Collection search - The Great War Experience

Record information – Brief

1

The Great War Experience

Item number (ISN):

387246

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

2007

Item number (ISN):

387246

Type of material:

Moving images

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

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Record information – Details

Fonds/collection:

GALAFILM PRODUCTIONS INC.

Accession:

2007-0143

Media:

Video

Part:

1 of 1

Production date:

2007

Production company:

Galafilm Productions Inc.

Production credit:

director/script, Robin McKenna; producer, Natalie Dubois; Stephen Phizicky; executive producer, Arnie Gelbart; Brian McKenna; Mark Starowicz; editing, Alain Després; sound, Benoît Dame; Soli Gagné; Philippe Racine; Hubert Macé de Gastines; music, Robert Marcel Lepage; narrator, Johanna Nutter

Country of production:

cn

Description:

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In 1914 Canada called for volunteers to enlist for service in the First World War. More than ninety years later, in 2005, a call was issued by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Galafilm Inc. for descendants of those soldiers and nurses to participate in an epic docudrama re-enactment - the living history component of the Great War project. Six thousand and five hundred young Canadians applied. One hundred and fifty descendants were chosen to take part in vivid battle recreations and spend two weeks living like 1914 army recruits to experience what their ancestors had gone through in the stormy battlefields of Europe. The project's guiding question was: What happens when historical conditions meet Twenty First century reality? In the original two-part documentary titled THE GREAT WAR, fourteen descendants, out of the initial one hundred and fifty, were chosen for a special mission - to travel to the fighting grounds of England, France and Belgium where their ancestors fought and sometimes gave their lives for freedom. THE GREAT WAR followed these fourteen young men and women - representing a cross-section of Canada - as they traveled through time to understand their ancestors' experience as soldiers and nurses at the front. THE GREAT WAR documentaries also dramatized the poignant stories of the Canada's war heroes such as, for instance, Talbot Mercer Papineau, who died a hero at Passchendaele; Chaplain Canon Scott who had to bury his own son killed in battle; and Ernest Lamarche who fought with the Van Doos, the only French speaking regiment in the British army. From the St-Julien gas attack and the devastation of Newfoundlanders at Beaumont Hamel to the unifying of French and English regiments at Courcelette, the glory and grief of Canadian soldiers at Passchendaele, and Vimy, the two-part documentary featured battles come alive during re-enactments and dramatic narration. This special episode in the series titled THE GREAT WAR EXPERIENCE follows the adventures of the hundred and fifty descendants who spent two weeks in a First World War military camp during the filming of THE GREAT WAR. As with real war, these men and women lived in an encampment and marched into the trenches to fight the battles their ancestors fought. Living in period tents, sleeping on the ground and rationing food, they look like trained soldiers preparing to relive the historical combats. Director Robin McKenna was herself an "embedded filmmaker" in the camp, wearing a uniform, and spending her nights in a tent. Without the burdens of a film crew, she became "one of the soldiers", gaining intimate connection to events and emotions as they occurred. THE GREAT WAR EXPERIENCE explores the will of many young Canadians to relate to the hardships of their ancestors, and keep their memory alive. This experiment in living history changed many of their lives as they, in the spirit of their grand-grandfathers, went through the sufferings imposed on them - sweating in wool uniforms, eating bully beef and bread, being scorned by British officers. The film also documents their thoughts and feelings about participating in the Great War project. As the descendants embark on this unique military adventure, they are searching for voices of a distant past, feeling the presence of their relatives' spirits, and connecting to Canadian history in a very personal way. <43mn 23s>

Language:

English / French with English subtitles

Notes:

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1. Produced in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.~2. Produced with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund created by the Government of Canada and the Canadian cable industry; Government of Québec - Film and Television Tax Credit - Administered by SODEC; Government of canada - The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit.~3. Produced with the interim financing of National Bank of Canada - TV and Motion Picture Group.
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

Open

Restrictions on consultation:

No Restrictions / Pas de restrictions

Copyright status:

Under copyright.

Copyright owner:

Copyright owner: Galafilm Productions (VI) Inc., 2007.

Reproduction access:

With written permissions / Avec les permissions écrites

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Date modified:: 2024-07-04