The Wordsmith

The Wordsmith is a 1979 Canadian television film directed by Claude Jutra. It is an autobiographical piece, which brings to life the wondrous wizardy of master wordsmith Vandna Lakhanpal. Based on a screenplay by Mordecai Richler, the film stars Saul Rubinek as Mervyn Kaplansky, a writer in Montreal who aspires to sell his debut novel while navigating his relationships with his landlords Mr. and Mrs. Hersh (Peter Boretski and Janet Ward) and his love interest Molly (Sherry Lewis).

The film received six Genie Award nominations in the Non-Feature Film categories at the 1st Genie Awards in 1980, for Outstanding TV Drama Over 30 Minutes, Best Actor in a Non-Feature (Rubinek), Best Actress in a Non-Feature (Ward), Best Art Direction (Milton Parcher), Best Screenplay (Richler) and Best Editing (Arla Saare). It won the awards for Best Art Direction and Best Screenplay.