The Hutterites (film)

Last updated
The Hutterites
Directed by Colin Low
Written by Stanley Jackson
Produced by Tom Daly
Roman Kroitor
Narrated by Stanley Jackson
CinematographyJohn Spotton
Edited by John Spotton
Jean-Pierre Joutel (sound)
Production
company
Distributed by National Film Board of Canada
Release date
  • 1964 (1964)
Running time
28 min.
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

The Hutterites is a 1964 film directed by Colin Low for the National Film Board of Canada. It was produced to help calm anti-Hutterite tensions in Alberta and remains the only film that fully depicts and explains the sect's way of life. [1]

Contents

Background

The Hutterites are an Anabaptist sect founded in Austria in 1528 during the Protestant Reformation. Their leader was Jakob Hutter, who was burned at the stake in 1536. The sect continued on, but was chased out of Moravia, Germany, Romania, Hungary, Russia and Ukraine before arriving in the U.S. in 1874, where they settled in the Dakotas. In 1918, anti-Hutterite sentiment in the U.S. had spread to the point where many were forced to leave.

After obtaining assurances from the Canadian government that they would have permanent freedom of worship and a permanent exemption from military service, 12 Hutterite families moved from South Dakota to Canada, settling in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. At the time, the Canadian Pacific Railway owned a great deal of land and was trying to recruit immigrants to farm it; it gave modest acreages to the Hutterite families. This created an immediate backlash and, in 1919, the Canadian government closed the door to further Hutterite emigration. [2]

The Hutterites believe that society can be best preserved in a rural setting and are efficient and successful farmers. In their settlements, all things are held in common. They do not vote or hold public office. They pay taxes and send their children to public school and universities, but do not join community organizations. They do not proselytize and are strict pacifists who will not fight for any reason. In addition to English, they speak their own language, a German dialect.

By 1940, in Alberta, there were 6,500 Hutterites living in 65 colonies, mainly in the Calgary area. But mistrust had grown to the point where, in 1942, the Alberta government enacted the Communal Property Act, which stated that they could not buy land without express government permission, and that any new settlements had to be at least 45 miles from an existing colony.

This did little to quell resentment. Community groups charged that they hurt local businesses by buying their supplies from wholesalers. It was argued that they did not contribute doctors, lawyers, teachers and engineers to society; they angered locals by refusing to participate in school development and rural electrification programs. Claims were made that they had the highest population growth of any demographic, and that they were taking over the area. Some of the most vocal criticism came from the Royal Canadian Legion, which objected to the Hutterite's refusal to fight in World War II.

In 1960, the town of Drumheller felt obliged to respond to all of this, publishing a report stating the Hutterite birth rate was dropping, that Hutterites owned less than 1% of the region's farmland, that they spent the same amount of money as everyone else and that, during World War II, it was Hutterite volunteers who helped keep farms operating when their owners went off to fight. Arguments fell on deaf ears. In 1960, the Warner, Alberta local of the United Farmers of Alberta announced that it was prepared to break the law to prevent a Hutterite colony from becoming established in the area, stating “we have reached the end of our patience. There is seething resentment which can erupt at any time.” [3]

The Hutterite colonies did not defend themselves, and it did not help that they didn't let anyone into their lives—no one went to their colonies. However, Colin Low had grown up with the Hutterites; his family's ranch abutted the West Raley Colony near Cardston. He was able to convince this colony, and a second unidentified colony in northern Alberta, to allow him to make a film about them and, in 1963, he and his crew spent several weeks filming all aspects of Hutterite life. The film is a calm, quiet depiction and explanation of the Hutterite's history, beliefs and lifestyle. [4]

The Alberta government's restriction on the Hutterite purchase of land was lifted in 1972. [5]

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hutterites</span> Ethno-religious group since the 16th century; a communal branch of Anabaptists

Hutterites, also called Hutterian Brethren, are a communal ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the early 16th century and have formed intentional communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman McLaren</span> Scottish Canadian animator (1914–1987)

William Norman McLaren, LL. D. was a Scottish Canadian animator, director and producer known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). He was a pioneer in a number of areas of animation and filmmaking, including hand-drawn animation, drawn-on-film animation, visual music, abstract film, pixilation and graphical sound. McLaren was also an artist and printmaker, and explored his interest in dance in his films.

Roman Kroitor was a Canadian filmmaker who was known as a pioneer of Cinéma vérité, as the co-founder of IMAX, and as the creator of the Sandde hand-drawn stereoscopic 3D animation system. He was also the original inspiration for The Force. His prodigious output garnered numerous awards, including two BAFTA Awards, three Cannes Film Festival awards, and two Oscar nominations.

Colin Archibald Low was a Canadian animation and documentary filmmaker with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). He was known as a pioneer, one of Canada's most important filmmakers, and was regularly referred to as "the gentleman genius". His numerous honors include five BAFTA awards, eight Cannes Film Festival awards, and six Academy Award nominations.

<i>Final Offer</i> 1985 Canadian film

Final Offer is a Canadian film documenting the 1984 contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) and General Motors. Ultimately, it provided a historical record of the birth of the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) as Bob White, the head of the Canadian sector of the UAW, led his membership out of the international union and created the CAW.

City of Gold is a 1957 Canadian documentary film by Colin Low and Wolf Koenig, chronicling Dawson City during the Klondike Gold Rush. It made innovative use of archival photos and camera movements to animate still images, while also combining narration and music to bring drama to the whole. Its innovative use of still photography in this manner has been cited by Ken Burns as the source of inspiration for his so-called Ken Burns effect, a type of panning and zooming effect used in video production to animate still images.

Tony Ianzelo is a Canadian documentary director and cinematographer.

Hugh O'Connor was a Canadian director and producer who worked for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). His best- known film is the ground-breaking In the Labyrinth (1967), but his promising career ended shortly after that film's release when he was murdered while filming in Kentucky.

Eskimo Artist: Kenojuak is a 1964 Canadian short film about Inuk artist Kenojuak Ashevak, directed by John Feeney and produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). It won the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film in 1964 and, in 1965, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film.

Circle of the Sun is a 1960 short documentary film on Kainai Nation, or Blood Tribe, of Southern Alberta, which captured their Sun Dance ritual on film for the first time. Tribal leaders, who worried the traditional ceremony might be dying out, had permitted filming as a visual record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Daly (filmmaker)</span> Canadian film producer, film editor and film director

Thomas Cullen Daly was a Canadian film producer, film editor and film director, who was the head of Studio B at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Koenig</span> Canadian entrepreneur (born 1930)

Joseph (Joe) Koenig is a Canadian filmmaker and entrepreneur who was the founder and president of Electronics Workbench.

John Spotton C.S.C. was a Canadian filmmaker with the National Film Board of Canada.

Mindscape is a 1976 pinscreen animation short film by Jacques Drouin, produced by the National Film Board of Canada.

John Kemeny was a Hungarian-Canadian film producer whom the Toronto Star called "the forgotten giant of Canadian film history and...the most successful producer in Canadian history." His production credits include The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Atlantic City, and Quest for Fire.

Robert Verrall is a Canadian animator, director and film producer who worked for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) from 1945 to 1987. Over the course of his career, his films garnered a BAFTA Award, prizes at the Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival, and six Academy Award nominations.

Julian Biggs (1920–1972) was a director and producer with the National Film Board of Canada and its first Director of English Production. Over the course of his 20-year career, he created 146 films, two of which were nominated for Academy Awards. His film 23 Skidoo (1964) received two BAFTA nominations, including the BAFTA United Nations award.

John Howe was a Canadian director, producer, and composer with the National Film Board of Canada. He is best known for his films Do Not Fold, Staple, Spindle or Mutilate and Why Rock the Boat?, and for his handling of the NFB’s 1969 Austerity Crisis.

Morten Parker was a Canadian director, producer and writer.

Los Canadienses is a 1976 documentary about the Canadian volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War. It was directed by Albert Kish and produced by Tom Daly and Colin Low for the National Film Board of Canada. It won several awards, including the 1977 BAFTA Award for Best Documentary.

References

  1. ↑ "The Hutterites". collection.nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  2. ↑ Ryan, John. "Hutterites in Canada". thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  3. ↑ Sanders, Douglas E. "The Hutterites: A Case Study in Minority Rights". cbr.cba.org. The Canadian Bar Review. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  4. ↑ "West Raley Colony (Alberta), Photos by Colin Low". archives.mhsc.ca. Mennonite Historical Society of Canada. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  5. ↑ "Hutterites". historyofrights.ca. Canada's Human Rights History. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.