The Grasslands Project

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The Grasslands Project is a 2016 series of 10 short documentary films about small rural communities in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, directed by Scott Parker and produced by David Christensen for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).

Contents

Development and production

Christensen, head of the NFB's Northwest Studio in Edmonton, had developed the idea for a series of short films that would tell the stories of small communities in Canada's southern Prairie grasslands. To direct the project, he hired Alberta filmmaker Scott Parker, with whom he had previously worked on the NFB's Stories from Our Land project. [1] In February 2015, Christensen and Parker travelled to rural communities for a series of 10 public meetings to identify the key themes and concerns of local residents. [2] [3]

Parker stated in May 2016 interview that he worked every day for six or seven months, shooting, travelling as well as editing. On one occasion, he made an 800-kilometre round trip to screen one of the films for a participant. Altogether, he calculated that he travelled 30,000 km. in the summer of 2015 to complete the films. [1]

Films

The Alberta films were shot in or nearby Coutts, Magrath and Foremost. Saskatchewan’s locations were Eastend, Val Marie, Gravelbourg, Wood Mountain, Rockglen—as well as Radville, for the short film Generations, about the passing on of a family farm in nearby Ceylon, Saskatchewan. [1] [2] [4]

Titles

From May 6 to 14, 2016, the films had their world premieres in the communities where they were filmed. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alberta</span> Province of Canada

Alberta is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories (NWT) to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south. It is one of the only two landlocked provinces in Canada. The eastern part of the province is occupied by the Great Plains, while the western part borders the Rocky Mountains. The province has a predominantly continental climate but experiences quick temperature changes due to air aridity. Seasonal temperature swings are less pronounced in western Alberta due to occasional Chinook winds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Alberta</span> Physical features of the Canadian province

Alberta is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. Located in Western Canada, the province has an area of 661,190 km2 (255,290 sq mi) and is bounded to the south by the United States state of Montana along 49° north for 298 km (185 mi); to the east at 110° west by the province of Saskatchewan for 1,223 km (760 mi); and at 60° north the Northwest Territories for 644 km (400 mi). The southern half of the province borders British Columbia along the Continental Divide of the Americas on the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, while the northern half borders British Columbia along the 120th meridian west. Along with Saskatchewan it is one of only two landlocked provinces or territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Prairies</span> Region of Western Canada

The Canadian Prairies is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provinces are partially covered by grasslands, plains, and lowlands, mostly in the southern regions. The northernmost reaches of the Canadian Prairies are less dense in population, marked by forests and more variable topography. If the region is defined to include areas only covered by prairie land, the corresponding region is known as the Interior Plains. Physical or ecological aspects of the Canadian Prairies extend to northeastern British Columbia, but that area is not included in political use of the term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grasslands National Park</span> National park in Saskatchewan, Canada

Grasslands National Park is a Canadian national park located near the village of Val Marie, Saskatchewan, and one of 44 national parks and park reserves in Canada's national park system. This national park is north of the U.S. state of Montana and lies adjacent to the international boundary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rangeland</span> Biomes which can be grazed by animals or livestock (grasslands, woodlands, prairies, etc)

Rangelands are grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts that are grazed by domestic livestock or wild animals. Types of rangelands include tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands, woodlands, savannas, chaparrals, steppes, and tundras. Rangelands do not include forests lacking grazable understory vegetation, barren desert, farmland, or land covered by solid rock, concrete and/or glaciers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fransaskois</span> Francophone residents of Saskatchewan, Canada

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ware (cowboy)</span> African-American Cowboy

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Alberta</span>

The province of Alberta, Canada, has a history and prehistory stretching back thousands of years. The ancestors of today's First Nations in Alberta arrived in the area by at least 10,000 BC, according to the Bering land bridge theory. Southerly tribes, the Plain Indians, such as the Blackfoot, Blood, and Peigans eventually adapted to seminomadic plains bison hunting, originally without the aid of horses, but later with horses that Europeans had introduced.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Saskatchewan River</span> River in Western Canada

The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows eventually into the Hudson Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saskatchewan Highway 58</span> Provincial highway in Saskatchewan, Canada

Highway 58 is an oiled surface provincial highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan which handles approximately 100 vehicles per day. It runs from Highway 18 3 kilometres west of Fir Mountain until Highway 1 / Highway 19 near Chaplin in the south-central area of the province. Highway 58 is about 132 kilometres (82 mi) long traversing through the Missouri Coteau. There are multiplexes of 1.6 km (1.0 mi) with Highway 13, 300 m (980 ft) with Highway 43, and 4.9 km (3.0 mi) with Highway 363.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rural Municipality of Reno No. 51</span> Rural Municipality in Saskatchewan, Canada

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prairies Ecozone</span>

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David Christensen is an Alberta film director and producer who since October 2007 has been an executive producer with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) at its Northwest Centre, based in Edmonton.

Gudrun Johanna Bjerring Parker was a Canadian filmmaker, writer, and producer. She worked on films with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) during the Second World War and in the early 1950s. Parker wrote the script for The Stratford Adventure, which was nominated for an academy award, and directed part of Royal Journey, which won a BAFTA. She married fellow NFB filmmaker Morten Parker. They often worked as a team on films and in 1963, they established a production company, Parker Film Associates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheryl Foggo</span> Canadian journalist

Cheryl Dawn Foggo is a Canadian author, documentary film director, screenwriter and playwright.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Griwkowsky, Fish (2016-05-02). "Edmonton director behind NFB films about southern Prairies". Edmonton Journal . Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  2. 1 2 Wild, Tennessa (1 September 2016). "Southern stories told on film". The Western Producer .
  3. Montgomery, Marc (18 September 2016). "National Film Board: Grasslands Project". Radio Canada International . Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  4. Gibson, Brian (10 August 2016). "Grasslands Project highlights the tenuous people-place bond". Vue Weekly . Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  5. 1 2 McCartney, Duane (26 October 2016). "Cattle ranchers tell their story in National Film Board project". Canadian Cattlemen. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  6. 1 2 Mullen, Pat (1 June 2016). "Explore 'The Grasslands Project'". Point of View magazine.
  7. 1 2 "World premiere set for NFB's 'The Grasslands Project'". Fort Macleod Gazette . 4 May 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  8. Vézina, Michel (25 May 2016). "Projection du "Projet Grasslands" à Gravelbourg". L'Eau vive (in French). Retrieved 30 September 2016.