Malca Gillson (1926-2010) was a Canadian filmmaker with the National Film Board of Canada, and one of the first women to join the NFB in a non-junior position.
Hers was a prominent family; her father was a four-term mayor of Humboldt, Saskatchewan; her uncle Saul Laskin became the first mayor of Thunder Bay; her other paternal uncle, Bora Laskin, became the 14th Chief Justice of Canada.
[2] At the time, most female recruits were negative cutters and secretaries;[3] she was hired as a composer, then placed in the sound department and went on to do the sound and/or music for several notable films, including the BAFTA-winning Buster Keaton Rides Again (1965), and Oscar nominee Helicopter Canada (1966).
In 1979, her attention turned to end-of-life issues and she filmed three documentaries at Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital: The Last Days of Living (1980), Reflections on Suffering (1982) and Time for Caring (1982).
The Last Days of Living, shot at the hospital’s palliative care unit, was the first film to truthfully bring the subject of death to professionals and the public;[4] it is regarded as an essential film for healthcare professionals, volunteers and the public at large.