Season III Order this film for home use Order this film for educational use 27.   Má Vlast (My Homeland): The Jiraneks In Canada Director Tom Radford Michael and Renata Jiranek came to Alberta in 1968 with their young sons, Martin and Alex to escape the Soviet invasion of their Czech homeland. Their dream was to coach figure skating. Within ten years they had taken Kurt Browning, from the small town of Caroline, and turned him into a national figure skating champion. 28.   René Richard: Painter of the North Director Jean-François Monette In 1909 René Richard arrived in Montreal from Switzerland. He was 14. His family moved West to farm in Alberta, and within a few years he began a series of adventures to the "great white north", where he began to paint the beauty he saw. He was awarded the Order of Canada. 29.   Sleight of Hand Director Laurence Green Born in Malta, in 1898, John Giordmaine immigrated to Canada in 1919 and found work as an electrician at a Toronto meat packing company. Giordmaine soon started entertaining his co-workers with stories from Malta, songs on his flute and magic tricks. An amusing pastime soon became a full-time career. 30.   Copyright: Leonard Frank Director Eli Gorn Leonard Frank came to Canada in 1892 and settled in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island and had success as a small businessman and prospector. Overwhelmed by the beauty and grandeur of his new homeland, he started carrying a camera with him into the back country. Leonard Frank became one of Canada’s greatest photographers. 31.   Century Man: The Father Salamis Story Director Stavros Stavrides A young man left Greece in 1914, bound for Vancouver. There he worked as a waiter and became an accountant, and travelled to Ontario and Quebec, offering his services to early Greek immigrants. Later, he returned to Greece and studied for the priesthood. He came back to Canada in the 1930’s to become a parish priest. Still alive today at 102 years of age, Father Salamis is a legend in the Greek community. 32.   Captain of Souls: Rev. William White Director Fern Levitt Captain Reverend Dr. William Andrew White was born in Virginia in 1974, the son of ex-slaves. He came to Nova Scotia in 1900 to study theology at Acadia University. He was the first black student there. White was ordained as a minister in 1906. He married Izie Dora White and together they had 12 talented children. When WW1 broke out he enlisted in a segregated battalion and became the only black chaplain and only black officer in the British Army. The rest of his life was spent serving his church, family and community. 33.   A Glowing Dream: The Story of Jacob & Rose Penner Director Cathy Gulkin Jacob Penner, a Mennonite, emigrated from Russia to Canada in 1904 because his involvement in revolutionary politics was becoming increasingly dangerous. Rose (Shepak) Penner, a Jew from Odessa, emigrated to Winnipeg around 1900 escaping poverty and the pogroms. Rose met Jacob in 1910. The couple devoted their lives to socialist politics. Jacob was one of the organizers of the Winnipeg General Strike. 34.   An Act of Grace Director Sylvia Sweeney Grace Bagnato was an atypical immigrant. But, then again, she was an atypical woman. She was a pioneer, a social activist, an amateur politician and perhaps one of the most influential people in the city of Toronto in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. Like so many Canadians, who have made significant contributions to their communities, she remains largely uncelebrated. 35.   The Reluctant Politician: The Story of Irene Parlby Friday May 31 2002, 7:30am Eastern - VisionTV Friday May 31 2002, 10:30pm Eastern - VisionTV Sunday June 2 2002, 6:30am Eastern - VisionTV Director David Adkin The story of Irene Parlby, born in London, England in 1868. Beautiful and intelligent, Irene seemed an unlikely immigrant to the rugged frontier of the Canadian Northwest. Parlby became a leading voice for farm women in Alberta from 1915 – 1935 and one of the "Famous Five" who led the fight for women to be recognized as "persons" in 1929. 36.   A Sephardic Journey: Sally Lévy… From Morocco to Montréal Friday June 7 2002, 7:30am Eastern - VisionTV Director Don Winkler For 30 years, Sally Lévy has been a mainstay of the Sephardic Jewish community in Montreal. He came here from Morocco with is wife and young family in the late 60s, and since then, as teacher, dramatist, singer and song-collector, stand-up comic, and radio host, he has been a passionate advocate for the Sephardic community and its traditions, while casting an affectionately ironic eye on its foibles and idiosyncracies. 37.   Kaposvar: The Faith of Lajos Nagy Friday June 14 2002, 7:30am Eastern - VisionTV Director Stephen Onda In the late 1880’s, western Canada had vast stretches of land which needed settlement. In 1889 Lajos Nagy and his family arrived to live in the settlement of Kaposvar as part of the first Hungarian colony in North America. Although the soil was fertile, the climate and isolation tested their endurance. Deep religious faith softened the hardship, but they had no church. Lajos Nagy played a key role in erecting the first cathedral with the very stones they tilled from the land. 38.   King of Hearts: Dreams of a Shepherd Boy Friday June 21 2002, 7:30am Eastern - VisionTV Director Lindalee Tracey Tofy Mussivand was a young man when he fled the Shah’s Iran in 1957. After studying engineering and working across Canada, Dr. Mussivand left to pursue medicine and biomedical engineering in the United States. Bringing back extraordinary expertise, he settled in Ottawa, where his knowledge pushed the frontier of heart transplants and made the city an unlikely centre of world class heart technology and research. Highly skilled and personally drive, Dr. Mussivand invented an artificial heart that may well revolutionize the success rate of transplants. 39.   Peaceable Kingdom: Nicholas Austin, Quaker Pioneer Friday June 28 2002, 7:30am Eastern - VisionTV Director Martin Duckworth It is not generally known that many of the refugees from the American Revolution, generally referred to as the United Empire Loyalists, represented the one-third of the American population who had tried to remain neutral in the conflict. Pacifist Quaker Nicholas Austin was one such neutralist. He led a group to found a settlement around Lake Memphremagog in Québec called Gibraltar Point where they could avoid harassment by Loyalists and others. The village of Austin and a spirit of ethnic peace are his legacy. Season One Episodes... Season Two Episodes... Season Four Episodes...