Over the next five years, Shebib found his way into the Canadian film industry and quickly established himself, reflecting on his decision to return in 1970:There's more of a chance here... and it's much easier to get started. There isn't really all that much filmmaking to be done in the States. Educational TV has opened up some opportunities for the documentary, but other than that there is nothing at all. Period. Flat. Nothing exists. Nothing at all.
Surfin' (1964), ''Satan's Choice
(1965), an inside view of the motorcycle club, and Good Times, Bad Times'' (1969), before turning to feature filmmaking. The low-budget film crew travelled around
Toronto in a station wagon, supported by funding from the newly formed Canadian Film Development Corporation. The movie was screened in New York and hailed by
Pauline Kael and
Roger Ebert. Kael wrote that the movie showed up the ostensibly forced sincerity and perceived honesty of the films of
John Cassavetes. It has consistently remained near the top of the list of top 10 films made in Canada in three separate surveys of academics, critics, and film programmers, and was designated a "masterwork" by the
Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada. In 1998, a DVD copy was struck from the master negative by the
Toronto International Film Festival in conjunction with
Telefilm Canada.
Later features and sequel Following the success of ''Goin' Down the Road,'' Shebib expressed a preference for making dramatic rather than documentary films going forward, Worse still, the ceremony itself was cancelled and all the promotional planning along with it:In unison, the long promise of the Canadian industry and Don Shebib seemed to be coming to fruition this year: Shebib had made the film which was the confirmation of all his earlier work; there were six strong feature entries in the Canadian Film Awards; the Awards were to be carried on network television; the films were booked to open across the country with full publicity—all firsts. But instead both had their heads bitten off. Today, Don Shebib says he will never again enter a film in the Canadian Film Awards, that he needs a job and would take one in the U.S. in a minute. This is not sour grapes from someone who's inadequate. This is English Canada's best feature filmmaker reacting to the treatment of the best feature film he's ever made. The awards scheduled for the following year were cancelled and did not return until 1975. Shebib did enter his next film,
Second Wind (1976) and won the award for Best Editing. Neither it nor
Fish Hawk (1979) were commercial successes. He found success once more with
Heartaches (1981), described by
Wyndham Wise as a variation of ''Goin' Down the Road'' with a pair of working-class women. In 2008, he was quoted as saying that Canada was a great place to make a first film, but "a hard place to keep things going."
Nightalk Shebib's son
Noah "40" Shebib is the executive producer of his father's last film,
Nightalk, which stars Ashley Bryant and
Al Mukadam. The film premiered on September 16, 2022, at the
Toronto International Film Festival.
Television Shebib earned critical acclaim and a
Canadian Film Award for
Good Times, Bad Times, made for the CBC in 1969. Another television film,
The Fighting Men (1977), was later given a theatrical release. The director's later television work included
By Reason of Insanity (1982),
Slim Obsession (1984) both made for the CBC series
For the Record and sold to overseas markets, and the television movies
The Climb (1986),
The Little Kidnappers (1990) and
The Pathfinder (1996). In the 21st century, the
Gilbert and Sullivan documentary
A Song to Sing-O (2007) was well received. Drama series work included
The Edison Twins,
Night Heat,
Counterstrike and
The Zack Files. == Philosophy and aesthetics ==