Synopsis (100 Words) In 1919, a film crew set out on an epic journey across Canada's North. Over the course of six months, their expedition traveled by icebreaker, canoe, and dog sled, capturing the Canadian fur trade in a silent feature documentary. The Romance of the Far Fur Country was released in 1920, two years before the legendary film Nanook of the North. Rediscovering the documentary in a British archive, another film crew begins a journey to resurrect the lost film, taking it to the communities where the film was originally shot. Images come to life; people recognize faces, landscapes, and lost traditions.
Synopsis (155 Word) In 1919, a film crew set out on an epic journey across Canada's North. Over the course of six months, their expedition traveled by icebreaker, canoe, and dog sled, capturing the Canadian fur trade in a silent feature documentary. The Romance of the Far Fur Country was released in 1920, two years before the legendary film Nanook of the North.
Rediscovering the documentary in a British archive, another film crew begins a journey to bring this lost film back to life, taking it to the northern communities where the film was originally shot. As people watch the footage from 1919, something special happens. Images come to life; people recognize their family members, their landscapes, and their lost traditions. Contrasting then and now, On the Trail of the Far Fur Country is an intimate portrait of Canada and its Aboriginal people, and a chronicle of how life in the North has changed in the last century.
FILMMAKER BIOGRAPHIES
Kevin Nikkel is a writer / producer / director based in Winnipeg, Canada. He completed a Bachelor of Education at University of Manitoba and a Master of Adult Education from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. His dramatic, animated and documentary films have reached audiences internationally at festivals, on television and on the web. He is active in the film community of Winnipeg and a member of the Winnipeg Film Group. He juggles his time between filmmaking, parenting, and teaching.
Chris Nikkel is a poet, creative non-fiction writer, and documentary screenwriter, his work has been published in Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. He studied English literature at the University of Winnipeg, and has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. He is currently completing his first book, a creative non-fiction story about British Columbia's lodgepole pine forests, which have been under assault by a bark beetle since 1999. In 2003 he moved to Ireland to be with his wife, and currently splits his time between County Donegal and Winnipeg.
CREDITS
Directed by: Kevin Nikkel
Producers: Kevin Nikkel & Chris Nikkel
Writers: Chris Nikkel & Kevin Nikkel
Editor: Kevin Nikkel
Original Music: Nathan Reimer
Narrator: Kevin Nikkel
Voice of Harold Wyckoff: Jon Ted Wynne
Sound Mix & Master: Kevin Gillen
Graphics & Web Site: Patrick Neufeld
Graphic Design: Doowah Design
Colour & Tinting: Tony Wytinck
Principal Cast in Order of Appearance:
Aletheia Baril
Barb Cramner
Annie Ikkidluak
Tommy Akavak
Gordon Rennie
Phil Sutherland
Stan Loutit
Phoebe Sutherland
Trevor Isaac
Wayne Cramner
Bill Cramner
Joe Gauthier
John Rigney
Alice Rigney
Pat Marcel
Robert Grandgambe
Jumbo Fraser
Charlie Cardinal
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Completed: March 2014
Length: 80 minutes
Genre: Documentary
HD Frame Rate: 1080/23.98p
Aspect Ratio: 1.78 (16x9)
Print details: Colour & B/W
Sound: Stereo
Languages: English / Inuktitut (subtitled in English)
Archival Still Images courtesy of:
City of Vancouver Archives
Archives of Ontario
U’mista Cultural Centre
Provincial Museum of British Columbia
Northwest Territories Archives
J. Lewis Robinson Collection
Kimmirut Visitor’s Centre
Wyckoff Family
Hudson’s Bay Company Archives / Archives of Manitoba
Archival Motion Picture Footage courtesy of
Hudson’s Bay Company Archives / Archives of Manitoba
Made with the generous support of
PRODUCER CONTACT
Five Door Films, Inc.
410 Lipton Street, Winnipeg, MB R3G 2H1
info@fivedoorfilms.com
204-770-4272
