Directing

John Hanson

Born March 7, 1942 · St. Paul, Minnesota, USA (age 84)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1942 and raised in McClusky, North Dakota, Hanson graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy, received his B.A. from Carleton College, and did postgraduate studies in architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He began his career in film, going on to direct the motion pictures Northern Lights, Wildrose, and Shimmer, and…

Known For

Mafia on the Bounty

Mafia on the Bounty · 1980

Mafia on the Bounty

A mob boss' plan to rub out his competition runs into trouble when his boat is attacked by a group of gay rights activists whose leader believes he is the legendary Captain Bligh .

Shimmer

Shimmer · 1993

The solo actor in Shimmer tells the story by becoming each character in turn. The play takes place in 1956, in a harsh Midwestern juvenile detention center, where two boys befriend each other.

Secrets

Secrets · 1971

A woman's unfulfilling marriage leads her into a passionate affair with a wealthy extramarital lover.

Baker's Hawk

Baker's Hawk · 1976

MovieDramaAction

When a young boy nurses an injured hawk back to health, he gains newfound courage and confidence on his own.

Rebel Earth

Rebel Earth · 1980

MovieDocumentary

Henry Martinson accompanies a young North Dakota farmer searching for the sites of his past. The second part of John Hanson and Rob Nilsson's Prairie Trilogy.

Wildrose

Wildrose · 1984

June Lorich works at the Mesabi Mine on Minnesota's iron range. After an emotionally and physically abusive marriage, June is determined to make it on her own. But the worsening steel industry forces major cutbacks and June is bumped down to an all-male pit. She becomes the brunt of the other workers' hostilities and is forced to fight against them -- and the man she loves -- to save her job.

Northern Lights

Northern Lights · 1978

Northern Lights

MovieDramaHistory

The bittersweet story of young lovers caught up in a political struggle waged by farmers against the grain trade, the banks, and the railroads. Set in 1915–16 North Dakota, a largely forgotten era of American history.

Prairie Fire

Prairie Fire · 1977

MovieDocumentary

The first segment of what would eventually be the Prairie Trilogy, about veteran North Dakota poet and socialist organizer Henry Martinson, who fought against economic exploitation. Martinson recounts the 1916 birth of the Socialist Nonpartisan League, his narrative accompanied by images shot by Nilsson’s own grandfather, Frithjof Holmboe.

Filmography

Sort

Mafia on the Bounty

Mafia on the Bounty · 1980

Mafia on the Bounty

A mob boss' plan to rub out his competition runs into trouble when his boat is attacked by a group of gay rights activists whose leader believes he is the legendary Captain Bligh .

Bruce

Shimmer

Shimmer · 1993

The solo actor in Shimmer tells the story by becoming each character in turn. The play takes place in 1956, in a harsh Midwestern juvenile detention center, where two boys befriend each other.

Director

Secrets

Secrets · 1971

A woman's unfulfilling marriage leads her into a passionate affair with a wealthy extramarital lover.

Producer

Baker's Hawk

Baker's Hawk · 1976

MovieDramaAction

When a young boy nurses an injured hawk back to health, he gains newfound courage and confidence on his own.

Editor

Rebel Earth

Rebel Earth · 1980

MovieDocumentary

Henry Martinson accompanies a young North Dakota farmer searching for the sites of his past. The second part of John Hanson and Rob Nilsson's Prairie Trilogy.

Director

Wildrose

Wildrose · 1984

June Lorich works at the Mesabi Mine on Minnesota's iron range. After an emotionally and physically abusive marriage, June is determined to make it on her own. But the worsening steel industry forces major cutbacks and June is bumped down to an all-male pit. She becomes the brunt of the other workers' hostilities and is forced to fight against them -- and the man she loves -- to save her job.

Writer

Northern Lights

Northern Lights · 1978

Northern Lights

MovieDramaHistory

The bittersweet story of young lovers caught up in a political struggle waged by farmers against the grain trade, the banks, and the railroads. Set in 1915–16 North Dakota, a largely forgotten era of American history.

Producer

Prairie Fire

Prairie Fire · 1977

MovieDocumentary

The first segment of what would eventually be the Prairie Trilogy, about veteran North Dakota poet and socialist organizer Henry Martinson, who fought against economic exploitation. Martinson recounts the 1916 birth of the Socialist Nonpartisan League, his narrative accompanied by images shot by Nilsson’s own grandfather, Frithjof Holmboe.

Director

Survivor

Survivor · 1980

MovieDocumentary

The final segment of the Prairie Trilogy, about a veteran North Dakota poet and socialist organizer, who fought against economic exploitation. Finished the year before Martinson’s death, it focuses on the biography of its subject, here found in a funny and expansive mood.

Director

The Rendlesham UFO : The British Roswell

The Rendlesham UFO : The British Roswell · 2025

The Rendlesham UFO : The British Roswell

MovieDocumentary

In this thrilling, unique, and sometimes hilarious UFO documentary, tantalising discoveries emerge while delving into Britain’s own Roswell—the 1980 Rendlesham UFO incident where a mysterious craft was reportedly seen landing near a U.S. airbase. As the investigation revisits the original event, the film also chronicles the strange encounters reported in Rendlesham Forest ever since; weird UFO sightings, floating orbs of light, and encounters with terrifying cryptid creatures.

Executive Producer

American Playhouse

American Playhouse · 1982

American Playhouse

SeriesDramaComedy

American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.

Writer