NFB Collection
Men of the Deeps
200351 min 37 secFilm: Documentary
Direction: John Walker
Production: Terry Greenlaw (Picture Plant Limited)Kent Martin (National Film Board of Canada)John Walker (John Walker Productions Ltd.)
Script: John Walker
Produced by John Walker Productions Ltd. and Picture Plant Ltd. in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund, developed and produced in association with CTV with the assistance of the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, the Nova Scotia Film Industry Tax Credit and developed with the assistance of the Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation.
Men of the Deeps is a moving portrait of a group of former Cape Breton miners gathered together by their love of song. They are all members of the Men of the Deeps chorus, whose performances of traditional and contemporary songs evoke their working lives as miners.
The film shows Cape Breton as a land of astounding physical beauty: mountains dropping away dramatically into the ocean; stunning, luminous skies; rivers cutting their way through lush green valleys. Many of the men began working in the mines as teenagers, and this is the land they left behind every working day. We see them, coal dust filling the grooves on their faces, working side by side in a black pit where death can come at any time.
It's a job to which most of the miners would return without a moment's hesitation.
Featuring 16 outstanding songs, Men of the Deeps captures the grace and dignity of a group of men whose livelihood has been lost but who use their voices to inspire and uplift.
Availability
Other versions
Subject categories
- Mining > Atlantic RegionCoal
- Music > Choral Music
- Social Studies > Labour Studies
- Arts Education > Music
- Geography > Natural ResourcesTerritory: Regional
Credits
- writer
- John Walker
- director
- John Walker
- producer
- Terry Greenlaw
- Kent Martin
- John Walker
- editor
- Hannele Halm
- cinematographer
- John Walker
- sound recordist
- Alex Salter
- production manager
- Howard Hutton
- researcher
- Holly Conners
- Wendie Muise
- camera operator
- Russell Gienapp
- additional cinematography
- Russell Gienapp
- camera assistant
- Kyle Cameron
- Robin L.P. Bain
- Dominique Gusset
- music recordist
- David Hillier
- boom operator
- Chuck Clark
- gaffer
- Robert Petrie
- key grip
- Kevin MacNeil
- additional sound recording
- Jane Porter
- Savoy theatre
- Donald Ferguson
- technical director
- Dave Bailey
- location manager
- Wendie Muise
- conductor
- John C. O'Donnell
- business manager
- Yogi Muise
- choir
- Tony Aucoin
- Gerald Burke
- Fred Gillis
- Carmen Hughes
- Mickey MacIntyre
- Nipper MacLeod
- Billy MacPherson
- Don Matheson
- Marshall Poirier
- Eddie Tighe
- Jackie Beaton
- Kevin Edwards
- Matt Hawley
- Jude Kelly
- Jim MacLellan
- Shane MacLeod
- Jack MacQueen
- Melvin Mugford
- Bob Roper
- Tommy Tighe
- Sen White
- Matt Breski
- Jerry Forbes
- Ray Holland
- Ike Lambert
- John MacLeod
- Philip MacNeil
- Alf Matheson
- Yogi Muise
- Gordon Sheriff
- Paul White
- on camera interview
- Charlotte Beaton
- Michael Bresowar
- Trudy Forbes
- Jude Kelly
- Jackie Beaton
- Fred Currie
- Joanne Stephenson-Gillis
- Doe Lambert
- Ken Boutilier
- Wishie Donovan
- Darrell Kelly
- Ike Lambert
- Mickey MacIntyre
- Billy MacPherson
- Henry Meery
- Harvey Ross
- Eddie Tighe
- Jim MacLellan
- Wesley Murphy
- Marshall Poirier
- Bill Ross
- Nipper MacLeod
- Eldon Meery
- Bob Roper
- Polly Tighe
- Tommy Tighe
- post-production coordinator
- Brenda Kovrig
- music clearances
- Elizabeth Klinck
- sound editor
- Alex Salter
- re-recording mixer
- Lou Solakofsky
- Martin Lee
- colourist
- Sue Chambers
- Joanne Rourke
- Judy Paul
- online editor
- Andrew Mandziuk
- negative cutting
- Catherine Rankin
- assistant picture editor
- Sandi King
- production stills
- Dan Callis
- production accountant
- Michael Foy
- Jan Anthony
- program administrator
- John William Lutz
- technical coordinator
- Claude Cardinal
- Patricia Coughran
Awards
- Audience AwardHot Docs
- Award for Excellence in Sound Design (David Hillier, Alex Salter) - with a cash prize of 500$ and 10,000$ services to directorAtlantic International Film Festival
- Honorable MentionAtlantic International Film Festival
- Gemini Award for Best Performing Arts Program or Seires or Arts Documentary Program or SeriesGemini Awards
- Gemini Award for Best Sound in a Comedy, Variety or Performing Arts Program or Series - (Alex Salter, Dave Hillier, Martin Lee, Lou Solakofski)Gemini Awards
- Gemini Award for Best Photography in a Documentary Program or SeriesGemini Awards
- Award of Excellence for Documentary CinematographyCanadian Society of Cinematographers Awards