Plot summary
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| 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.
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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.
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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.
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