Death or Canada
Encyclopedia
DEATH or CANADA staring Kieran 'Larry' O leary and Shane Gaffey is a Gemini
and IFTA
nominated two-part Canadian
-Irish
docudrama
which was broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One
in November/December 2008, in the UK on The History Channel UK (as Fleeing The Famine) in January and February 2009 and in Canada on History Television
on March 16, 2009. The film has also had a limited theatrical release in Canada and enjoyed a gala screening
on March 3, 2009 to kick-off the celebrations for Toronto
's 175 birthday, among others the film was introduced by Toronto's mayor David Miller
.
Death or Canada, as told by Brian Dennehy
, follows the Protestant Willis family from the west of Ireland
as they flee to Canada
in the Spring of 1847 at the height of An Gorta Mór or the Great Hunger. The family ultimately arrives in the young city of Toronto
, which is over-run by a deluge of 40 000 Irish famine refugees. This dramatic story is interspersed with commentary from historians and other experts. Death or Canada is a Canada-Ireland Treaty Co-Production, produced by Canada's Ballinran Productions, whose other credits include Manic Organic, and Hangman's Graveyard
and by Ireland's Tile Films', the company behind the documentaries Cromwell in Ireland
and The Ghosts of Duffy's Cut
. The cinematography by Colm Whelan was nominated for 2009 Gemini Award in the category Best Photography in a Documentary Series/Programme. It is directed by IFTA Award
-winning director Ruán Magan
(In Search of the Pope's Children
).
The title of the film comes from the research of one of the main contributor's, Mark McGowan, Principal of St. Michael's College
, University of Toronto
. He says that "The title, Death or Canada, was something that I discovered in archives in Limerick
, Ireland, in a newspaper where the locals were writing about the choices that had to be made in 1847. They said: 'During the Cromwellian period, it was to hell or Connaught, and now that's being writ large in our own time as death or Canada.' "
and Cobh
in April 2008. Production shifted to Canada in May 2008 where locations included Discovery Harbour, Black Creek Pioneer Village
and St. Michael's Cathedral standing in for Toronto of 1847.
Casting for the parts of the Willis Family - John, Mary and their five children - took place in Westport
, County Mayo
. The Canadian cast was pulled together from the Toronto area and all of the background actors are from the communities close to the filming locations. Toronto's Acme Pictures created (BUT have yet to be paid) the CGI
scenes, which include the chaos at Limerick Docks in 1847, the arrival of the famine ships in Grosse Île
and the dozens of steamers and barges arriving with thousands of refugees at Toronto harbour. CGI scenes were also required for the fever sheds and the Toronto hospital where the sick and dying Irish were cared for that summer. Both episodes were edited and sound mixed in Toronto. The music for the film was composed by Christopher Dedrick, a multi-award winning film and television composer and former member of the pop group, The Free Design
, and also features a performance from the St. Michael's Choir School
.
The episode investigates the impact of the Famine on North America
. In summer 1847, Toronto
, then a small city in the British
colony of Canada
, was swamped by an influx of 40,000 famine refugee
s from Ireland. Toronto's Bishop Michael Power, who following a visit to Ireland in 1847, endeavored to warn the City Council of the human tsunami of Irish that were about arrive on it’s shores. The programme follows the archaeological excavations recently undertaken by Toronto based Archaeological Services Inc., on the site of the future headquarters of the Toronto International Film Festival
, to find the remains of the so-called "fever sheds" in which emaciated immigrants were treated or died. The programme ends with the Willis family arriving at the Grosse Île
quarantine
station outside of Quebec City
at the narrowing of the Saint Lawrence River
. The Willis' story is inter-cut with Robert Kearns, chairman of Toronto's Ireland Park
, touring the island, which is now an Irish Memorial and National Historic Site.
, whose ancestors came through Toronto in 1847 enroute to Dearborn, Michigan
, Professor Mark McGowan of the University of Toronto, Dr Peter Grey of Queen's University, Belfast, Microbiologist Dr. Donald Low of Toronto's Mt. Sinai Hospital
and with Robert Kearns. Reflections on the famine are provided by John Waters
.
The Willis family continue their journey to Toronto
, while the eastern ports and cities of British North America were overwhelmed by typhus
-infested refugees who caused health crises wherever they went. The programme also looks at the hereo's of the young city of Toronto as they absorb the famine refugee's. Portrayed in the film are Dr. George Grassett, who was the Chief Medical Officer at Toronto's Fever Sheds, Toronto's Emigrant Agent, Edward McElderry, Nurse Susan Bailey, who also worked in the Fever Sheds and Bishop Michael Power who is the chief hero of Toronto’s summer of sorrow in 1847 – responsible for building the fever sheds and hospital that saved thousands of the refugees – and finally dying himself from Typhus - contracted from his time in the fever sheds.
, and in Canada it attracted a total viewership of 370 000 during its transmission on March 16, 2009 making it one of the most-watched Canadian programs on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day.
In Ireland, the weekly newspaper, Western People
, called it "an epic, tragic tale of extreme heroism and courage." In Canada, Bill Harris of Sun Media
hailed it as an "excellent and emotional docu-drama" going on to say that the film "documents the exact moment when the fates of the two nations became intertwined. Neither place ever would be the same." The Telegraph-Journal
in New Brunswick
labeled it "a sombre, compelling docudrama" and John Doyle
of The Globe and Mail
said it was an "excellent docudrama" and a "profoundly disturbing...powerful story of what happened in Toronto that summer" and that it was "the true, searing story of an entire people surviving against the odds, overcoming extraordinary horror and transforming true despair into hope." Kevin Plummer of The Torontoist wrote that the film "represents an important collaboration crossing the boundaries between the academic and popular history...with producers like [Craig] Thompson, who thoughtfully integrate academic history into their projects without diluting it."
A senior executive for History Television
said "We have a great sense of pride when Canadian productions and coproductions find a wide and engaged audience. Death or Canada found popular and critical acclaim in Canada and Ireland and more importantly honoured and enriched our shared history through documentary and active investigation.”
on January 8, 2009 in the Best Documentary Series category. The film was nominated for four Gemini Award
s on August 25, 2009 in the following categories: Best History Documentary Program; Best Photography in a Documentary Program or Series; Best Sound in an Information/Documentary Program or Series; Best Original Music Score for a Documentary Program or Series. In 2010 it was selected as the closing film of The Archaeology Channel's International Film and Video Festival in Eugene, Oregon. The film won two awards at the festival: Honorable mention for Special Effects by jury; Honorable mention in Audience Favorite competition. In September 2010 Death or Canada was nominated for a 2010 Heritage Toronto
Award in the Media category.
One of the contributors to the film, Mark McGowan, has written a book on the subject, titled Death or Canada: The Irish Famine Migration to Toronto, 1847. McGowan told the Canadian Press that, for most Canadians, the Irish potato famine is a period quite remote; for some, it is completely unknown and he hopes that "while this volume focuses on just one year, in one city, its intent is to encourage further social study of the Irish experience in Canada, while putting faces and voices to the bare statistics that have come to distinguish 'Black '47' from the other phases of Irish migration." The book is published by the Canadian publishing company Novalis. In September 2010 the book Death or Canada along with the film was nominated for a 2010 Heritage Toronto
Award in the Book category.
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
and IFTA
Irish Film and Television Awards
The Irish Film and Television Awards were first awarded in 2003. Its sole aim is to celebrate Ireland's notably talented film and television community...
nominated two-part Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
which was broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...
in November/December 2008, in the UK on The History Channel UK (as Fleeing The Famine) in January and February 2009 and in Canada on History Television
History Television
History Television is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that presents programming about history and some non-historical programming of military, science and technology interest. It is owned by Shaw Media. Its French language counterpart is Historia.The channel operates two...
on March 16, 2009. The film has also had a limited theatrical release in Canada and enjoyed a gala screening
Film screening
A film screening is the displaying of a motion picture or film, generally referring to a special showing as part of a film's production and release cycle...
on March 3, 2009 to kick-off the celebrations for Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
's 175 birthday, among others the film was introduced by Toronto's mayor David Miller
David Miller (Canadian politician)
David Raymond Miller is a Canadian politician. He was the 63rd Mayor of Toronto and the second since the 1998 amalgamation. He was elected to the position in 2003 for a three-year term and re-elected in 2006 for a four-year term...
.
Death or Canada, as told by Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy
Brian Mannion Dennehy is an American actor of film, stage and screen.-Early years:Dennehy was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Hannah and Edward Dennehy, who was a wire service editor for the Associated Press; he has two brothers, Michael and Edward. Dennehy is of Irish ancestry and was...
, follows the Protestant Willis family from the west of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
as they flee to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in the Spring of 1847 at the height of An Gorta Mór or the Great Hunger. The family ultimately arrives in the young city of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, which is over-run by a deluge of 40 000 Irish famine refugees. This dramatic story is interspersed with commentary from historians and other experts. Death or Canada is a Canada-Ireland Treaty Co-Production, produced by Canada's Ballinran Productions, whose other credits include Manic Organic, and Hangman's Graveyard
Hangman's Graveyard
Hangman's Graveyard is a Gemini nominated and award winning Canadian documentary which was originally broadcast in Canada on History Television on December 6, 2009. A work-in-progress screening of the film was presented at the Ontario Archaeological Society’s 36th annual symposium and as the...
and by Ireland's Tile Films', the company behind the documentaries Cromwell in Ireland
Cromwell in Ireland
Cromwell in Ireland is a two-part RTÉ documentary to be broadcast in September 2008. It is produced by Irish television production company Tile Films and is described as an examination of "that great nemesis of Irish history: Oliver Cromwell"....
and The Ghosts of Duffy's Cut
Duffy's Cut
Duffy's Cut is the name given to a stretch of railroad tracks about 30 miles west of Philadelphia, USA, originally built for the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in the summer and fall of 1832. The line later became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Main Line...
. The cinematography by Colm Whelan was nominated for 2009 Gemini Award in the category Best Photography in a Documentary Series/Programme. It is directed by IFTA Award
Irish Film and Television Awards
The Irish Film and Television Awards were first awarded in 2003. Its sole aim is to celebrate Ireland's notably talented film and television community...
-winning director Ruán Magan
Ruán Magan
Ruán Magan is a director of documentaries and drama-documentaries based in Ireland, but working internationally. Born in Dublin in 1968, he was educated in Gonzaga College and University College Dublin before embarking on a career in feature films in 1989...
(In Search of the Pope's Children
In Search of the Pope's Children
In Search of the Pope's Children is an Irish television programme based on the book The Pope's Children, aired by the state broadcaster RTÉ and British broadcaster BBC Four. The programme is a three-part true lives documentary, presented by economist David McWilliams. The show comments on the Irish...
).
The title of the film comes from the research of one of the main contributor's, Mark McGowan, Principal of St. Michael's College
University of St. Michael's College
The University of St. Michael's College is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1852 by the Congregation of St. Basil of Annonay, France. While mainly an undergraduate college for liberal arts and sciences, St. Michael's retains its Roman Catholic affiliation through its postgraduate...
, University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
. He says that "The title, Death or Canada, was something that I discovered in archives in Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
, Ireland, in a newspaper where the locals were writing about the choices that had to be made in 1847. They said: 'During the Cromwellian period, it was to hell or Connaught, and now that's being writ large in our own time as death or Canada.' "
Production
The interviews and dramatic recreations were filmed in Canada and Ireland. Irish locations included Achill IslandAchill Island
Achill Island in County Mayo is the largest island off the coast of Ireland, and is situated off the west coast. It has a population of 2,700. Its area is . Achill is attached to the mainland by Michael Davitt Bridge, between the villages of Gob an Choire and Poll Raithní . A bridge was first...
and Cobh
Cobh
Cobh is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour. Facing the town are Spike Island and Haulbowline Island...
in April 2008. Production shifted to Canada in May 2008 where locations included Discovery Harbour, Black Creek Pioneer Village
Black Creek Pioneer Village
Black Creek Pioneer Village is a historic site in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, just west of York University and southeast of the Jane and Steeles intersection. It overlooks Black Creek, a tributary of the Humber River. The village is a recreation of life in 19th-century Ontario and gives an idea how...
and St. Michael's Cathedral standing in for Toronto of 1847.
Casting for the parts of the Willis Family - John, Mary and their five children - took place in Westport
Westport, County Mayo
Westport is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is situated on the west coast at the south-east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean....
, County Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
. The Canadian cast was pulled together from the Toronto area and all of the background actors are from the communities close to the filming locations. Toronto's Acme Pictures created (BUT have yet to be paid) the CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
scenes, which include the chaos at Limerick Docks in 1847, the arrival of the famine ships in Grosse Île
Grosse Isle, Quebec
Grosse Isle Also known as Grosse Isle and the Irish Memorial National Historic Site, the island was the site of an immigration depot which predominantly housed Irish Immigrants coming to Canada to escape the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1849...
and the dozens of steamers and barges arriving with thousands of refugees at Toronto harbour. CGI scenes were also required for the fever sheds and the Toronto hospital where the sick and dying Irish were cared for that summer. Both episodes were edited and sound mixed in Toronto. The music for the film was composed by Christopher Dedrick, a multi-award winning film and television composer and former member of the pop group, The Free Design
The Free Design
The Free Design was a Delevan, New York-based vocal group playing jazzy pop music. Their music can be described as sunshine pop and baroque pop, which were pop music subgenres at the time, which later influenced the bands Stereolab, Cornelius, Pizzicato Five, Beck and The High Llamas.-Early...
, and also features a performance from the St. Michael's Choir School
St. Michael's Choir School
St. Michael’s Choir School is a boys' semi-private school located in downtown Toronto's Garden District, embodying a unique learning environment for its students. The school serves as a union between two distinct institutions: the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome and the Toronto...
.
Episode one
The first episode was broadcast on RTÉ One on 25 November 2008 at 22:15. Set in early 1847, it follows the doomed Willis family, who were forced to leave their home in southwest Ireland to set out on a journey to Canada. The Willis' are Protestant and demonstrate that it wasn't only Catholics who were victims of the Great Famine. Professor Peter Gray of Queen's University Belfast opines:“People think that Irish Catholics have the monopoly on famine suffering, when in fact it crossed the religious divide. 30% of those who went to Canada were Protestant.”
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. In summer 1847, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, then a small city in the British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
colony of Canada
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...
, was swamped by an influx of 40,000 famine refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s from Ireland. Toronto's Bishop Michael Power, who following a visit to Ireland in 1847, endeavored to warn the City Council of the human tsunami of Irish that were about arrive on it’s shores. The programme follows the archaeological excavations recently undertaken by Toronto based Archaeological Services Inc., on the site of the future headquarters of the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
, to find the remains of the so-called "fever sheds" in which emaciated immigrants were treated or died. The programme ends with the Willis family arriving at the Grosse Île
Grosse Isle, Quebec
Grosse Isle Also known as Grosse Isle and the Irish Memorial National Historic Site, the island was the site of an immigration depot which predominantly housed Irish Immigrants coming to Canada to escape the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1849...
quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
station outside of Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
at the narrowing of the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
. The Willis' story is inter-cut with Robert Kearns, chairman of Toronto's Ireland Park
Ireland Park
Ireland Park is located in Toronto on the shores of Lake Ontario on Éireann Quay at the foot of Bathurst Street. Officially opened in the summer of 2007, Ireland Park commemorates the tens of thousands who fled Ireland during the Great Famine...
, touring the island, which is now an Irish Memorial and National Historic Site.
Episode two
The second episode was broadcast on RTÉ One on 2 December 2008 at 22:15. It follows the epic journey and tragic story of the Willis family who travel from the West of Ireland in the hopes of starting over in Canada. The program features interviews with William Clay Ford, Jr.William Clay Ford, Jr.
William Clay "Bill" Ford Jr. , is the great-grandson of Henry Ford, and serves as the executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, Ford also served as the President, CEO, and COO until turning over those roles to former Boeing executive Alan Mulally in September 2006...
, whose ancestors came through Toronto in 1847 enroute to Dearborn, Michigan
Dearborn, Michigan
-Economy:Ford Motor Company has its world headquarters in Dearborn. In addition its Dearborn campus contains many research, testing, finance and some production facilities. Ford Land controls the numerous properties owned by Ford including sales and leasing to unrelated businesses such as the...
, Professor Mark McGowan of the University of Toronto, Dr Peter Grey of Queen's University, Belfast, Microbiologist Dr. Donald Low of Toronto's Mt. Sinai Hospital
Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto)
Mount Sinai Hospital is a hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Although it is physically linked by bridges and tunnels to two University Health Network hospitals , Mount Sinai is an independently operated facility...
and with Robert Kearns. Reflections on the famine are provided by John Waters
John Waters (columnist)
John Waters is a columnist with The Irish Times and a former editor of Magill magazine. His career began in 1981 with the Irish political-music magazine Hot Press. He went on to write for the Sunday Tribune and later edited In Dublin magazine and Magill...
.
The Willis family continue their journey to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, while the eastern ports and cities of British North America were overwhelmed by typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
-infested refugees who caused health crises wherever they went. The programme also looks at the hereo's of the young city of Toronto as they absorb the famine refugee's. Portrayed in the film are Dr. George Grassett, who was the Chief Medical Officer at Toronto's Fever Sheds, Toronto's Emigrant Agent, Edward McElderry, Nurse Susan Bailey, who also worked in the Fever Sheds and Bishop Michael Power who is the chief hero of Toronto’s summer of sorrow in 1847 – responsible for building the fever sheds and hospital that saved thousands of the refugees – and finally dying himself from Typhus - contracted from his time in the fever sheds.
Reception
Death or Canada has been generally well-received by both audiences and critics. In Ireland it garnered a 26% share of the audience, placing second only to Desperate HousewivesDesperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
, and in Canada it attracted a total viewership of 370 000 during its transmission on March 16, 2009 making it one of the most-watched Canadian programs on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day.
In Ireland, the weekly newspaper, Western People
Western People
The Western People is a weekly local newspaper published in Ballina, County Mayo in the Republic of Ireland, it was first published in 1883. The paper is now owned by Cork-based Thomas Crosbie Holdings...
, called it "an epic, tragic tale of extreme heroism and courage." In Canada, Bill Harris of Sun Media
Sun Media
Sun Media Corporation is the owner of several widely read tabloid and broadsheet newspapers in Canada and the 49 percent owner of Sun News Network...
hailed it as an "excellent and emotional docu-drama" going on to say that the film "documents the exact moment when the fates of the two nations became intertwined. Neither place ever would be the same." The Telegraph-Journal
Telegraph-Journal
The Telegraph-Journal is a daily newspaper published in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It publishes a hybrid newspaper, serving as a provincial daily while catering to the Saint John audience in its City and Sports sections. The newspaper is published by Brunswick News, owned by J. K. Irving...
in New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
labeled it "a sombre, compelling docudrama" and John Doyle
John Doyle (critic)
John Doyle is one of the two television critics with Canada's The Globe and Mail newspaper. Doyle also covers major football events for the paper....
of The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
said it was an "excellent docudrama" and a "profoundly disturbing...powerful story of what happened in Toronto that summer" and that it was "the true, searing story of an entire people surviving against the odds, overcoming extraordinary horror and transforming true despair into hope." Kevin Plummer of The Torontoist wrote that the film "represents an important collaboration crossing the boundaries between the academic and popular history...with producers like [Craig] Thompson, who thoughtfully integrate academic history into their projects without diluting it."
A senior executive for History Television
History Television
History Television is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that presents programming about history and some non-historical programming of military, science and technology interest. It is owned by Shaw Media. Its French language counterpart is Historia.The channel operates two...
said "We have a great sense of pride when Canadian productions and coproductions find a wide and engaged audience. Death or Canada found popular and critical acclaim in Canada and Ireland and more importantly honoured and enriched our shared history through documentary and active investigation.”
Awards
Death or Canada was nominated for an Irish Film and Television AwardIrish Film and Television Awards
The Irish Film and Television Awards were first awarded in 2003. Its sole aim is to celebrate Ireland's notably talented film and television community...
on January 8, 2009 in the Best Documentary Series category. The film was nominated for four Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
s on August 25, 2009 in the following categories: Best History Documentary Program; Best Photography in a Documentary Program or Series; Best Sound in an Information/Documentary Program or Series; Best Original Music Score for a Documentary Program or Series. In 2010 it was selected as the closing film of The Archaeology Channel's International Film and Video Festival in Eugene, Oregon. The film won two awards at the festival: Honorable mention for Special Effects by jury; Honorable mention in Audience Favorite competition. In September 2010 Death or Canada was nominated for a 2010 Heritage Toronto
Heritage Toronto
Heritage Toronto is a city agency and registered charity in charge of preserving and promoting the heritage sites in the City of Toronto. Created in 1998, it replaced some of the roles of the former Toronto Historical Board and other heritage agencies of the former cities of Scarborough, North...
Award in the Media category.
Book
Heritage Toronto
Heritage Toronto is a city agency and registered charity in charge of preserving and promoting the heritage sites in the City of Toronto. Created in 1998, it replaced some of the roles of the former Toronto Historical Board and other heritage agencies of the former cities of Scarborough, North...
Award in the Book category.
External links
- Official site
- RTÉ page
- History Television page
- The History Channel UK page
- Official trailer (approved by series producer)
- Ballinran Productions site
- Tile Films site
- Ireland Park site