Since its beginning in 1912, the Calgary Stampede has been about more than rodeo. Along with the cowboys are livestock, agricultural equipment and the latest technology. The first colour television in Calgary was showcased at the Calgary Stampede, said Christine Leppard, manager of exhibits and experience with the Sam Centre, a year-round Calgary Stampede attraction […] Read more
Tag Archives National Film Board of Canada
Standing Alone offered unique perspectives
There comes a time, usually in middle age, when a person wishes they had paid more attention to their parents’ and grandparents’ stories. It was no different for Pete Standing Alone, who thought the dances, ceremonies and traditions on his southern Alberta Blood Reserve were dull and unimportant. “I was just a spectator. I thought […] Read more
Film features life of Chinese immigrants on Ontario farm
When filmmaker Yung Chang followed a Chinese family through one year on an Ontario vegetable farm, he wanted a simple film about the ebbs and flows of rural life. “I knew this was not going to be a migrant worker film. It was not going to be about that kind of strife. I was trying […] Read more
Three documentaries capture farm life on the grasslands
It’s not often a movie director arrives in a community and the ideas for the upcoming film come from the community and not the director. After director Scott Parker met community members in town halls and farms across southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan, it was the residents who came up with the themes for the […] Read more
Documentary reveals secret past of legendary artist
An iconic author and artist of the American West who helped preserve the cowboy way of life for future generations feared his career would be ruined if he ever revealed his true identity. The paradoxical story of a self-proclaimed orphan from Montana who was actually a French-speaking cowboy named Ernest Dufault from Quebec is the […] Read more
Three films capture the magic of prairie grain elevators
Wooden grain elevators have been gone for such a long time from most of the Prairies that people may not remember something that now seems pretty obvious about the massive, iconic structures. They didn’t travel much. Related stories on this issue: Wheat Country film highlights the prairie gamble Wooden elevators an endangered species Town’s last […] Read more
Sask. greenhouse co-operative was a unique employer
A 41-year-old documentary from the National Film Board of Canada is about more than a greenhouse business that provided jobs for 34 years to people who otherwise might have struggled to earn a living. “They had quite an adventure,” said Dave Fortman about his mother, Margaret, and her co-workers at the Churchill Park Greenhouse Co-op […] Read more
Wheat Country film highlights the prairie gamble
A film made six decades ago that featured farmers as the actors in a fictional but true-to-life story is being streamed online for the 100th anniversary of The Western Producer. Wheat Country focused on Lloyd and Thelma Smith and their sons Allan, Murray and Barrie as they hurried to get their crop harvested before a […] Read more
Film aimed to provide more peaceful look at western life
A year-long collaboration between The Western Producer and the National Film Board of Canada celebrating the newspaper’s 100th anniversary was launched Aug. 24 with a pioneering film about an Alberta cowboy taming a wild horse. Corral, which was released in 1954, won an award for best documentary at the Venice Film Festival. It was directed […] Read more
