Tag Archives: film

Film in Canada – What’s Old is News

      No Comments on Film in Canada – What’s Old is News

By Sean Graham Film in Canada | RSS.comFor over a century, Canadians have maintained a love affair with Hollywood, both as producers and consumers. This week, we look at how that has played out with Mary Graham, author of Stunning Backdrop: Alberta in the Movies, 1917-1960, and Michael Gates, author of Hollywood in the Klondike: Dawson City’s Great Film Find…. Read more »

History Slam Episode 168: Moonless Oasis

      No Comments on History Slam Episode 168: Moonless Oasis

https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/History-Slam-168.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham Howe Sound is a deep fjord north of Vancouver that has been described as the city’s “playground for sailing, diving, camping, hiking, and a host of other recreational activities.” It is also home to a reef that was thought to be extinct. Glass sponges, which build their skeletons out of silicon… Read more »

History Slam Episode 158: White Appropriations of Black Masculinities in the Civil Rights Era

https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/History-Slam-158.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham The years following the Second World War saw major changes to American society, from the rise of suburbs to powerful social movements to shifting international priorities. Within that change, popular culture took on a new significance in American life as television spread across the country and radio stations increasingly shifted to… Read more »

Research stories: The Mystery of the Missing Camera

Ronald Rudin Once upon a time, I did my research in the archives, a controlled environment where weird things rarely happened. Then, I became a public historian, venturing out into the real world, and things were not always so straightforward, particularly when I was on the road with a film crew. For instance, there was the time when the director… Read more »

History Slam Episode 141: Golda

      1 Comment on History Slam Episode 141: Golda

https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/History-Slam-141.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham Golda will begin its theatrical run at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema in Toronto on January 3. You can watch the trailer here and find showtimes here. In March, 1969, a then 70-year old Golda Meir came out of retirement to serve as Israeli Prime Minister following the sudden death… Read more »

History Slam Episode 140: Brotherhood

      1 Comment on History Slam Episode 140: Brotherhood

https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/History-Slam-140.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham Brotherhood opens for a week-long engagement at the Cineplex Yonge & Dundas in Toronto starting December 6. It will also be shown at the Sudbury Indie Cinema on December 13. In the summer of 1926, a group of young men were attending a camp along the shores of Balsam Lake in… Read more »

History Slam Episode 134: Advocate

      1 Comment on History Slam Episode 134: Advocate

https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/History-Slam-134.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham Since I started doing the podcast back in 2012, there have been a lot of topics and discussions that have surprised me. Perhaps nothing was as surprising, though, as when I learned of the new documentary Advocate, which premiered earlier this year. The film tells the story of Lea Tsemel, an… Read more »

Archivists In The Movies – Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones

Krista McCracken Anyone else remember The Librarians TV series? I’ll openly admit that I started watching it because the show was focused on library professionals, albeit librarians of a magical library. If there was a show called The Archivists, I would be championing it before it even aired. A lot of people have no idea what an archivist does, and… Read more »

From Salò to Cult: Sadism, Terror, and Fascism in Fiction

Alban Bargain-Villéger Salò. It was this laconic, almost interjective title that first caught my eye. In the stifling Parisian heat of July 2002, somewhere in the Halles neighbourhood, the poster appeared in a surreal haze. A bridal party of dejected youths, the bride and groom dressed for the occasion, the rest stark-naked, advanced, seemingly resigned to their doom. Then the… Read more »

From Reel to Real: Using Film to teach Labour History

      1 Comment on From Reel to Real: Using Film to teach Labour History

John-Henry Harter During my undergraduate degree I had an epiphany in the only labour history class offered at my university. Here being taught in this class was my history, my own lived experience. More broadly, it was an acknowledgement and validation that the working class mattered. As a mature student, I had worked for years before entering post-secondary and had… Read more »