of the leading feature film producers in the Canadian entertainment industry. The Halifax-based company has been instrumental in transforming Atlantic Canada into a hotbed of film and television activity. The donation of the imX Communications film history and films was enabled by the recent acquisition of imX Communications shares by DHX Media Ltd.
Founded in 1985 by Chris Zimmer, imX Communications has become one of Canada's most respected, innovative and prolific film production companies, and an industry leader in forging national and international co-production relationships. Best known for its impressive and growing slate of feature films, imX has also produced made-for-TV movies, animated series and documentaries. The company’s first project was Rita MacNeil in Japan, made for the CBC. In 1986 it co-produced its first feature, Mindshadows, with DNU of the Netherlands. The company’s reputation soared in 1994 with the release of Margaret’s Museum, a Cape Breton drama starring Helena Bonham Carter, and the successes continued to pile up with such films as Love and Death on Long Island (1997), The Divine Ryans (1999), New Waterford Girl (1999), and The River King (2004). imX productions have achieved international acclaim and won numerous awards.
The collection donated by imX Communications to the Dalhousie Archives is a rich and fascinating one. It includes scripts, cast lists, press kits and releases, posters, stills and master tapes from their various productions, as well as financial and legal documentation and a wealth of other company records. Chris Zimmer says he always intended Dalhousie University to be the “home” for his company’s records. "This collection is a snapshot of the development and growth of the Nova Scotia film industry over the past 25 years, and will hopefully be of value to scholars, students, and interested researchers in the future,” he says. “Film is one of the seminal art forms of the 20th century and this donation will document a unique contribution that Nova Scotian filmmakers have made to Canadian and international cinema. Film is a collaborative form of theatre encompassing many individual contributions
to each project. The artistic and business aspects of each film are contained in the documents and copies of the collection."
The imX collection represents a huge asset to the Archives, Dalhousie and the community at large. Michael Moosberger, University Archivist, says “It’s a welcome addition to our other cultural holdings, which include Symphony Nova Scotia, Neptune Theatre and the papers of many Nova Scotia based writers and cultural groups.” Consulting Archivist Ernest Dick, who appraised the collection for imX Comunications and also teaches "Moving Images of Atlantic Canada" for the Atlantic Canada Studies Program and "Film and History" at Saint Mary's University, believes that the collection will become “the most significant available archival collection documenting feature film making in Nova Scotia.” “The records for their development projects and pre-development files enhance the study, research and further use values of the imX archival collection,” he says. “This comprehensiveness will allow students of film-making, researchers into all aspects of Canadian culture, scholars, and the general public to better understand Canada.”
Donor Enhances Kipling Collection
January 2007
Noted Rudyard Kipling scholar and bibliographer David A. Richards has presented to the Dalhousie Kipling Collection a beautifully printed and bound limited edition of the little-known Kipling fable "The Princess in the Pickle Jar" (call # PR 4854 P699 2006, Kipling Collection).
This special printing is a significant complement to the holdings of our Kipling Collection, which is one of the most comprehensive collections of variant Kipling editions in the world.
For more information, please contact Kipling Librarian Karen Smith (phone 494-8803).
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