Farewell Oak Street | |
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Directed by | Grant McLean |
Written by | Gordon Burwash |
Produced by | Gordon Burwash Guy Glover (exec.) |
Narrated by | Lorne Greene |
Cinematography | Robert Humble |
Edited by | Fergus McDonell |
Music by | Eldon Rathburn |
Production company | |
Release date |
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Running time | 17 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Farewell Oak Street is a 1953 Canadian docudrama short film, directed by Grant McLean for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). [1]
The film, which is part of the NFB's Canada Carries On series, is about the late-1940s demolition of the run-down Oak Street homes in Toronto's Cabbagetown neighbourhood, in favour of the new Regent Park housing development. [2] The story is told through narration by Lorne Greene, the use of documentary footage, and a dramatization of the story of a family whose lives are transformed for the better by the project. [2]
Farewell Oak Street was controversial with residents of the Oak Street/Regent Park area, several of whom filed complaints objecting to being characterized as slum dwellers, and alleged that the film vastly overstated the dangers of life in the old neighbourhood prior to the redevelopment. [2] Charles Henry, the area's Member of Parliament, spoke against the film in the Canadian House of Commons, calling it offensive to the dignity of the residents and demanding that citizenship minister Walter Edward Harris restrict the film's distribution. [3] Harris declined to restrict the film. [4]
The film received renewed attention in the early 2010s when Regent Park was again redeveloped, as the continued social problems in the community were contrasted against the film's overly optimistic thesis that the original post-war redevelopment was certain to solve them. [5]
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and alternative dramas. In total, the NFB has produced over 13,000 productions since its inception, which have won over 5,000 awards. The NFB reports to the Parliament of Canada through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. It has bilingual production programs and branches in English and French, including multicultural-related documentaries.
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Cabbagetown is a neighbourhood in central Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Administratively, it is defined as part of the Cabbagetown-South St. Jamestown neighbourhood. It largely features semi-detached Victorian houses and is recognized as "the largest continuous area of preserved Victorian housing in all of North America", according to the Cabbagetown Preservation Association.
Regent Park is a neighbourhood located in downtown Toronto, Ontario built in the late 1940s as a public housing project managed by Toronto Community Housing. It sits on what used to be a significant part of the Cabbagetown neighbourhood and is bounded by Gerrard Street East to the north, River Street to the east, Shuter Street to the south and Parliament Street to the west. Regent Park's residential dwellings, prior to the ongoing redevelopment, were entirely social housing and covered all of the 69 acres (280,000 m2) which comprise the community. The original neighbourhood was razed in the process of creating Regent Park. The nickname Cabbagetown is now applied to the remaining historical, area north and west of the housing project, which has experienced considerable gentrification since the 1960s and 1970s.
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Grant McLean, CM was a Canadian filmmaker, working as a cinematographer, film director and producer for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and serving as its Acting Commissioner through 1966 and 1967.
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