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British Columbia (13)
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Canaries to ClydesdalesEugene Boyko 1977 27 minThis documentary follows two country veterinarians through their daily rounds, from sterile clinic to farm paddock. Thirty thousand miles of house calls a year is routine for doctors Vic Demetrick and Reg Maidment, whose patients include just about any creature that hops, trots, swims or flies. -
Cattle RanchGuy L. Coté 1961 19 minThis short documentary offers a portrait of life on a cattle ranch, for both its human and animal inhabitants. Featuring sprightly music by folk singer Pete Seeger and narration by theatre actress Frances Hyland, the film is shot through the seasons on a large Canadian cattle ranch near Kamloops, British Columbia. With hundreds of cows and calves on the ranch, there’s no shortage of work to be done: soil cultivation and crop maintenance are taken care of by seasonal ranch hands while the resident cowboys—“anxious guardians”—brand and breed their bovine charges.
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Dwarf Apple1955 6 minJulian Biggs interviews Dr. Don Fisher, head of pomology at the Summerland Experimental Farm in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. Dr. Fisher describes the cultivation and maintenance of several strains of the dwarf apple tree.
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Eye Witness No. 131949 10 minLumber Tugs Buck Flood-Swollen Fraser: Every spring small, maneuverable tugboats haul heavy log booms down the swift Fraser River to the lumber mills of Vancouver and New Westminster. Spring Round-up in B.C.: On the rolling hills of central British Columbia gawky new lambs take their first look at the world; skilled sheep dogs drive flocks down to the shearing pens; cowhands ride the range in the annual cattle round-up for branding and inoculating.
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Eye Witness No. 01947 11 minIn this edition of the Eye Witness series from 1947, we track the first shipment of milk heading out to Europe's starving children, witness millions of bushels of grain being loaded onto a boat on Hudson's Baby headed for Britain, and, in BC, we watch acres of seed being grown, tested, and loaded for the gardens of the world.
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Land for Pioneers1944 16 minBoth exploration and the fur trade opened up Canada's Northwest Territories, a land for pioneers. The magic of gold once lured thousands into the Yukon, but greater riches lie east of the Klondike, imbedded in the rocks and tundra of the Canadian Shield. The farm areas, the fisheries, the forests, and the rivers of northern British Columbia and the Prairie provinces also promise wealth. The Alaska Highway opened up potential grain fields, and air routes form a close link with the busy centers of the South, encouraging industrial development.
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Okanagan - Canada's Apple Valley1955 5 minOn the 320 acre Keloka Orchards, near Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley of southern British Columbia, apples are picked and forwarded to the Kelowna Growers Exchange for packing, cold storage and shipping throughout the world. Immigrants from countries in Europe and Asia work together to ensure a successful harvest on Canada's largest apple orchard, owned by George Porter.
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Okanagan DreamsAnnie O'Donoghue 2001 46 minThis documentary follows the migration of thousands of young Quebecers as they travel to British Columbia to harvest fruit in the lush Okanagan Valley. The camera follows several spirited youth into the orchards for seven weeks. As the rain sets in, reality unfolds: it's cold, the cherry crop is late, and money is short. But as they make friends and enjoy their independence, the promise of adventure is realized. Although their work is integral to the local economy, the youth find that the experience is not just about making money. It's about awareness, self-discovery and exploring the world.
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RoundupNettie Wild 2020 3 minWatch 4000 cattle return from summer grazing to 20 families who share a communal pasture and corral. Mesmerizing visual patterns from sky and ground frame an evocative contemplation of the relationship between human and animals, landscape and architecture.
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A Slow HelloTom Radford 1974 27 minThis short documentary introduces a new breed of cowboy: one with a Master's degree in Business Administration. Although this new cowboy is gradually phasing out the old romantic image, in British Columbia's beautiful Nicola Valley a few cowpunchers still remember the good old days and, when they can, relive them. This is a look at the cowboy's life in transition as the demands of the marketplace streamline the cattle industry.
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Soil Test1955 6 minA soil expert from the Summerland Experimental Farm in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, demonstrates the way that a soil moisture meter can tell when it is time to irrigate.
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A Time to RiseAnand Patwardhan & Jim Monro 1982 39 minOn April 6, 1980, the Canadian Farmworkers Union came into existence. This film documents the conditions among Chinese and East Indian immigrant workers in British Columbia that provoked the formation of the union, and the response of growers and labour contractors to the threat of unionization. Made over a period of two years, the film is eloquent testimony to the progress of the workers' movement from the first stirrings of militancy to the energetic canvassing of union members.
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This Borrowed LandBonnie Kreps 1984 28 minThe Peace River Valley in British Columbia is an area of rich farmland threatened by the construction of a hydro-electric dam. This Borrowed Land gives the women who farm the Peace the chance to voice their growing concern over the conversion of farmland to uses not related to the production of food. They ask: "Will we leave our children enough land to grow food on?" They are firmly committed to their lifestyle despite the difficulties, both concrete and imponderable. A film about agriculture, ecology, land misuse, and stout-willed farmers who happen to be women.
