Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Bronstein, Ely
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1945-
History
Ely Bronstein was born on November 8, 1945 as one of the many Western foreigners in Shanghai at that time, known as “Shanghailanders”. Fearing the Chinese Communists’ anti-Western policies after their victory in 1949, the Bronstein family left the country, coming to Winnipeg in 1952, where Ely was first exposed to the 1937 Frank Capra film starring Ronald Colman, “Lost Horizon”. The movie struck a chord with Ely, speaking to his own spiritual beliefs as well as serving as a reminder of his Far Eastern heritage, and igniting his lifetime fascination with film and the film industry. Graduating with an Arts Degree in anthropology from the University of Manitoba in 1970, Bronstein retained his love of film, particularly with “Lost Horizon” and began his collection in 1982, assembling articles, documents, correspondences, photos, and artwork relating to the film, as well as others that stuck with him, such as the 1956 film, “Helen of Troy”. Finally deciding his collection would be better off serving the needs of film studies students, Bronstein donated the vast majority of his collection to the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections in 2011.
Places
Winnipeg; Manitoba; Canada; China
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
Collector; film enthusiast
Mandates/sources of authority
Phone interview with Ely Bronstein
Internal structures/genealogy
General context
Relationships area
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Occupations
Control area
Authority record identifier
Institution identifier
University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Final
Level of detail
Minimal
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Created 23 August 2011
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Phone interview with Ely Bronstein