Treasures from the Far Fur Country is an archival film event presenting excerpts from the 1920 silent film The Romance of the Far Fur Country. This special screening includes rarely seen footage documenting the Hudson Bay Company’s activities and First Nations communities in the Canadian north in the early 20th century. The screening includes excerpts from the newly transferred nitrate film footage of The Romance of the Far Fur Country which premiered in 1920. The original film was commissioned by the Hudson’s Bay Company for their 250th anniversary to present a history of the Hudson’s Bay Company and a portrayal of its contemporary workings as of 1920. The epic journey took the filmmakers 6 months to complete, reaching remote Hudson Bay Company outposts from coast to coast to coast.
The film was released across Western Canada, and was eventually re-cut for a British version and screened in London. Less than a decade later, the film disappeared from public view; the canisters of nitrate film stock were packed away by the HBC in an archive in London for safe keeping — but lost to the world... until now. No complete print of The Romance of the Far Fur Country exists, only the fragments that make up the whole, which were kept in the British Film Institute. The screening will be followed by presentations that will discuss the circumstances of the making of the film, the recent efforts to return the films to Canada as well as the projects that are underway to promote them to wider audiences and to the communities represented in the films.
The viewing at York will also feature a panel that will discuss the implications and impacts of resource extraction and climate change in the Canadian Arctic. We look forward to seeing you there!
Where:Nat Taylor Cinema (Ross North 102, York University, Keele Campus)
When: Friday 14 September, 7-9 pm
Cost: $5 (or pay what you can) [seating is limited!]
Who: Brought to you by the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies and the Arctic Research Cluster at York University
For more information go to: www.returnfarfurcountry.ca. or contact the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies: robarts@yorku.ca