Plot summary
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2023) |
| The North Star: Finding Black Mecca | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Angel Panag Torrin Blades |
| Written by | Angel Panag |
| Produced by | Angel Panag Godfred Adjei Torrin Blades |
| Starring | Adam Arenson Gayle George Deirdre McCorkindale |
| Cinematography | Godfred Adjei |
| Edited by | Skye Bryden-Blom Jennie Cyril |
| Music by | Chudi Harris |
| Distributed by | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |
Running time | 22 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
The North Star: Finding Black Mecca is a 2021 Canadian documentary film about the Black Canadian communities of Chatham, Dresden and Buxton in Ontario. [1] The film is almost entirely narrated by community members themselves, with some input from academics who have studied the settlements. [2] The film highlights the self-sufficiency of the local Black community, the early civil rights work of the National Unity Association, the Chatham Coloured All-Stars, as well as the international influence of local figures including Mary Ann Shadd and Fergie Jenkins. [3] The film's title song Summer Night Songs is performed by singer Chudi Harris and 2020 Polaris Music Prize nominee Aquakultre. [4]
The North Star: Finding Black Mecca won awards at the Niagara Falls International Film Festival, Canada Shorts Film Festival and screened at festivals around Canada and the U.S., including the Seattle Black Film Festival, the Montreal International Film Festival, Roxbury Film Festival, CaribbeanTales International Film Festival and the Denton Black Film Festival in Texas. [5] [6] [7]
The film was self-funded by the producers, and later picked up by the CBC. [8] The North Star: Finding Black Mecca premiered on CBC Television on September 18, 2021. [5]
| | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2023) |
Chatham-Kent is a single-tier municipality in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is mostly rural, and its population centres are Chatham, Wallaceburg, Tilbury, Blenheim, Ridgetown, Wheatley and Dresden. The current Municipality of Chatham-Kent was created in 1998 by the amalgamation of Blenheim, Bothwell, Camden, the City of Chatham, the Township of Chatham, Dover, Dresden, Erie Beach, Erieau, Harwich, Highgate, Howard, Orford, Raleigh, Ridgetown, Romney, Thamesville, Tilbury East, Tilbury, Wallaceburg, Wheatley and Zone.
Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury, is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the fifth largest in Canada. It is administratively a single-tier municipality and thus is not part of any district, county, or regional municipality. The City of Greater Sudbury is separate from, but entirely surrounded by the Sudbury District. The city is also referred to as "Ville du Grand Sudbury" among Francophones.
Hollywood North is a colloquialism used to describe film production industries and/or film locations north of its namesake, Hollywood, California. The term has been applied principally to the film industry in Canada, specifically to the cities Toronto and Vancouver.
Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, also known as Cinéfest and Cinéfest Sudbury is an annual film festival in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, held over nine days each September. It is one of the largest film festivals in Canada.
Michelle Latimer is a Canadian actress, director, writer, and filmmaker. She initially rose to prominence for her role as Trish Simkin on the television series Paradise Falls, shown nationally in Canada on Showcase Television (2001–2004). Since the early 2010s, she has directed several documentaries, including her feature film directorial debut, Alias (2013), and the Viceland series, Rise, which focuses on the 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline protests; the latter won a Canadian Screen Award at the 6th annual ceremony in 2018.
The Montreal World Film Festival was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF. The public festival, which was founded in 1977 as a replacement for the defunct Montreal International Film Festival (1960–68), is held annually in late August in the city of Montreal in Quebec. Unlike the Toronto International Film Festival, which has a greater focus on Canadian and other North American films, the Montreal World Film Festival has a larger diversity of films from all over the world. The festival was cancelled in 2019.
Ron Sparks is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is known as an alternative comedian and frequent guest on CBC Radio's The Debaters, and on TV as a regular and favourite juror on MuchMusic's highest-rated show, Video on Trial, also starring as The Judge in the Stars on Trial Christmas special and various other VOT spin-offs.
Evan Beloff is a Canadian film writer, producer, director and production company executive. He is known for Bigfoot's Reflection (2007), Daughters of the Voice (2018) and A People's Soundtrack (2019).
Dresden is an agricultural community in southwestern Ontario, Canada, part of the municipality of Chatham-Kent. It is located on the Sydenham River. The community is named after Dresden, Germany. The major field crops in the area, by both acreage and production, are grain corn, soybean, and winter wheat. The main horticultural crop is tomatoes, followed by sweet corn and carrots.
North Buxton is a dispersed rural community located in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1849 as a community for and by former African-American slaves who escaped to Canada to gain freedom. Rev. William King, a Scots-Irish/American Presbyterian minister and abolitionist, had organized the Elgin Association to buy 9,000 acres of land for resettlement of the refugees, to give them a start in Canada. Within a few years, numerous families were living here, having cleared land, built houses, and developed crops. They established schools and churches, and were thriving before the American Civil War.
Frederick Rumball Nicholls is a former Canadian politician who sat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2011 to 2022. He represented the riding of Chatham-Kent—Leamington.
Ann Shin is a filmmaker and writer based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) is a cultural, charitable organization whose mission is to recognize and celebrate the art of cinema by showcasing Canadian and International films and filmmakers. When the festival first took place, it had 1,000 people in attendance and screened 20 films over the course of 2 days.
Cheryl Dawn Foggo is a Canadian author, documentary film director, screenwriter and playwright.
Aquakultre is a Canadian soul and R&B musical project from Halifax, Nova Scotia, whose core member is singer and rapper Lance Sampson. They are most noted for their album Legacy, which was a longlisted nominee for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize.
Black Canadians migrated north in the 18th and 19th centuries from the United States, many of them through the Underground Railroad, into Southwestern Ontario, Toronto, and Owen Sound. Black Canadians fought in the War of 1812 and Rebellions of 1837–1838 for the British. Some returned to the United States during the American Civil War or during the Reconstruction era.
The Sudbury Indie Cinema Co-op is an organization based in Sudbury, Ontario, which operates the city's first dedicated repertory and art film movie theatre.
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