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Arctic Region (9)
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City of GoldColin Low & Wolf Koenig 1957 21 minThis classic short film from Pierre Berton depicts the Klondike gold rush at its peak, when would-be prospectors struggled through harsh conditions to reach the fabled gold fields over 3000 km north of civilization. Using a collection of still photographs, the film juxtaposes the Dawson City at the height of the gold rush with its bustling taverns and dance halls with the more tranquil Dawson City of the present. -
Eye Witness No. 31948 11 minThe film takes us to a dispersal centre in Halifax for a close-up view of some new neighbours--homeless Europeans, eager to contribute their skills to a new homeland in Canada. The second part of the film tours the mushrooming community of Yellowknife, six hundred and seventy-five miles north of Edmonton. In five years, its population jumped from five hundred to five thousand, turning a mining camp into a permanent mining town.
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Eye Witness No. 68Walford Hewitson , Douglas Wilkinson , … 1954 10 minBirth of a Book: A look at the Canadian literary field showing authors who have made the grade, such as Morley Callaghan, Hugh MacLennan, Gabrielle Roy and Roger Lemelin. Eskimo Work Arctic Coal Mine: Baffin Island Inuit of Pond Inlet find easy cash and a ready market for the product of their surface coal mine. Dispatch Riders Perform Cycle Capers In Kingston, Ontario: the display team of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals stages a dare-devil motorcycling exhibition.
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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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NahanniDonald Wilder 1962 18 minThis short film focuses on the legend of a lost gold mine and a river in the Northwest Territories that lured men to their doom. Albert Faille, an aging prospector, set out time and again to find hidden gold. His route took him through the wild and awesome land particularly suited to the mood of this Canadian odyssey.
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NormetalGilles Groulx 1960 17 minFilmed in the town of Normétal in northern Québec, this short documentary provides a first-hand introduction to life in a frontier mining community where all roads lead to the pithead. Dweller of two worlds, the copper miner's life is one of contrasts. A mile underground are the rock face, the clattering drills, the dust of explosions; above ground, all the familiar activities of a small town.
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People of the RockClarke Daprato 1961 13 minThis film follows an Inuit family's journey to the North Rankin nickel mine. How the hunters became bulldozer and machine operators is explained.
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Road of IronWalford Hewitson 1955 40 minThis documentary celebrates the achievements of men who toiled in the harsh wilderness of northern Quebec to lay the steel tracks that helped bring the Ungava region’s rich iron ore to market. It is a story of strength and determination, as every man, machine and piece of equipment had to be airlifted in or transported by tractor caravan over the 575-kilometre route. Bit by bit, we follow their progress through forest, over muskeg and across rivers, until at last the first ore train snakes its way to the seaport of Sept-Îles.
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The Spell of the YukonRita Roy 1996 43 minThis documentary tells the haunting story of the Klondike Gold Rush in legendary Dawson City. Peppered with Robert Service poems read by New Zealand-born Hollywood actor Russell Crowe, the film recounts how stampedes of fortune seekers came to the Yukon from far and wide in 1897. Less than half of the 100,000 adventurers ever finished the treacherous journey. Archival photographs re-create the saga of the Klondike, including stories from the deadly Chilkoot Pass and Dawson City itself, where fortunes were made and lost overnight. With a personal stake and a sense of wonder, filmmaker Rita Roy discovers a territory still vibrant with legends, and miners still panning for gold under the spell of the harsh yet stunning wilderness.
