Closing Night for the Silent Film Festival

Celebrating a lost Canadian documentary film the Romance of Far Fur Country 1920 120min *Toronto Premiere

Cinematography: Harold Wyckoff, Bill Derr

Don't let the title fool you, this is one of the most important films made in Canada in the early 20th Century. In 1919, the Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC) commissioned a film to showcase their history and work for their 250th anniversary the next year. A 2 man camera crew was dispatched for a six month expedition that took them from coast to coast to coast. They shot unique, never before seen footage of the HBC fur trade in remote outposts, met with numerous First Nations, Inuit and Metis trappers and visited many remote communities. From the Montreal departure to the vast expanses of James Bay and down west through the country, cameraman Harold Wyckoff hauled his half ton of camera gear and precious nitrate film by ship, canoe, portage, dog sled, train and on foot through thousands of miles.

Rare footage includes a Potlatch ceremony (outlawed at that time) at Alert Bay on the BC coast, the frozen beauty of the Athabasca River at -30 degrees, remote northern communities, First Nation elders and the work of their trappers.

It all adds up to an incomparable trip back in time and across this country. It was released with great fanfare and to packed houses in 1920 and then simply disappeared.

Unlike so many films from the silent era, this one had a happy ending due to the efforts of Dr. Peter Geller and Kevin Nikkel. In 2011, the film reels were repatriated to the HBC Archives in Winnipeg from the BFI Archives and the lengthy process to put the film back together and to digitize it began.

“Romance of the Far Fur Country creates a richer and more complete picture of HBC’s long history in Canada’s North. At the same time, it provides a unique window into First Nations communities and the Company’s northern operations during the early part of the 20th Century” ...Maureen Dolyniuk, Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Musical Accompaniment Artist: Bill O’Meara

Tickets: online or at the door $15 Festival Pass also available.

Festival runs April 7-12