- View on filmfreeway
- Directed by Jack H. Farrell and Tom Fraser
- Supported by a Northrop Frye Center Undergraduate Research Fellowship
This long-form research documentary focuses on the controversy surrounding a commemorative statue of Edward Cornwallis, the man credited with founding the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia. His mistreatment of the Mi’kmaq indigenous population has been classified as genocide. The film was screened to a crowded house at Victoria College in the University of Toronto. It features interviews with historians, city councillors, and journalists. The project was supervised by Prof. John Duncan at the University of Toronto.
Looking back, this is a complicated project. On one hand, I am proud of the filmmaking and archival work that both Tom and I (mostly Tom, for the latter part) put in; the film is well-researched, it conveys lots of information, and it makes a strong case. On the other hand, five out of the six main interviewees are white.
I’m not a historian, but my co-director Tom Fraser is, and he has written a great article called Edward Cornwallis, Public Memory, and Canadian Nationalism, which is published on the website activehistory.ca. It’s a nice treatment of the ideas like history vs. historical memory that come up in the film.
Tom also snapped this great picture of me at our public screening: test
