Frank Cole

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Frank Cole (1954-2000) was a Canadian documentary filmmaker who was murdered by Tuareg bandits outside of Timbuktu, Mali in late October 2000.

Born in Saskatchewan to a father from the diplomatic field, Frank grew up in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland and South Africa. An avid surfer and traveller, he studied languages at Carleton University and later 16mm Film Production at Algonquin College with the legendary documentarian Peter Wintonick. His films include A Documentary, The Mountenays, A Life, and Life Without Death. Obsessed by the death of his grandfather and fear of mortality itself, Frank Cole earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records (French Edition) for his 1990 solo crossing of the Sahara Desert from Mauritania to the Red Sea alone on camel. Sadly, his killing included the theft of all of his exposed film recordings and camera gear, thus meaning his last images of himself lost forever. His remains were cryogenically preserved at the Michigan Cryonics Institute in suburban Detroit's Clinton Township. Theories surrounding his life and unsolved death still circulate to this day however one things is clear, the myth of Frank Cole looms large in the history Canadian exploration and filmmaking.