NFB Collection
An Idea of Canada
20031 h 40 minFilm: Documentary
Direction: Kevin McMahon
Production: Gerry Flahive (National Film Board of Canada)Niv Fichman (Rhombus Media Inc.)Jody ShapiroDaniel IronSheena MacdonaldLouise Lore (National Film Board of Canada)Sylvia Sweeney
A Rhombus Media/National Film Board of Canada production, with the participation of Telefilm Canada, and in association with CBC and Primitive Entertainement.
When Governor General Adrienne Clarkson and her husband, John Ralston Saul, embarked on a summer journey to Canada's three seacoasts, it was not to be just another viceregal tour. Travelling by boat, small plane, snowmobile, pickup truck and canoe, they encounter every kind of weather as they visit western Nunavut, Newfoundland, Labrador and Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands).
Meeting with Native and non-Native Canadians in these far-flung communities, the couple participate in song and dance, visit elders, sample local delicacies--and, above all, listen to concerns. Heartened by the aboriginals' relationship with the land, they hope to share this message of conservation with "southern" Canadians.
Inspired by Glenn Gould's famous radio show, "The Idea of North," and hearkening back to time-honoured documentaries covering royal visits, An Idea of Canada is a meditation on the myth and reality of the rugged landscape that symbolizes Canada for most people--yet which few of us will ever see.
Availability
Subject categories
- Indigenous Peoples in Canada (First Nations and Métis) > British Columbia
- Canada - Images of a Country > Canadian PerspectivesIdentityLandscapes
- Politics and Government - Canada > Governors-generalState Visits
- Indigenous Peoples in Canada (Inuit) > Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon
Credits
- location sound
- Sanjay Mehta
- Scott Purdy
- director of photography
- John Minh Tran
- editor
- Christopher Donaldson
- producer
- Gerry Flahive
- Niv Fichman
- Jody Shapiro
- director
- Kevin McMahon
- production manager
- Kristina McLaughlin
- Chanda Chevannes
- production assistant
- Jason Appelby
- Adam Lazarus
- Sarah Baird
- Anne Dollack
- Suzanne Stefanovic
- creative consultant
- Angela Stukator
- gaffer
- Scott Burton
- camera assistant
- Scott Burton
- assistant picture editor
- Robert Swartz
- still photographer
- Joanne Stoeckl
- Fabien Lehoux
- sound design
- David McCallum
- assistant sound editor
- Ronayne Higginson
- Graham Jones
- re-recording engineer
- Lou Solakofski
- re-recording assistant
- Steve Moore
- foley artist
- Donna Powell
- Marina Adam
- foley assistant
- James Gore
- foley recordist
- Ian Rankin
- colourist
- Colin Moore
- helicopter pilot
- Gordon R. Simmons
- guide
- Michael Jones
- satellite data reception specialist
- Arne Alfheim
- chief, Data Assimilation and Quality Control Division
- Gilles Verner
- map animation
- Justin Stephenson
- executive producer
- Daniel Iron
- Louise Lore
- Sylvia Sweeney
- co-producer
- Sheena Macdonald
- associate producer
- Barbara Willis-Sweete
- Larry Weinstein
- business affairs
- Philippa King
- legal affairs
- Brenda Blake
- production accountant
- Linda Pope
- post-production coordinator
- Matt Cahill
- production associate
- Jennifer Weiss