From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Phillip Borsos (May 5, 1953 - February 13, 1995) was Canadian film director and film producer. Borsos showed an early interest in film-making while attending high school in Maple Ridge, B.C. He studied film at the Banff Centre School for Fine Arts and at the Vancouver School of Art, now the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. His early work included several shorts notable for their cinematography and pacing. Three outstanding documentaries done in his early years are Cooperage (1976), Spartree (1977) and Nails (1979). All three won Best Theatrical Short at the Canadian Film Awards, "The Genie Awards", and also received a nomination for an Oscar in the Documentary Short category. He began working on feature-length films and his first, "The Grey Fox", earned him a "Best Director" and "Best Film" at the Genies in 1983. It told the story of Bill Miner, Canada's first train robber and starred Richard Farnsworth. He followed that success with The Mean Season (1985) and One Magic Christmas (1985). Production problems dogged his biopic Bethune: The Making of a Hero (1990) which starred Donald Sutherland as Dr. Norman Bethune. His final film Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog was produced in 1994. During the same time he was diagnosed with leukemia. He died February 2, 1995 at age 41. Description above from the Wikipedia article Phillip Borsos, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- May 5, 1953
- February 13, 1995 (aged 41)
- Hobart, Tasmania
- Director, producer and writer
- 6 on MovieCove · 7 credits in all
What are Phillip Borsos' films like?
Across their 5 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 5
A split, not a type: Light 3 · Serious 0 · Dark 2
Grounded 5 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 0
Gentle 2 · Charged 2 · Intense 1
Steady 4 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0
Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 0
Casual 3 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 2 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 1
Resolved 4 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet2
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Phillip Borsos' films?
As of October 24, 2026, 5 of their 6 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Disney+ (2).
Subscription and free streaming for Phillip Borsos' titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
7 credits, 6 with a MovieCove page.
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all films
One Magic Christmas(1985)
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films
The Mean Season(1985)
Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films
Tootsie(1982)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
The Grey Fox(1982)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
Nails (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1979)
Career shape
A full career of 7 titles from 1979 to 1995.
Biggest box office
One Magic Christmas (1985)
Highest rated
The Grey Fox (1982)
Most popular right now
The Mean Season (1985)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Phillip Borsos' films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 56th percentile, the median of all 6; across their 5 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 49th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 50th to 74th2
- 25th to 49th2
Shape of the crowd
None of their 6 titles divides audiences: 5 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Crowd Pleaser5
- Broadly Agreed1
Reviewers score the atmosphere 71/100 and the pacing 41/100 in their films, across 5 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Phillip Borsos work with?
People who share at least 2 of Phillip Borsos' MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Frank Tidy shares the most, 3.
Actors
- Wayne RobsonShared titles: One Magic Christmas (1985), The Grey Fox (1982)See all 2 shared titles with Wayne Robson
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Frank TidyShared titles: One Magic Christmas (1985), The Mean Season (1985), The Grey Fox (1982)See all 3 shared titles with Frank Tidy
- Sidney WolinskyShared titles: Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995), One Magic Christmas (1985)See all 2 shared titles with Sidney Wolinsky
- Michael Conway BakerShared titles: One Magic Christmas (1985), The Grey Fox (1982)See all 2 shared titles with Michael Conway Baker
Producers
- Peter O'BrianShared titles: Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995), One Magic Christmas (1985), The Grey Fox (1982)See all 3 shared titles with Peter O'Brian
Mixed roles
- Barry HealeyShared titles: One Magic Christmas (1985), The Grey Fox (1982)See all 2 shared titles with Barry Healey