Professors Dominique Marshall, Pamela Walker and David Dean had a difficult time choosing among the four historical documentaries on view at the Film Night on Thursday April 7. Four teams of undergraduates presented their historical documentaries produced in Michael Ostroff’s popular 4th year seminar, HIST 4302 Making Documentary History.
The judges noted that the filmmakers of Mopping Up produced a compelling and fluid film about the life of Victoria Cross winner Filip Konowal. Those behind Extraordinary Measures told a complex history in a way that really engaged the audience. However, the two winning teams were those who made Losing Steam and I Did it All For You.
Losing Steam impressed them by its understanding of the wide and deep meanings of local histories that evocatively drew the audience in through sound and visual imagery, sophisticated editing, and the filmmakers’ respect for the passion of the interviewees.
I Did It All For You impressed them by the skillful way the filmmakers told two distinct narratives that came together powerfully at the end, for the subtle use of music and image, and for editing strategies that made still photographs come alive for the viewer.
Congratulations to everyone, particularly to the winners, and to Michael Ostroff who once again enabled students to tell compelling histories “off the page.”
Extraordinary Measures
Pierre Laporte is dead. James Cross is missing. Under the War Measures Act, 465 people will be arrested and held without charge. Legacy is a documentary that asks the question, who were the kidnap victims? Student Producers: Heather Bradley, Nikki Wiart, Brea Elford and Rory Kyte. Featuring: Terry Mosher (Aislin), Serge Mongeau, and Andrew Cohen.
I Did It All For You
They escaped in boats not knowing if they would ever make it to safety. Vietnam didn’t want them, Malaysia didn’t want them and many Canadian cities didn’t want them. This is the story of how Ottawa took in half of Vietnamese Boat People allocated to Canada in 1979. Student Producers: Sabrina Nemis, Amina Egeh, Ryan Pickering, Jenn Ko
Losing Steam
More than a decade after the railways discontinue the use of steam locomotives, a crew of passionate railroaders struggle to maintain the Canadian Pacific “1201” as an operating symbol of the past. Student Producers: Amanda Gregorio, Ashley Metzger, Kendra Matthews-Gramer and Rian Manson. Featuring: John Corby, Phil Jago, Paul Bown, Gerald E Gaugl and Kerry Badgley
Mopping Up
Filip Konowal was a Victoria Cross winner who became a convicted murderer. To many he was a hero turned madman. His life took him from the Great War, to court, to an asylum, and finally to the halls of Parliament Hill. Student Producers: Kyle Begin, Clarissa Fortin, William Teal and Cody Mackay. Featuring: Lubomyr Luciuk, professor at Royal Military College, specializing in Ukrainian history.