SOMETHING FROM NOTHING:
THE SHUMIATCHER SAGA

DIRECTED BY DAVID PAPERNY

Quintessential Canadian immigrants, the Shumiatcher family were persecuted Russian Jews who not only succeeded in building a new life for themselves, but established a community that continues to thrive in the Canadian West - despite the Canadian immigration officer who suggested they change their last name to Smith.

Of Judah and Chasia Shumiatcher's eleven children, it was Morris who started the Smithbilt Hat Company two generations ago. The Smithbilt hat is a great triumph, having become the official white cowboy hat of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and a symbol of western hospitality. It is one of Canada's most recognized trademarks.

The Shumiatcher family, whose history almost parallels that of Calgary, boasts lawyers, judges, businessmen, architects, artists, filmmakers, musicians, scientists and educators, all of whom continue to play a leadership role in Calgary and in communities across North America.

Whether celebrating a bar mitzvah, trading anecdotes or reliving tales of tragedy, the grandchildren of Judah and Chasia offer fascinating glimpses into their family's past, present and future. One of the grandsons is Judah Shumiatcher, the current owner of Smithbilt Hats. Judah narrates the Shumiatcher Saga, presenting a very personal perspective on the legacy of this very colourful family.

Academy Award nominee, David Paperny (The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter, Prisoner 88, Whisky Man, Mordecai) is the great-grandson of Judah and Chasia and intimately traces the diverse branches of the Shumiatcher family and their contribution to the growth of the City of Calgary.

THE FORCE OF HOPE:
THE LEGACY OF FATHER MCGAURAN

DIRECTED BY LINDALEE TRACEY

It was called the Summer of Sorrow. In 1847, thousands of Irish immigrants fled the Potato Famine and arrived dead and dying at the Québec quarantine station of Grosse Isle. To its lasting credit, Canada let them in and an Irish immigrant, Father Bernard McGauran, brought them comfort and a reason to hope. Filmmaker Lindalee Tracey takes us through the horror of Canada's worst human disaster and the extraordinary efforts of an unsung hero to rally a multicultural and multilingual rescue force.

Bernard McGauran immigrated from Ireland to Canada in the 1830s and took his vows in 1846. A year later he was assigned to Grosse Isle to comfort the famine victims dying of typhus and cholera. The Summer of Sorrow was a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions. At its close was the grim tally of dead - almost 6,000 officially, close to 15,000 unofficially.

Father McGauran's rescue effort would have been impossible in Ireland. Heading up a contingent of 42 priests and 17 pastors on Grosse Isle, Father McGauran united Catholic and Protestant, English and French, rich and poor. He worked tirelessly and fell under the deadly pall of typhus himself. Father McGauran was so moved by the immigrants' plight that, in 1856 he opened St. Brigid's Home, a refuge for the Irish elderly, orphans and the destitute, that stands today.

Although their disease and poverty would slow their welcome into the Canadian mainstream, in much of Québec the Irish were received with kindness - perhaps because French Canadians understood poverty and exile. Father McGauran's legacy of tolerance and generosity helped forged those links between the Irish and Québeçois community that survives today.

Lindalee Tracey, an award-winning filmmaker and author is a French- and Irish-Canadian. She takes us on a haunting, emotional journey into the heroism and decency of her own two cultures and discovers for us, an unsung hero.

THE ROAD CHOSEN:
THE STORY OF LEM WONG

DIRECTED BY KEITH LOCK

It is the sweat and sacrifice of immigrants that often lift their children to great accomplishments and contribution. This is the legacy of a Chinese immigrant, Lem Wong, celebrated by filmmaker Keith Lock.

Lem Wong was only 14 when he arrived in Canada from China in 1897. His father had died and he had begged an uncle to let him travel with him in the hold of a sailing ship. Together they found work in the Chinese laundries of Vancouver.

Lem had received a genteel education in China, but in Canada his quilted coat, felt shoes and pigtail relegated him to the status of a menial worker. He earned a quarter of a white man's wages. Racism was rampant. There were fears that the frugal Chinese would underbid European settlers in the labour market.

Hopping freight trains, Lem Wong worked his way across Canada, toiling in Chinese laundries, on the prairies, in Montréal, Springhill, Nova Scotia and finally Sydney, Cape Breton Island. After five years, he had saved enough for a two way steerage ticket back to Canton. He found a wife and married in China, returning to Canada alone.

Wong invested in a London, Ontario laundry and faced a head tax of $500 to transport his wife, her feet still traditionally bound, to his adopted country. In 1914, he opened a restaurant in London, Wong's Cafe. It was described as "the sort of place every fellow wanted to take his girl." He brought in orchestras, helping launch the career of local musician Guy Lombardo, and he ran supper dances. But to Lem Wong, his greatest gift to his new country, and the source of his deepest pride, was the education and accomplishments of his eight children which include three doctors, a professor of chemistry and a lawyer.

Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Keith Lock's tribute to a canny entrepreneur and restauranteur provides a rare insight into the Confucian precepts and dogged determination of many early Chinese immigrants.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD:
THE MENNONITES AND BENJAMIN EBY

DIRECTED BY ANN KENNARD

Die Möglichkeit, ihre kulturellen Werte zu erhalten und frei auszuleben, hat viele Einwanderer nach Kanada gelockt. Die Filmemacherin Ann Kennard erforscht die private Welt der Mennoniten und der kühnen Gründer dieser faszinierenden Gemeinschaft im Südwesten Ontarios.

The freedom to worship and practice distinct cultural values have lured many immigrants to Canada. Filmmaker Ann Kennard explores the private world of the Mennonites and the intrepid founders of their community in southern Ontario. Benjamin Eby crossed the Canadian border in 1807 in a horse cart, carrying a quilt stitched with ten thousand pockets. Each pocket contained an American silver dollar to buy off the mortgages on the 60,000 acres of land the Mennonites purchased in Waterloo county.

Eby would go on to found the Mennonite community in St Jacob's, Ontario and be ordained as the first Mennonite bishop in Canada. He built the first Mennonite church, opened and taught at the first Mennonite one-room schoolhouse, bought the first printing press and distributed the first Mennonite newsletter.

Far from being mired in the past, this fascinating documentary captures not only the Mennonite cultural, religious and community traditions but the voices of dissent and change, the conflict and struggle of a society in transition. In Mennonite schools today, only some children wear hats, plain clothes or long skirts. In the fields, one farmer uses a manual haying machine while another works with mechanized bailers and combines. Today nearly 50 different groups of Mennonites live in Ontario, fragmented according to different values and beliefs.

Award-winning filmmaker, Ann Kennard (The Powder Room/ Freeman Patterson) gained extraordinary access to this very exclusive community in south-west Ontario. Her film offers rare glimpses into a lifestyle and philosophy of life that is unique in Canada.

BREAKING THE ICE:
THE STORY OF MARY ANN SHADD

DIRECTED BY SYLVIA SWEENEY

Canada has been enriched by the wisdom and vision of its immigrants, by a constant stream of new ideas and social thinkers. Filmmaker Sylvia Sweeney explores the remarkable contribution of Mary Ann Shadd, American Black abolitionist and educator. Shadd started the first integrated school in Canada and was the first female newspaper editor and first female black lawyer in North America. Mary Ann Shadd was an abolitionist, integrationist and suffragette. Born a free woman in 1823 in Wilmington, Delaware, she took on the fight for abolition and education for Blacks, and battled the segregationists in Upper Canada. Her most enduring legacy remains that of integration of free men and women who believe that the foundation of a community should be family and friends, not race or colour.

As a child, Mary's father's shoemaking store housed a portion of the underground railway. She encountered many frightened slaves fleeing to Canada. Moving to Windsor, Upper Canada in 1851, Shadd became a teacher and an activist in the abolitionist movement. She was catapulted into prominence by the passage of The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Slavery had been abolished in Canada since 1834, and Upper Canada was a refuge for this newly-free Black population. Shadd felt her people were ripe for the concept of integration.

Her insistence on integration was considered heretical. Both Whites and Blacks at the time believed in separate but equal status for their communities. Battling powerful opposition, Shadd set up her own private school which, for the first time, was open to all colours. She believed that every individual had an equal potential for success and that education, hard work and self-reliance were the keys to that equality. Mary Ann Shadd's model of tolerance paved the way for the Canadian mosaic.

One of Canada's most talented documentary filmmakers (In the Key of Oscar/Landed Series/ Finish Line), Sylvia Sweeney is the writer, director and driving force behind this inspiring portrait of Mary Ann Shadd.

ACADIAN SPIRIT:
THE LEGACY OF PHILIPPE D'ENTREMONT

DIRECTED BY PETER D'ENTREMONT

C'est pour s'émoyer de ses aïeux que le cinéaste acadien Peter d'Entremont a ressoudu à Pubnico, en Nouvelle-Écosse. Il voulait remonter dans sa lignée, en passant par les douze générations qui l'avaient précédé et par le Grand Dérangement, qui a horriblement déchiré l'Acadie. M. d'Entremont s'est particulièrement intéressé au patrimoine laissé par son célèbre aïeux, le baron Philippe Muise d'Entremont.

Acadian filmmaker Peter d'Entremont embarks on a personal journey to Pubnico, Nova Scotia, in search of his family's beginnings. Untangling the history of ten generations, d'Entremont explores the legacy of his illustrious forbear, the Baron Philippe Muise d'Entremont.

Philippe d'Entremont was one of the first French immigrants to settle in the New World. Lieutenant to the Governor, Charles de la Tour, d'Entremont was an educated man whose privilege couldn't protect him from the harsh conditions of Acadia. The history of the d'Entremonts is the history of Acadia. A hundred years after Philippe's arrival, his family would be one of the last to leave during the Acadian Expulsion of 1755, and one of the first to return twelve years later.

Peter d'Entremont explores his family's ties to the Expulsion and to its mythologies. The Expulsion was an horrendous upheaval for Acadians. During the mass deportation of 1755, 10,000 Acadians were exiled for refusing to sign the oath of allegiance to the King of England. At Grand-Pré, d'Entremont visits the famous symbol of Acadian survival, the statue of Evangeline. She was the fictional character of Longfellow's epic American poem, set in Grande Pré. Peter discovers that Grand-Pré was founded by a d'Entremont, a daughter of the Baron, who spent his last years in Grand-Pré.

It is in the final chapter of the film, at an Acadian festival featuring a parade, step-dancing and music, that the filmmaker recognizes the merging of the past and the present and the resounding victory of Acadian survival.

Gemini award-winner (Place of the Boss), and recent winner of Japan's President's Prize (Bronwen and Yaffa), Peter d'Entremont's "ACADIAN SPIRIT" is not merely an examination of what life was like 300 years ago for the first Acadian settlers, it raises questions about identity and heritage, language and culture. Filmmaker Lindalee Tracey adds her writing and dramatic skills to help personalize the humanity of the past.

SONS AND DAUGHTERS:
THE ITALIANS OF SCHREIBER

DIRECTED BY PATRICIA FOGLIATO AND DAVID MORTON

Metà degli abitanti di Schreiber, in Ontario, è originaria della città di Siderno in Calabria e i discendenti di quel villaggio italiano mantengono forti legami qui in Canada. Ad essi é dedicato il film di Patricia Fogliato e David Mortin, un tributo alla durevolezza dei legami di parentela e comunitá.

Half the community of Schreiber, Ontario originated in the town of Siderno, in Calabria, Italy. The descendants of that Italian village remain fiercely connected here in Canada, and are the subjects of Patricia Fogliato and David Mortin's filmic tribute to the enduring ties of family and community.

In 1905, Cosimo Figliomeni started work on the Canadian Pacific Railway, north of Lake Superior. His good fortune and letters home lured many of his villagers to jobs in Schreiber. Cosimo is the grandfather and great-grandfather of practically all the Italians living in this community today, and the link between the Figliomeni and Speziale clans.

It is this shared history that accounts for the strong sense of community in Schreiber and explains why the Italian families are especially close-knit (not to mention the confusing fact that so many of them carry the same name). There remains an abiding affection toward their ancestors, a deep-rooted sense of connection, and the conviction that they continue to build on the pioneering efforts of their forefathers. These were the values necessary for survival in a strange land. Yet change is not only inevitable, but a sign of becoming truly established within the context of the larger Canadian community.

The film contrasts turn-of-the-century photographs of Schreiber and the CPR line along the north shore of Lake Superior, with a vivid depiction of a large Italian family and small town life, providing touches of humour and human interest. Whether it's a shot of Pina making fresh bread or of Cosimo belting out folk songs to friends and relatives at the Fallen Rock Motel Bar & Dining Room, there is an enviable sense of cosy intimacy.

Award-winning husband and wife filmmaking team Patricia Fogliato and David Mortin (Enigmatico, Time on Earth) have collaborated on a warm, emotional documentary about Cosimo Figliomeni's family and a very special Canadian town.

WATARI DORI:
A BIRD OF PASSAGE

DIRECTED BY LINDA OHAMA

When Japan entered World War II, Irene Tsuyuki was incarcerated with her parents in the government's internment camp of Tashme, in the B.C. interior. After the war she was repatriated to Japan, leaving her own country behind. Filmmaker Linda Ohama documents the remarkable story of how Irene Tsuyuki lost her citizenship and reclaimed it, and the invaluable contributions she has made to Canada ever since.

Today Irene Tsuyuki is married with grown children and grandchildren. Her son now runs the family greenhouse business in Surrey, B.C., but Irene is very much the centre of community life.

This documentary also traces the role of Winifred Awmack, an extraordinary woman who taught Tsuyuki and many other Japanese students in Tashme over 50 years ago. It was Awmack who gave the Japanese students happy memories, sustaining their spirits both during the war and long afterwards when some of them left for Japan.

Winifred was one of Irene's lifelines to Canada. Although they have stayed in touch sporadically over the years through Christmas cards and letters, it was not until the making of this film that the two were reunited. Half a century after they first met in Tashme, Irene and Winifred return there to relive their memories and come to terms with the past.

Linda Ohama's haunting film The Last Harvest was honoured with five international awards and has been invited to 24 festivals around the world. "WATARI DORI" is a poignant testimony to the strength of character of two very different Canadian women.

THE IMPOSSIBLE HOME:
ROBERT KROETSCH AND HIS GERMAN ROOTS

DIRECTED BY CARL BESSAI

Es ist die Fähigkeit von Einwanderern, sich neu zu erfinden, ihre Bereitschaft, auf einen Traum hinzuarbeiten, die ein Land bereichern und erneuern. Diesem Mut widmet Carl Bessai seinen Film über den kanadischen Schriftsteller Robert Kroetsch und dessen deutsche Abstammung.

It is the ability of an immigrant to re-invent themselves; the willingness to pursue a dream, that enriches and renews a nation. This is the courage that Carl Bessai explores in his film about Canadian writer, Robert Kroetsch and his German roots. Robert Kroetsch is a prominent Canadian novelist and poet. He was born in his grandparent's homestead shack in Heisler, Alberta. The town was settled by ethnic Germans whose descendants farm the region to this day. Kroetsch's paternal great-great-grandfather emigrated from Germany in 1841, pushed out by the industrial revolution. He settled in Ontario and built a watermill. When new technologies and diminishing forests killed that dream, Kroetsch moved his family West, to homestead.

The Kroetsch family history mirrors the efforts of so many pioneers who carved out lives through hardship and adversity. As Robert Kroetsch so eloquently puts it, "I am no different from my grandfather who first came to Canada -- like so many new Canadians, I have kept moving, exploring and redefining myself in the geography of the land."

Kroetsch draws heavily on his early life as inspiration for his poetry and prose. In Field Notes, he documents family history in poetic fragments which describe the struggle to adjust to a new life in Canada. His novel, The Studhorse Man has been honoured with a Governor General's Award.

Filmmaker/cinematographer Carl Bessai's late father was a close friend and colleague of Robert Kroetsch. They share these German prairie roots. "THE IMPOSSIBLE HOME" is a poetic tribute to these origins, which have shaped the landscape and the literary culture of Canada.

PASSAGE FROM INDIA

DIRECTED BY ALI KAZIMI

For the hopeful British subjects of the Indian sub-continent at the turn of the century, Canada was a confusing place of strict and discriminating laws. Unable to bring their wives and families with them, these Indian immigrants forged a strong bachelor society that contributed mightily to the creation of an industrialized nation. Filmmaker Ali Kazimi explores the dreams and efforts of one of these Indian immigrants, Bagga Singh, and the Canadian families that continue to bear his name.

In his small village in the Punjab, Bagga Singh heard fabulous stories of Canadian land waiting to be settled. In 1913, Singh made it to Canada through the United States, circumventing strict immigration laws which sought to keep Asians like him out. He found work labouring in the lumber mills of British Columbia. Today, many of these mills are owned by the descendants of those first Indian immigrants.

Two generations later, Bagga Singh's granddaughter, Belle Puri, is a well-known CBC television journalist in Vancouver. The film follows Belle as she draws upon family stories and tries to understand what life would have been like for her grandfather.

Filmmaker Ali Kazimi, himself an immigrant from India, parallels the history of the Indian community in Canada with his own journey. Kazimi skillfully mines anecdotes from two 'old-timer' immigrants, Kuldeep Bains and Jack Uppal. Canadians will be surprised to learn that Indians were denied the right to vote until 1947. Indian Canadians organized and lobbied for inclusion and helped make Canada a more just nation. That they and their descendants, like Belle Puri, continue to feel a deep attachment and love for Canada, is a testament to the worth of this country.

"PASSAGE FROM INDIA" is an enduring testimony to the hard work of thousands of Indians like Bagga Singh. Filmmaker Ali Kazimi faithfully and passionately documents the history of the Singh family and eloquently articulates the hopes, struggles and desires of all Canadians whose roots lie in India.

THE FULLNESS OF TIME:
UKRAINIAN STORIES FROM ALBERTA

DIRECTED BY HALYA KUCHMIJ

So much of Canada's history is unwritten, just words in the wind, passed from one generation to another. From family to family. In THE FULLNESS OF TIME, filmmaker Halya Kuchmij, takes hold of these whispers and weaves them into an oral history of Ukrainian immigrants. Halya Kuchmij's main character is Harvey Spak, Albertan writer and filmmaker. He tells us of his grandfather, Alexander Szpak, who comes to Canada from Ukraine in 1900 as part of the first wave of Ukrainian immigrants to settle in Northeastern Alberta. A horse breeder and local veterinarian, Alexander buys a 160 acre homestead for $10 and dreams of a better life for his family.

One wintry night Alexander Szpak's horse-drawn sleigh becomes stuck in the train tracks. There is no warning at the crossing, no whistle in the fog. A train ploughs into the sleigh. Tragically, Alexander's life is cut short

This is just one of the many stories that Harvey Spak narrates about the rural community he grew up in. They are stories of hardship and tragedy, of triumph and celebration; stories about the land that nurtured and shaped those early immigrants.

Directed by Genie-award-winning (Strongest Man in the World) Ukrainian-Canadian filmmaker Halya Kuchmij, "THE FULLNESS OF TIME" captures the riveting, often humorous stories of the settlement and tracks the evolution of this fascinating rural community.

THE FIRST SEEDING:
A LEGACY OF TENACITY

DIRECTED BY RICHARD BOUTET

Immigrants to Canada have brought valuable expertise in industry, art, politics and economics. Many of the first arrivals came to farm and to feed a nation. Agriculture was, and is, a defining national industry. Québeçois filmmaker Richard Boutet celebrates the efforts of Louis Hébert, the first farmer to sow wheat in Québec.

French Immigrants to Canada have brought valuable expertise in industry, art, politics and economics. Today, 80% of Quebecers are living in cities but it has not always been this way. Many arrivals came to farm and to feed a nation.

Québeçois filmmaker Richard Boutet started a quest for identity back to the very first family of the country.

At the beginning of "Nouvelle France," farming was essential to maintain life. Louis Hébert was the first settler to sow wheat and vegetables in Québec in 1617. He was an apothecary (a scientist of healing plants) in the service of the king, the son of a known apothecary. He emigrated from France with his family and became a farmer as a way to earn his freedom. He was indentured for two years to the Canada Company during which time he had to turn over all his produce to the Company. Only then was he given his own parcel of land. Later in 1623, he was named Lord for his contribution. He died in 1627. His wife Marie Rollet and their three children continued the farming.

Ever since Hébert and other settlers learned the cultivation of corn from the native peoples, farming in the New World has evolved and adapted to changing needs and technology. Today, in Québec, farmers still follow the tradition of Hébert's tenacity. Despite the English Conquest, the American Revolutions, the colonial wars, the American invasion, the various repressions, the economic depression, and the march of time, farming has continued to sustain the communities and to feed the cities.

Prominent Québeçois filmmaker Richard Boutet traces the genealogy of Louis Hébert, capturing the seasons from seeding to harvesting, and charts the evolution of French immigrants to "Canayen" colonists and finally to French Canadians and Québeçois. Boutet explores the lasting legacy of Louis Hébert in the open markets of Québec City and Montréal. Between seven in the morning and six in the evening, the stalls are teeming with small growers of corn, potatoes and various fruits and vegetables. They sell their produce directly to passersby without middlemen. Here the descendants of Louis Hébert still ply their trade.

This film is a synthesis of 400 years. It outlines the legacy of Louis Hébert through time and through the everyday courage of the Immigrants who arrived from France.

A LAND AS GREEN AS THE SEA

DIRECTED BY TOM RADFORD

So many immigrants have come to Canada seeking refuge from persecution in their homeland, eager to offer their skills and hopes to their new country. Filmmaker Tom Radford weaves a very personal film about his Scottish ancestors who fled the Highland Clearances and made a lasting contribution to Canadian journalism.

A Land as Green as the Sea is an adaptation of an old Scottish emigrant's song, with its dream of a new world. It aptly describes the rolling parkland and prairie that Gertrude Hogg saw from the train window when she came West in 1905 - the year Alberta became a province.

Gertrude Hogg was filmmaker Tom Radford's grandmother. This is the story of Radford's ancestors, who fled Scotland, settling briefly in Brantford, Ontario and then moved to Edmonton to establish the first community newspaper at the turn of the century. The Edmonton Journal, the paper Radford's grandfather become editor of was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for confronting the Alberta government in 1936 over the notorious Press Bill.

For the boy who grew up in a renovated garage behind his grandparents' house, the stories they used to tell - about the family's origins, fortunes won and lost in the new world, stories of immigration to a country and within a country - fired his imagination. Though his grandparents died in the 1960s, Radford continues to piece together the fragments of memory, separating fact from fiction, sifting through the boxes of old photographs and letters, and listening to favourite 78 rpm records. These discoveries led him to the gaelic roots of Cowboy Music.

Tom Radford is one of Canada's most distinguished documentarians. He has made over fifty films including the award-winning Hockey Night in Harlem, In Search of the Dragon, Life After Hockey and Earnest Brown: Pioneer Photographer. He has been producing/directing and writing documentary films in Western Canada for 25 years, founding one of the first independent production companies in Edmonton, and being the first Executive Producer of the National Film Board Prairie Production Studio.

FIRST LADY OF THE YUKON

DIRECTED BY DAVID ADKIN

David Adkin's First Lady of the Yukon is the gripping tale of Martha Black, a young society wife who left a life of privilege in Chicago for the adventure of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898.

Photographed in the raw beauty of the Yukon, this is a dramatic story of an American woman's determination to claim her own independence. Martha Black built a new life for herself in the perilous frontier of the Gold Rush. She raised a family, succeeded in business, and eventually represented the Yukon in Parliament as Canada's second female M.P.

Incorporating excerpts from Martha Black's autobiography, powerfully read by actress Jackie Burroughs, First Lady of the Yukon is a very personal, eye witness account of the hardship and heroism that helped shape the Canadian Northwest.

AN ENGLISH SENSE OF JUSTICE

DIRECTED BY LINDALEE TRACEY

Lindalee Tracey's An English Sense of Justice celebrates the grit and tenacity of T. Phillips Thompson, an English newspaperman who championed the cause of the working class and social reform.

The film explores bruising social disparities of the 1870s, taking us into the brutal world of working men and women who were not yet allowed to vote, and of children slaving in factories. Filmmaker Lindalee Tracey creates a haunting weave of archival materials, re-enactments and the written words of Thompson, alongside the recollections of his granddaughter Lucy Woodward and grandson, Pierre Berton.

An English Sense of Justice is a compelling story of an immigrant's compassion and his courage to imagine a more just nation.

BROTHERS FROM VIETNAM

DIRECTED BY CARL BESSAI

Carl Bessai's Brothers From Vietnam is the personal story of the filmmaker's family who sponsored a Vietnamese family of 'Boat People' in 1979.

In the turbulent years following the end of the Vietnam War, the Lai family made the treacherous journey out of their homeland. The Lais were among so many of their countrymen who managed to survive 20 years of civil war and famine, and took the opportunity to rebuild their lives in Canada.

In Brothers From Vietnam, Carl Bessai looks back on childhood memories. He was a boy of only 12 years when the Lais arrived. Carl knew Vietnam only as a strange, distant place ravaged by war. Carl's mother opened their home to the Lais, and both families maneuvered around cultural obstacles to become life-long friends.

NEW NORWAY:
THE IMMIGRANT TRAIL

DIRECTED BY TOM RADFORD

Tom Radford's New Norway traces the legacy of three generations of the Westvick family that emigrated from Norway to Alberta in 1912.

Sivert and Anna Westvick dreamed of building a new life on the Canadian prairie. It would not be easy. Sivert tried his hand at everything in the new community. He was a butcher, an importer of women's hats from Montreal, the town's mayor and its self-taught mortician.

The dream of a self-sufficient community could not survive the 1947 discovery of oil in nearby Leduc. But Sivert and Anna had always placed great value on education and their family became adept assimilators. William Thorsell, their grandson, would become editor of The Globe and Mail. But by the end of the century no Westvicks remained in New Norway.

STRAIGHT ARROW

DIRECTED BY GEORGE PRODANOU AND ANNA PRODANOU

George and Anna Prodanou's Straight Arrow is a touching portrayal of a modest man whose life is testimony to what it means to have "the right stuff."

It is the story of Janusz Zurakowski, a decorated ace aviator from Poland who fought in the Battle of Britain. He was recruited to Canada to become the chief experimental test pilot of the legendary aircraft, the AVRO Arrow. When the Arrow project was canceled, Zurakowski moved with his family to Northern Ontario. He opened a tourist lodge near the site where the first Polish immigrants settled in Canada a century before him.

Jan Zurakowski moved to Canada to be part of its high-tech future. Instead, he ended up embracing a life that was much like its pioneering past.

THE MAGNIFICENT ABERSONS

DIRECTED BY LAURENCE GREEN

Laurence Green's The Magnificent Abersons recounts one Dutch family's tale of paradise lost, paradise regained. Seduced by romantic images touting the prairies as the new Eldorado, Bob and Jane Aberson immigrated to Dauphin, Manitoba, in the 1920s. The young couple soon realized that Dauphin was no Eden and farming no romance.

Seeking to temper the myth with a hardy dose of fact, Jane began writing a column for a Dutch newspaper that became a regular feature, lasting 30 years. Jane described the realities of farming life in Canada, a country that she had grown to love and felt needed no embellishment. Her popularity led to a series of lecture tours in the Netherlands, where she emerged as a celebrity go-between for thousands more Dutch who followed her to become Canadians.

VOICE OF FREEDOM

DIRECTED BY JACQUES HOLENDER

Jacques Holender's Voice of Freedom captures the voice of Ugandan refugee Opiyo Oloya as a broadcaster, teacher and writer. It also reveals the existence of a vibrant African culture in Toronto.

Opiyo Oloya fled Uganda for his life in 1981, leaving behind his family and, for a while, his attachments with all things African. Once in the strange land of Canada, changes crept in on him slowly, whittling away at his native core.

But Oloya soon re-established connections with his African culture. As a teacher he tells his story to students and learns about their experiences. And hosting "Karibuni," an African music show on CIUT Radio in Toronto, allows him to share his African element -- a part of himself -- with the wider Canadian audience.

SAGA OF HOPE:
AN ICELANDIC ODYSSEY

DIRECTED BY JULIANN BLACKMORE

Saga of Hope is an exploration of the Icelandic heritage of distant cousins Juliann Blackmore and Ásthildur Kjartansdóttir.

Their ancestor, Sigursteinn Oddson, left Iceland in 1883. His neighbour, Hans Peter Tergesen, left in 1887. The two men were part of a massive exodus from Iceland to Canada. A devastating volcano drove one-third of the population from their island home. The majority went to a settlement in Manitoba, named "New Iceland."

Both Sigursteinn and Hans Peter had hopes for a better life in Canada, but their fortunes divided. Tergesen opened a general store in Gimli that became the centre of the Icelandic community and is still run by the Tergesen family today. Oddson worked his lifetime breaking land. The hardships of a settler's life finally shattered his family, scattering his descendants across Canada.

THE STOWAWAY

DIRECTED BY DAVID MORTIN AND PATRICIA FOGLIATO

Patricia Fogliato and David Mortin's The Stowaway is the story of Antonio da Silva who, as a young boy in Portugal, hid away on a schooner bound for Newfoundland. Eighty years later, Antonio's daughters, Phyllis and Marie, retrace his life in hopes of creating a more complete portrait of their father.

Antonio regretted that he never again saw his mother and family. He reconnected with his countrymen through the visits of Portugal's White Fleet fishermen to the port of St. John's. Antonio was always the first to greet the fishermen after their endless months at sea. By nightfall, they'd all be singing, dancing and drinking in the kitchen of Antonio's boarding house. For the fishermen this was a welcome safe-harbour. For Antonio, the fishermen were like long-lost family returned to him by the sea.

OPENING NIGHT

DIRECTED BY MARIE-CLAUDE HARVEY

Marie-Claude Harvey's Opening Night is a touching tribute to George Farhood and his son Charles, Lebanese immigrants to Canada who founded Montréal's Chanteclerc Theatre in 1912.

Searching for a better life, George and Charles arrived in Québec in 1895. They began working as peddlers. With money saved over many years, the Farhoods founded a theatre that became more than just a means of making a living. It was the family business, but also their passion, and the realization of their dreams.

In recounting memories tied to the family theatre, descendants of George and Charles Farhood recall, in a very personal way, how the dreams of immigrants contributed to the rich cultural fabric of Québec and Canada.

THE WANDERER:
THE STORY OF REV. SANG-CHUL LEE

DIRECTED BY SUN-KYUNG YI

Sun-Kyung Yi's The Wanderer is a sweet story of one very determined Korean immigrant. Reverend Sang-Chul Lee travelled half way across the world before he finally settled in Canada.

As a young man, Lee converted to Christianity from Shamanism as a way to cope with the brutality of Japanese-occupied Manchuria and Korea. When he was invited to Canada in the mid- 1960s to preach to a Japanese congregation in B.C., Rev. Lee could hardly believe the cruel irony.

Rev. Sang-Chul Lee became the first Asian Moderator of The United Church of Canada. For more than 30 years, he has preached equality and multicultural harmony. It wasn't until his three daughters married non Koreans that Rev. Lee had to do some soul-searching of his own.

THE BOATSWAIN:
POET AND WRITER RADOVAN GAJIC

DIRECTED BY JANKO VIRANT

Janko Virant's The Boatswain tours the floors of twin downtown Toronto apartment buildings to visit their immigrant inhabitants and discover the courage that propels them onward.

At the centre of The Boatswain is Radovan Gajic, a poet from the former Yugoslavia who makes his living as the superintendent of the two buildings. As the first real point of contact for many new immigrants, Gajic is the backbone of closely nurtured, vital relationships in their new community of Toronto.

Janko Virant offers a glimpse at lives that were forced to flee, and then looks closer to discover why the choice was made to settle in Canada.

THE HAITIAN HEART OF LOVE

DIRECTED BY CARLOS FERRAND

Carlos Ferrand's The Haitian Heart of Love weaves a portrait of a man defined by contradictions. Priest and bon vivant, philosopher and karate aficionado, a man of privacy and a radio host, Karl Lévêque came from bourgeois origins and dedicated his life to the poor.

Many Haitians came to Québec in the early sixties, trying to escape being taken in by Haiti's horrible history. Karl Lévêque became their protector. In the film, taxi drivers, Christian activists, teachers and home workers alike remember Karl as their friend. Even a group of modern troubadours -- the rap group RDPyzeurs -- recount the highlights of his story.

What is exceptional about Karl Lévêque's life is not his heroic acts or his spectacular achievements but rather the genuine and sincere quality of his commitment. He truly believed in people. To them he gave his entire life.

MÁ VLAST (MY HOMELAND):
THE JIRANEKS IN CANADA

DIRECTED BY TOM RADFORD

In his wonderful film, "Má Vlast, My Homeland", Tom Radford tells the story of one family as they struggle to escape the stifling Soviet-controlled repression of their homeland of Czechoslovakia. It was a society in which freedom of speech, movement, and association were controlled by the communist party. It was a time in which neighbours eavesdropped on neighbours. When trust was rare and conversation guarded even in the family home.

For a brief period in the Spring of 1968, under the auspices of a new Party Secretary, Alexander Dubcek, a thaw took place in Czechoslovakia. He brought in reforms which allowed for some long-sought freedoms.

On August 21, 1968, however, the thaw was over as Soviet tanks took over the streets of Prague. Unwilling to return to the oppression of the previous twenty years, many people fled seeking asylum in other countries. Amongst them were Michael and Renata Jiranek, who sought refugee status in Canada after defecting from a dance troop while in Germany.

The film follows their journey as they settle near Red Deer Lake, Alberta, raise cattle and begin to teach figure-skating in Canada. Amongst those they taught to perform on the ice and live life off the ice, was a young farm boy, Kurt Browning. Kurt who would go on to achieve the incredible and become a four-time world figure-skating champion. "Má Vlast, My Homeland", is a story of the human spirit as it rises up against adversity to find freedom.

RENÉ RICHARD:
PAINTER OF THE NORTH

DIRECTED BY JEAN-FRANÇOIS MONETTE

Jean-François Monette's ‘Painter of the North' celebrates the life of René Richard, a Switzerland native who rose above a childhood of forced labour to become one of Canada's most respected landscape artists.

Richard's family settled in Alberta in 1910 when René was fifteen. Unwilling to accept the back-breaking toil of a farmer's life, Richard left his father's home to become a trapper and hunter. It is while paddling the province's Northern lakes that Richard discovered Alberta's nature, immersed himself in the culture of the people of the North, and developed his exceptional artistic skills.

In order to perfect these skills, Richard made a trip to France and it is there that he met the man who would become a life-long friend, Clarence Gagnon. Back in Canada, Richard returned to his life as a wandering artist. His sketches are more than a personal testimony: through them Richard has recorded a vanished way of life. Richard's works are a collective diary of his adopted nation.

SLEIGHT OF HAND

DIRECTED BY LAURENCE GREEN

Director Laurence Green, in his wonderful film "Sleight of Hand", tells the story of John Giordmaine and through this one life gives a glimpse into the history of the Maltese community in Toronto. Giordmaine's childhood and teenage years were spent on the Island of Malta, one of three islands that make up the country of Malta. In later years, when John described the island to his son, he would speak of a land of mystery, shrouded in the mists of times, where Great Kings, Crusaders and the bird of prey, the Falcon, ruled the island. In reality Malta was a nation of poverty. Nine of his brothers and sisters died of disease during childhood. It was a nation in the depths of an economic depression and a colony of Britain. Despite enormous odds, John's mother managed to get all three of her sons a college education and provide them with opportunities. When John reached the age of maturity, that opportunity was Canada.

In 1919, at the age of twenty, John set out on his own for Canada. He left his place of birth and all that was familiar: language, culture and family, in the hope that Canada would offer him the one thing which Malta could not. Like many Maltese coming to Canada at that time, John was unprepared for the Canadian winter. Like so many of his countrymen, who had come in the ten years before him, he settled in ‘The Junction' area of Toronto. For the next ten years, John worked as an electrician's assistant at the Swift Packing Company. It was hard, dirty and dangerous work. Working on a electrical circuit in 1930, John received an injury which acted as a catalyst and changed his life. Giordmaine, decided to leave the electrician profession to pursue his first love, magic.

Giordmaine had been interested in magic since he was a child. He wanted to pursue the type of magic which was fun. The type that left people wondering ‘how did he do that?'. Many thought that he was crazy to leave his job with Swift in the heart of the Great Depression to pursue something as non-conventional as magic. But John understood that it's when people are at their lowest, that they need magic. He became a local and then an international celebrity, but kept faith with his goal of bringing laughter into people's lives and staying close to his Maltese roots.

COPYRIGHT:
LEONARD FRANK

DIRECTED BY ELI GORN

Director Eli Gorn's film, ‘Copy right: Leonard Frank', is a film about the human spirit of one man, and how he rose above adversity to capture the beauty of a Province. Leonard Frank came to Canada from German in 1892, at the age of 22. He came via San Francisco, where he was lured by the dream of striking it rich during the great gold rush. By the time Leonard arrived in San Francisco, stakes had been claimed and fortunes made.

Leonard Frank was an optimist, so when he heard that gold was being found a steamship ride away in a place called Vancouver, made his way north. Again, Frank, found that the gold had already been found. He, however, fell in love with Vancouver Island, the magic of the mountains, and the sense of impending economic prosperity. Vancouver was a small town on the verge of greatness. Frank stayed. If there wasn't gold on Vancouver Island, there was copper. So, he staked a claim for a copper mine, but was unable to survive on just the mining. He worked as a grocer, small business man, guide, and lumberjack.

It was while working in a logging camp near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, that fate stepped in. He bought a ticket in a lottery and won. First prize was a camera. It was as though his life had gone full circle. Frank's father had been a professional photographer in Berne, German, a village of roughly 750 people on the Dutch border. Leonard had apprenticed with his father and learned the craft of photography before setting off to seek his fortune in America.

With the skill of a professional photographer, the eye of an artist, and the love of the landscape, Frank spent the next fifty years photographing every day life events and the coast line of British Columbia. His nearly 50,000 images captured a now vanished British Columbia. His photographs, German heritage and propensity to photograph isolated places around the province, raised people's suspicions during World War I. He faced public ridicule, scorn and ostracization during those years, and he was accused of everything from being a foreign spy to indecent assault. His reputation destroyed, Frank left Port Alberni for Vancouver.

After the war, Frank became the official photographer for the West Coast of the Dominion of Canada. He photographed dignitaries, Royalty and everyday people. He became the most sought after photographer in the rapid growing city of Vancouver. His experience during World War I may have shown him the ugly side of human nature, but his spirit and eye for beauty were not diminished. Frank took some of the most extraordinary pictures of British Columbia. Pictures which are still considered some of the greatest photographic images of Canada's West Coast. Frank's sense of beauty, his gaze towards the mountain peaks, helped to define Canada as a nation.

CENTURY MAN:
THE FATHER SALAMIS STORY

DIRECTED BY STAVROS STAVRIDES

Director Stavros C. Stavrides' film ‘Century Man : The Father Nicholas Salamis Story', celebrates the quiet fortitude of a Greek born priest who witnesses almost a century of Greek immigration in Canada. At 103 years of age, Father Salamis has brought comfort to over four generations of Greeks in Canada.

Born on the Greek Island of Samos in 1897, tragedy struck Salamis' family five years later when his father died, leaving the family destitute. His mother raised her two sons by renting a mule to local businesses for transport.

Nicholas Salamis' mother was determined to educate her sons. She enrolled both her boys in the highschool on the other side of the island where Nicholas received his training in commerce. Seventeen-years-old and armed with his certificate, Nicholas first emigrated to America, then settled in the Greek community of Montréal in 1919.

Post-war Montréal's Greek community had a population of 2,000 and 500 businesses. It was not long before Nicholas Salamis was the bookkeeper for the community. Despite this community and prospects for success, Nicholas felt something lacking in his life. At age 35, Salamis returned to Athens to study theology. He had decided to become an Orthodox Priest. In 1938 he became Father Nicholas Salamis and spent the first seven years of his priesthood in a parish in Toronto. In 1945 he was transferred back to his beloved Montréal.

The church is vital to the Greek community - a link to the past and the glue that binds the various factions of a people who are often divided by politics. Father Salamis arrived in Montréal just before a great change took place in the Greek community. Towards the end of the 1940s, over one hundred thousand Greeks emigrated to Canada. They were largely uneducated, unskilled, with little or no knowledge of either official language of Canada.

They were coming to Canada to escape the horrors that had plagued their country for the better part of the century - war, oppression and economic collapse. Father Salamis not only administered to their spiritual needs with baptisms, marriages and funerals, he also eased the frictions which developed between the established Greek Community and the new immigrants, who were referred to with disdain, as ‘displaced persons'.

Father Salamis became the rock of the community over the next forty years, watching over his flock from the time they arrived as desperate new immigrants, scared and clinging to the safety of their community. He shepherded the children of these immigrants as they became members of the greater Canadian society, learning the official languages, getting the education that their parents so desperately wished for them.

Today, Father Salamis is 103 years old. He has long since retired from the priesthood, but he still watches with interest over his Greek community in Montréal, as they add so richly to the tapestry we call Canada.

CAPTAIN OF SOULS:
REV. WILLIAM WHITE

DIRECTED BY FERN LEVITT

Director Fern Levitt, in her inspirational film, 'Captain of Souls', tells the story of Reverend William White. Born into deeply segregated Virginia in 1874, the son of two former slaves who managed to buy their freedom, William White as a child wanted to be the richest Black man in the United States. During a walk by himself in the woods one day, he suddenly realized that his destiny was not the accumulation of material wealth, but spiritual wealth. He knew that he was to become a preacher.

He applied and was accepted in Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada. He was the second Black man to study there. White broke down racial barriers, through his participation in sports, excelling to become one of the all-time great athletes at Acadia. He graduated with an Art's degree in Theology, and was ordained a Minister in 1903. William White was determined to preach to his congregation that God created all men equal, that Blacks were not put on the earth to be slaves to the Whites. He worked towards knocking down racial barriers in the arena of employment, at the segregated theatres, buses and schools.

During World War I, Blacks were not allowed to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with Whites, so they started their own regiment, The 2nd Construction Battalion of Nova Scotia. White served as the pastor. He was the only Black officer in the British Army. Despite the horrors of the killing fields of France, Rev. White continued to preach racial tolerance and a message of inspiration. After the war, he was given his own church, the Second Baptist Church of New Glasgow, and invited to provide a monthly radio broadcast, heard across Canada and northern United States. White's sermons succeeded in preaching a message of hope and unity - that people had a destiny and no matter what it was, as long as they had a vision to pursue that destiny, they were a success.

Captain Rev. William White died in September, 1936, of cancer. Shortly before his untimely death, Rev. White received a Doctorate in Theology, the first Black in Canada to receive such an honour. A lot of the racial barriers in Canada had started to tumble. Rev. White's death affected Blacks and Whites alike, as they stood in front of the Baptist church to pay tribute to one man, who had added so richly to the tapestry known as Canada.

A GLOWING DREAM:
THE STORY OF JACOB & ROSE PENNER

DIRECTED BY CATHY GULKIN

Director Cathy Gulkin, in her personal film, A Glowing Dream, tells the story of her grandparents, Jacob and Rose Penner, who came to Canada at the turn of the century from Russia, and worked for the next 60 years to bring attention to the plight of the working poor of Canada.

Jacob Penner was born in southern Russia in the 1880's. The son of Mennonites, his family lived in a Mennonite village with substantial land holdings. Rose was born in the Ukraine. Her family was Jewish and lived in extreme poverty. Her mother died when she was five-years-old, and her father remarried a woman who forced Rose and her sister Becky to work in a factory at the age of eight to help support the family.

Though the Penner family lived in a comfortable Mennonite community in Imperial Russia, they were surrounded by peasants living in extreme poverty. Their plight stirred the socialist conscience in Jacob, and he started to work to improve their living conditions.

When the Penner family fell upon economic hard times, they decided to move to Canada's West to start a new life. Jacob wanted to stay behind in Russia to continue to work with the peasants, but his parents would not leave him. They feared he would be punished and sent to Siberia, and insisted that he immigrate with them to Canada.

Even in a new country, Jacob could not leave his socialist feelings behind. Though he didn't find a peasant class in Winnipeg, he did find extreme poverty - a system in which the accumulation of wealth was in the hands of the few, and workers and the poor had no rights and minimum protection.

So Jacob Penner worked for the next sixty years at trying to gain more rights for the workers of Canada. He did this by working as an Alderman at $25.00 per month, to win better rights for the poor through the 1930's, and helping to organize the Winnipeg General Strike. Interned during World War II, he re-entered politics upon his release.

Through all his years of quiet determination to improve the plight of the poor, his wife Rose was behind him. She struggled to raise three children with very little money, suffering insults from neighbours and political foes. Rose worked tirelessly for the release of her husband when he was interned.

Rose and Jacob Penner worked not for personal gain or glory, but for the greater good, to help the poor and working poor gain universal health care, unemployment insurance and a better welfare system. The Penners gave a voice to those in our society who are often silenced.

AN ACT OF GRACE

DIRECTED BY SYLVIA SWEENEY

In her film An Act of Grace, director Sylvia Sweeney explores the life of multicultural pioneer, Grace Bagnato, through archival photos, interviews, and the memories of her son, Vince Bagnato.

Grace was born in the United States after her parents had emigrated to the U.S. from Italy in the late 1800s. They knew that their children would have to learn English to succeed in the "new world," so never allowed Grace to speak Italian. When the family moved to Toronto in 1896, Grace was fluent in English and did not speak any Italian. Her family settled in "The Ward," located in the shadow of the City Hall and Court House, which was home to a rainbow of nations connected by their poverty and fear of the new culture of Canada. Most were isolated from Toronto's dominant Anglo-Saxon community by their lack of English.

At the age of 13, Grace married 25-year-old Joseph Bagnato who spoke only Italian, which she soon learned, thereby discovering she had a gift for languages. After learning six other languages, Grace became a translator. Not only did she help new Italian immigrants, she acted as a bridge between the Ukrainians, Germans, Jewish, and Polish communities and the authorities.

Her main role became that of court interpreter. At first, this was an unofficial job, but in the 1920's, she became an authorized court interpreter - the first woman immigrant to be appointed to this position.
In addition to her official role of court interpreter, Grace was also a housewife. She raised thirteen children, drove an automobile, and helped out greatly in her community.

With her gift for languages and her willingness to help others, Grace Bagnato became a bridge between communities. Her son Vince describes her as one of the early seeds of multi-culturalism in Canada. A seed which took root and today is one of the cornerstones defining as Canadians culture.

THE RELUCTANT POLITICIAN:
THE STORY OF IRENE PARLBY

DIRECTED BY DAVID ADKIN

In his inspirational film, The Reluctant Politician, Director David Adkin proves that an individual can make a difference. By telling the story of English immigrant Irene Parlby and her struggle to improve the lives of turn-of-the-20th century Alberta farm women, we see how Parlby's steadfast concern took her far from her beloved homestead in Northern Alberta, all the way to the Privy Council in London, England.

Irene Marryat settled in Alberta in 1896, and shortly after married an Oxford-educated Alberta homesteader, Walter Parlby. Despite being the daughter of privilege in London, England, homestead life was the great equalizer, and Irene thrust herself into the hard work of being a farmer's wife.

In 1909, Walter and Irene Parlby joined the local chapter of the United Farmers of Alberta, an organization formed to give the farmers of Alberta a stronger political voice. Seven years later, Irene Parlby reluctantly became President of the United Farm Women of Alberta, a position which she would hold until 1920. She used this position to bring particular attention to the lives of Alberta farm women and children, many of whom were suffering from terrible isolation, lack of decent health and dental care, as well as schooling - which was virtually non-existent in most rural areas.
Driven by a sense of duty, Irene Parlby reluctantly put her name forward as a candidate in the 1921 provincial election. Much to her surprise, she was elected. She became a Minister without Portfolio, only the second women in the British Empire to be appointed to Cabinet. In this capacity, she continued to fight to end the brutal isolation which faced many of Alberta's farmers.

Irene Parlby joined four other prominent Alberta women, Emily Murphy, Henrietta Edwards, Nellie McClung, and Louise McKinney in pushing for Section 24 of the British North American Act to recognize women as "Persons." The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that women were not persons under that Act and therefore, could not vote, among other things. These women, who became known as the "Alberta Five," appealed this decision in 1927 to the Privy Council in England. On October 18, 1929, a new decision was reached - women were now "Persons" under the Act, entitled to the same privileges as their male counterparts, including the vote and appointment to the Senate.

Thereafter, Prime Minister R.B. Bennett appointed Irene Parlby as one of three delegates Canada could appoint to the League of Nations in Geneva, where she served between 1930-34. Physically exhausted, she returned to Alberta and finished her term in the provincial legislature. She did not seek re election in 1935.

In recognition of the contribution she made to the province of Alberta, Irene Parlby became the first woman to receive an Honourary Doctorate from the University of Alberta in 1935.

Although retired from elected politics, Parlby continued to be a popular speaker on radio and in person, where she continued with her message of cooperation and her vision of a better world.

A SEPHARDIC JOURNEY:
SALLY LÉVY… FROM MOROCCO TO MONTRÉAL

DIRECTED BY DON WINKLER

Canadian culture has been enriched by the contributions of immigrants from around the world. Film maker Donald Winkler, in his remarkable documentary "A Sephardic Journey," gives us a glimpse into the life of one such immigrant, Solly Lévy. Through the film, the camera allows us to become part of Solly Lévy's life, albeit just for one special day, where we learn about him through the words of Solly himself, his past students, friends and family.

Solly and his wife Madeleine are Sephardic Jews who came to Canada from Tangiers, Morocco, in August of 1968. Despite a history dating back five hundred years, the Sephardic Jews of Morocco left when things took a turn for the worse for them there after the Six Days War between Israel and her Arab neighbours. The Israelis won the war, and thereafter a deep anger, resentment, humiliation and hurt felt by the Morocaans began to be directed towards Jews within their borders. Thousands of Sephardic Jews living there no longer felt safe, and left. Amongst those who fled were Solly and Madeleine Lévy.

Bringing their love for the arts with them, they arrived in Montreal in 1968, where Solly became a language teacher. In his early years in Québec, he developed a passion for the French Canadian culture, a passion which he passed on to his students, many of whom were first generation Canadians. He became a writer, radio host and became involved in the local theatre, where as director he launched many of what were traditionally thought of as being "French Canadian" plays, using immigrant actors.

Through his love for the arts, Solly Lévy has acted as a bridge between cultures, and by doing this enriched the lives of those he has touched, as well as the city of Montreal. He has added yet another colour to the fabric of the Canadian mosaic.

KAPOSVAR:
THE FAITH OF LAJOS NAGY

DIRECTED BY STEPHEN ONDA

Saskatchewan born Director Stephen Onda, in his visually beautiful and spiritually uplifting film, Kaposvar - The Faith of Lajos Nagy, takes us to the Hungarian festival at the Cathedral of Kaposvar, in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan. Many of those who attend the festival are descended from the original Hungarian pioneers who settled the area, and it is through their memories that we learn of the life of Lajos Nagy, one of the early pioneers and community leaders, who physically helped build the cathedral 1906. Lajos' experience in settling Saskatchewan was similar to many of the pioneers, and it is through exploring his life that we learn a little of the suffering, hardships and triumphs of a people instrumental in making Canada's prairies her bread basket.

Lajos Nagy arrived in Canada with his family at the age of 18 in 1888. Like the other Hungarian pioneers, they had been attracted to Saskatchewan, mainly because of brochures put out by a Canadian Immigration Agent, Count Esterhazy. The Hungarian immigrants soon discovered that Canada's West was not the "Garden of Eden" as it had been portrayed. They faced the brutal cold of a prairie winter and the isolation of a community 25 miles from the nearest railway line by Red River Cart. The rich soil which they had been told about was covered in virgin forest. For the first five years, Lajos Nagy and his wife lived in a sod hut cut into the side of a hill. Through the winter, he would clear the forest, and in summer, he worked at ridding the land of the stumps and preparing it for plowing. The work was slow, agonizing and brutal.

During these tough years, Lajos, like many in his community, leaned heavily on their Catholic faith to get them through. Slowly, Lajos and the other Hungarians of Esterhazy, built a community. One of the first buildings they erected was a church. In 1906, when the wooden church burned to the ground, the community rallied, and built from the ashes a stone cathedral which remains to today the centre point of the Hungarian community. It is here that the Hungarians of Saskatchewan gather each year for the "Festival of Kaposvar," to celebrate not just their faith, but four generations of shared history - from the sod hut to the modern community of Esterhazy.

KING OF HEARTS:
DREAMS OF A SHEPHERD BOY

DIRECTED BY LINDALEE TRACEY & PETER RAYMONT

Directors Lindalee Tracey and Peter Raymont bring us the inspirational film, King of Hearts - Dreams of a Shepherd Boy, about the life of Dr. Tofy Mussivand, an immigrant to Canada from his Kurdish homeland high in the Northern Mountains of Iran. The film traces Dr. Mussivand's remarkable journey from his humble roots as a barefoot Kurdish shepherd boy to a world renowned leader in the development of artificial heart technology.

As a boy, Tofy Mussivand would escape the oppressive heat of a summer night by sleeping on the roof of his home, gazing towards the heavens while contemplating the universe and the meaning of life. Even as a child, he was an avid reader, constantly seeking knowledge, a trait that would take him far from his native village - first to the University of Tehran and later, with the help of a scholarship, to the University of Alberta.
Mussivand struggled through his early years in Canada, learning the language, studying during the day and working as a dishwasher at night. He graduated from the University of Alberta and shortly afterwards married a young Canadian woman, Dixie Lee. Throughout the 1970's, Mussivand held a variety of engineering positions, helping to build the infrastructure of a modern Alberta. Though at one time he made a fortune buying and selling real estate, he eventually lost it when interest rates rose.

After this, Tofy, his wife and their two young sons moved to Cleveland, Ohio. It was there where his quest for knowledge and his desire to unravel the mysteries of life brought him back to school where he studied and received his doctorate in medicine. Now, with the combination of medicine and engineering behind him, he turned his attention to the newly developing science of artificial organs, and his creative energy to creating an artificial human heart.

After working for three years at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in the U. S., Mussivand was approached by Dr. Wilbert Keon of the Ottawa Heart Institute, to head the Institute's artificial heart team. It was here that the former Kurdish shepherd boy developed the artificial heart technology that would become the standard for the future.

This is a story of one boy, who dared to wish upon a star, to learn some of the secrets of the universe. Through hard work, he made his boyhood dreams a reality.

PEACEABLE KINGDOM:
NICHOLAS AUSTIN, QUAKER PIONEER

DIRECTED BY MARTIN DUCKWORTH

Director Martin Duckworth, in his wonderful film Peaceable Kingdom: Nicholas Austin, Quaker Pioneer, takes us on a journey of discovery. Duckworth's son Nicholas discovers his own Quaker heritage, by exploring the life of one of his ancestors and namesakes, Nicholas Austin.

In the early 1700's, at the age of 57, Austin moved north to Canada from the United States. His dream was to establish a Quaker settlement of peace in the Eastern Townships of Québec. Today, on the tract of land granted to Nicholas Austin over two hundred years ago, is the Town of Austin, Québec.

The dream of a Quaker colony of peace never did materialize - it became bogged down in red tape, double-dealing and hardship, which eventually financially broke Nicholas Austin. As we discover along with Nicholas Duckworth, the Quaker Colony may have failed, but many of the Quaker beliefs have survived, and, like the beauty of the Eastern Townships, have become part of the fabric of this modern community.

PIONEER PRIEST:
MONSEIGNEUR BOURDEL

DIRECTED BY DONNA CARUSO

Pioneer Priest pays loving tribute to the courage and sense of duty of French clergyman, Constant Jean-Baptiste Bourdel. In 1904 at the improbable age of 42, Monseigneur Bourdel left France against his doctor’s wishes and settled in the emptiness of Saskatchewan’s prairie.  There, he married his nephew to a woman he brought with him from France, and together the three of them started the first parish in Prud’homme.Bourdel had a far-reaching influence on other French immigrants, offering religious and social comfort, and a sense of belonging.

To this day, local mass is celebrated in French.Filmmaker Donna Caruso captures the remarkable spirit of French immigrant life, juxtaposing stunning visuals of Saskatchewan’s lonely beauty with touching archival images of settlers and clergy. Weaving through the show is the melodic, French folkloric music of local singer, Emile Campagne.

THE YELLOW PEAR:
THE STORY OF GU XIONG

DIRECTED BY AUDREY MEHLER

The Yellow Pear tells the dramatic story of a Chinese refugee arriving in Vancouver just after the Tiananmen Square massacre.  A native of Szechuan Province, Gu Xiong was an artist living in Beijing in 1989.  As an activist, his life was increasingly in danger. Through close Canadian contacts made as a student at the Banff Centre for Fine Arts, he escaped from China, leaving his wife and child behind. Gu Xiong settled in Vancouver, and continued his artwork while working menial jobs.  

He soon got the attention of local galleries. Some of his work was political comment on China, while other paintings revealed comical cultural ironies apparent to many Canadian immigrants. Finally reunited with his small family, Gu Xiong earned a teaching post and the accolades of art lovers nationally and internationally.  His work now hangs in the National Gallery in Ottawa and at galleries in Montreal and Toronto.

Filmmaker Audrey Mehler offers a rich and moving tapestry of artwork, interviews and archival footage in this provocative film about the human cost of exile and the determination of an artist to tell his truth.

AN IRISH WOMAN'S KINGDOM:
KIT COLEMAN

DIRECTED BY LINDALEE TRACEY

Lindalee Tracey's An Irish Woman's Kingdom is a layered, lyrical docu-dramatic portrait of an irrepressible Irish woman who became a Canadian newspaper legend. In 1884, a plucky Irish widow named Kathleen Willis, steamed towards a new life in Toronto. Educated and literary, her fortunes were soon battered by a bad marriage and responsibility for two children.

Desperate for work, "Kit" took on house cleaning and submitted stories to local magazines. Soon she had a featured column in the Daily Mail, and was an instant sensation. "Kit of the Mail" was the first woman journalist in Canada to be in charge of her own section of a Canadian newspaper, and her page was so outspoken that it attracted a wide following, including Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier. Coleman tackled anything that interested her, including political commentary, theatre criticism, fashion notes and recipes.

Chafing against low wages and Victorian propriety, she started one of the first advice columns and wrote forcefully on social reform and women's issues. While Woman's Kingdom was filled with the required fashion and domestic trivia, Kit introduced politics and culture, and penned some of the most searing social commentary on wife abuse and women's working conditions. She also maneuvered her way into Cuba during the Spanish American War of 1898, becoming the world's first accredited woman war correspondent. Six years later, she helped found the Canadian Woman's Press Club. Audacious and Irish in her love of the word, Kit Coleman syndicated her column to dozens of newspapers across the country. She finally found love and married Dr. Theobald Coleman.

In 1915, Kit Coleman died of pneumonia and Canada mourned the passing of a pioneering journalist and an advocate for social justice.

Filmmaker Lindalee Tracey creates a visual lacework of Victorian femininity in this complex portrait of a woman before her time. Embroidered with archival footage, haunting reenactments and Kit's own writing, the film explores the unique obstacles facing immigrant women, and the courage of one Irish woman to overcome them.

Lindalee Tracey is the originator as well as co-producer of A Scattering of Seeds. Of Irish and French Canadian heritage, she was drawn to the story of Kit Coleman, as she says, "like a moth to a flame."

THE GREAT LONE LAND:
THE LIFE OF R.B. NEVITT

DIRECTED BY TOM RADFORD

Tom Radford's The Great Lone Land is the remarkable adventure story of an American draft dodger escaping the Civil War. Edmonton filmmker Tom Radford takes us on a haunting journey through the brutal slaughter of Nevitt's American South, to the rugged beauty of Alberta's landscape. Weaving archival photographs and lyrical re-enactments with Nevitt's own words and sketches, this is a moving portrait of an American refugee who brought compassion and humanity to his new homeland.

Richard Barrington Nevitt escaped the brutality of the American Civil War, yet the horror of violent conflict was to pursue him all his life. Studying medicine in Toronto, Nevitt signed up as an assistant surgeon with the North West Mounted Police in 1847 on their great march to bring law to the western frontier. In the years that followed, he became one of the earliest and most prolific artists of the Canadian West and a keen documantarian of Native life.

Decent and caring, Nevitt gained the trust of the Blackfoot Indians who turned to the Mounties for help when the buffalo started disappearing. He became their doctor. His paintings and letters home to his sweetheart, Elizabeth Beaty, constitute a unique record of the struggle to bring justice to a lawless land and medicine to a destitute people. When he returned to marry and raise a family of his own, Nevitt helped founded the Toronto Women's Hospital and became a leading proponent of women's medicine in Canada. He delivered thousands of babies in the years that followed, yet had the tragedy of seeing many of them killed in the First World War, including his own son. The often pointless tragedy of war and his haunting memories of The Great Lone Land stayed with him all his life.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CURTAIN

DIRECTED BY PATRICK REED AND LAURENCE GREEN

Patrick Reed and Laurence Green's The Other Side of the Curtain is an exuberant celebration of a Lithuanian actress who settled in Hamilton, Ontario. Born to a prominent theatre family, Elena Kudaba was an acclaimed young actress in Lithuania when WWII threatened to rob her of that dream. One of 20,000 'Displaced Persons', she escaped as a refugee just as her homeland fell behind the Iron curtain of Soviet occupation. She emigrated to Hamilton in 1949.

Within months of arriving in Canada, Elena Kudaba founded an amateur theatre troupe called Aukuras ("Eternal Flame") for her community. Her Canadian career, with roles in over two dozen feature films, hundreds of stage productions, and countless television appearances, rose as dramatically as the curtain itself.

Elena's determination to keep the past present in the future has inspired generations of Lithuanian-Canadians, many attending performances, some participating in productions. Over fifty years and three children later, Elena continues to command centre stage, rightfully admired by her community, supported by her family, and ably assisted by her eldest daughter, Danute.

Directors Patrick Reed and Laurence Green have used the richness and rarity of archival footage along with the powerful performances of their central characters to create a dramatic and moving portrait. Both directors grew up in the Hamilton area, where The Other Side of the Curtain is set.

A FARMER FROM AMBER VALLEY:
J.D. EDWARDS

DIRECTED BY DAVID ADKIN

In his filmic tribute, A Farmer From Amber Valley, director David Adkin tells the story of J.D. Edwards and his wife Martha Murphy, two of the first settlers in the black settlement of Alberta known as "Amber Valley."

Jeff Edwards was 21 when he left Oklahoma for Canada in 1910, seeking an escape from segregation and prejudice in the American South. From Edmonton he walked a hundred miles north, staked a homestead east of Athabasca, then married his sweetheart, Martha.

Told through the archival pictures and the stories of their children, Adkin's documentary reveals how Jeff and Martha tackled the rigors of pioneer life, carving a farm out of the bush, while raising ten children. Edwards embraced his new citizenship with pride, becoming involved in local politics, the school and hospital boards, and a founding member of the Alberta Wheat Pool. In 1926, J.D. started the Amber Valley Baseball Team, whose members served as unofficial ambassadors of the black community.

Jeff was presented with an Achievement Award in Humanities from the Alberta government in 1973, in honour of his contributions to sports, politics and community life. He died in 1979 at the age of 90, remembered as a proud Canadian citizen who epitomized the spirit of black pioneers who settled the Canadian West.

Director David Adkin grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where he developed an abiding passion for Canada and the West.

THE MUSIC TEACHER

DIRECTED BY PATRICIA FOGLIATO

The Music Teacher is a lyrical journey into the life of a Chilean pianist transplanted in Toronto. Born in 1886, Alberto Guerrero was a key figure in classical music in Chile as a composer, concert pianist and orchestra conductor.  

In the early 1920s this refined musical luminary was offered a position at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music, a backwater in the classical musical world.  Guerrero became the teacher of an entire generation of notable Canadian composers and pianists including Stuart Hamilton, Arthur Ozolins, William Aide and John Beckwith.  Perhaps his greatest legacy was as the principal teacher of Glenn Gould.

Filmmaker Patricia Fogliato combines the haunting strains of classical music with moving interviews and archival footage to paint a remarkable portrait of a Chilean immigrant and musical pioneer.

HENRY DE PUYJALON:
LONE WOLF OF THE NORTH SHORE

DIRECTED BY JEAN-FRANÇOIS MONETTE

Jean-François Monette's Lone Wolf of the North Shore is a stunningly visual ode to a French man's love of Quebec's northern wilderness. Lured by tales of the Canadian wilds he had heard in Parisian cafes, Henry de Puyjalon crossed the sea in 1872. Passionate about nature, he began making long northern expeditions into the Mingan Archipelago - a necklace of limestone islands and reefs. De Puyjalon was commissioned by the provincial government to make mineralogical surveys, and was later hired as the Perroquet Island lighthouse keeper. Here de Puyjalon raised a family and found the peace and purpose he had been looking for - environmentalism. De Puyjalon argued forcibly for the preservation of endangered species and the overall conservation of the area. He fought against bad hunting practices and poaching and helped Canadians understand the limits of natural resources. His books about northern wildlife created many converts.

Filmmaker Jean-François Monette creates a sumptuous feast of stunning landscapes, archival photographs and on-location interviews. Embroidered with the poetry of de Puyjalon's own words, this is a tribute to a visionary French immigrant.

WRESTLING WITH THE SPIRIT:
A DOUKHOBOR STORY

DIRECTED BY DOROTHY DICKIE

Dorothy Dickie's A Doukhobor Story is a personal journey into the fascinating life experiences of her Russian great-grandfather. In April of 1899, Vany and Loosha Perverseff came to Canada with 2,300 other Doukhobors, the third and final wave of Doukhobor immigrants to Canada.

Simple, devout, mostly illiterate peasants, the Doukhobors were pacifists, and refused to join the Czar Nicholas II's military. For this, and their rejection of the authority and corruption of the Russian Orthodox Church, many Doukhobors, including members of Vanya's family, were forced from their land, arrested and tortured. The Perverseffs settled in Saskatchewan and started a new life as farmers with the assurance of freedom, but eventually the community experienced radical differences of opinion and splintered into three separate groups.

The Perverseffs chose the way of progress. Although Doukhobors were mostly illiterate, Vanya pursued a life-long love of learning and helped to establish the first school for Doukhobor children in his district. He passed on his love of learning to his children and his eldest son later become one of the first Doukhobor medical doctors to graduate in Canada.

Filmmaker Dorothy Dickie leads us through the mystery of early Canadian Doukhobor life with an evocative mix of first person reminiscences, archival footage and lovely scenic landscapes. A labour of love, Wrestling with the Spirit was inspired during the centennial year of the Doukhobors arrival in Canada when Dorothy attended the funeral of her grandmother in Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan, where the original family homestead still stands.

BEFORE HIS TIME:
DR. ALFRED E. WADDELL

DIRECTED BY LALITA KRISHNA

Lalita Krishna's Before His Time is the astonishing story of a determined Trinidadian doctor who immigrated to Halifax. The son of a headmaster, Alfred Waddell set out for New York in 1923 with his young bride Amelia Maria, dreaming of becoming a doctor.

The couple worked menial jobs to support themselves in New York. In 1928 Alfred left his family to study medicine at Dalhousie's medical school in Halifax. Amelia Maria finally joined him with their 4 children. Graduating in 1933, he faced the suspicions of Halifax's white and black communities who regarded him as an "outsider." His practice took off slowly. Members of the Chinese community were among his first clients.

Despite his own hardships, Waddell treated many isolated people who had no access to medical care. Waddell brought medicine to far flung black communities; spoke out against injustice; and even billeted black musicians like Cab Calloway, when he could not get a hotel room. A champion of social equality, Dr. Waddell raised his children with ideas of fairness and earned the respect of an entire city.

Although he died of a heart attack before he could see many of the the social changes he fought for, Alfred Waddell is remembered fondly his those who benefited from his advocacy.

Filmmaker Lalita Krishna tenderly weaves interviews, archival footage and lovely photography, in this heroic tale of a Trinidadian doctor whose humanity helped bridge the divide between Haifax's black and white communities.

THE TRAVELLING REVEREND

DIRECTED BY LINDA OHAMA

The Travelling Reverend is the inspiring story of a Japanese Buddhist priest who settled in Alberta in 1934. Reverend Yutetsu Kawamura was only 26 years old when he arrived in the dusty, southern Alberta town of Raymond.  Reverend Kawamura headed the Buddhist Church that became the social centre for the Japanese in southern Alberta during the Depression and war years, taught Japanese classes, and was a travelling priest ministering all over the prairies.  

Through the painful years of internment and later prosperity; through the hundreds of marriages and funerals he performed, Reverend Kawamura, with the help of his wife Yoneko, was a cohesive community force and a witness to a half-century of prairie history.Now in retirement, the Reverend reminisces about his life in Canada, sharing intimate glimpses of Japanese settlement through his beautiful home movies.

Filmmaker Linda Ohama brings sensitivity and a delicate pacing to this story. Weaving together beautiful imagery, interviews, archival footage and home movies, this is a loving homage to a man who is at the core of Japanese community life.

THE FURTHEST POSSIBLE PLACE:
THE JOURNEY OF ANNA MARIA SEIFERT

DIRECTED BY MARTIN DUCKWORTH

Martin Duckworth's The Furthest Possible Place pays homage to the dynamic spirit of a modern Bolivian political refugee living in Montreal. Ana Maria Seifert was only 6 years old when her businessman father was put on the wanted list by Bolivia's new political regime and forced underground. Years later, Ana Maria went to medical school and was inspired by Maurice Lefebvre, an Oblate missionary from Quebec, who headed the sociology department at the University of LaPaz. In 1971, Lefebvre was killed in a bloody coup d'etat and many students were imprisoned, including Ana Maria. She was released in 1973 on condition that she go to "the furthest possible place." She headed to Montreal, joining the thousands of other Latin Americans looking for safety in that province during the 1970s.

While scratching out a living through menial work and raising a family in Quebec, Ana Maria studied biology at night. Finally graduating, she became a researcher in industrial health and a determined advocate for the work safety of low-wage earners, particularly other immigrant women.

Filmmaker Martin Duckworth aims his camera at the heart of this modern refugee experience, celebrating the warmth of friendship, commitment to family and the lingering pain of social dislocation. Juxtaposing footage of Bolivia's coup with life in Montreal, we glimpse the shocking reasons behind political exile, and the courage and determination that one woman brings to making her new home a better place for all.

SERVANT OF GOD:
BERTHOLD IMHOFF

DIRECTED BY HUNT HOE & LAURA TUREK

In their film Servant of God, German Painter, Berthold Imhoff, directors Hunt Hoe and Laura Turek tell the astonishing story of German immigrant Berthold Imhoff, who left a successful fresco business in Pennsylvania in 1914, and settled with his family near St. Walburg, in northwestern Saskatchewan. Instead of the promise of riches, the 45 year old was lured by the secluded setting where he could devote his time to painting churches and pursuing his favorite passion: hunting.

Imhoff was born in 1868 in Bavaria, Germany and displayed a remarkable artistic talent at an early age, winning a much-coveted scholarship to the Berlin Academy of Art. After his studies, Imhoff immigrated to the United States and began work painting public buildings, homes and churches throughout the area. Yet Imhoff coveted peace and quiet more than notoriety, and it was the pursuit of a locale where he could paint undisturbed which eventually brought him to Saskatchewan.

Fortune turned against Imhoff with the outbreak of World War I, and later, the Great Depression. There was no money for non-essentials like church decorating. Relying on the modest earnings from his farm to support his family, Berthold continued to decorate dozens of catholic churches across the province, generously donating his time and effort. In 1921, Berthold Imhoff built a large studio on his farm, creating the first art gallery in the remote area.

In 1937, Imhoff was knighted by Pope Pius IX into the Order of St. Gregory the Great for his generosity to the Catholic Church. Berthold refused to slow down and continued to paint everyday in his studio until his death in 1939.

Directors Hunt Hoe and Laura Turek have created a gorgeous tapestry of visuals, juxtaposing the simplicity of prairie scenery and light with the ornate decorative flourishes of church art. Combining archival photographs with family interviews, the film honours one of western Canada’s most generous and artistic artists, German immigrant Berthold Imhoff.