It's Just Better

It's Just Better

| 15 min
Free
streaming

Also available

DVD

This short documentary takes us to a farmhouse on Cape Breton Island where Shawn Peter Dwyer, age 10, lives with his mother and nine brothers and sisters. While the children’s pockets are usually empty, their lives are well filled. This film is part of the Children of Canada series.

Embed this code on your site

It's Just Better, Beverly Shaffer, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Video player width

by Reset
Credits
  • director
    Beverly Shaffer
  • producer
    Margaret Pettigrew
  • executive producer
    Kathleen Shannon
  • cinematography
    Kent Nason
  • sound
    Patricia Kipping
  • editing
    Donna Read
  • sound editing
    Jackie Newell
  • re-recording
    Jean-Pierre Joutel
  • music
    Chris Rawlings
 See also
Families
Children and Youth
All subjects
Studio D: The Women’s Film Studio
All channels
Add a new comment
  • None

    Omg the little boy at the end with the fire truck is my dad

    None, 20 Feb 2020
  • None

    Omg the little boy at the end with the fire truck is my dad

    None, 20 Feb 2020
  • lynnhussey

    Wow..what an amazing family. I just Loved this video. Thanks to the family for allowing it to be shared.

    lynnhussey, 26 Feb 2017
  • bsullivan54

    This is the sweetest video I've ever seen. I just love it! Thank you!

    bsullivan54, 8 May 2016
  • JaniceinTokyo

    I just watched this on a long Air Canada flight from Toronto to Tokyo. Wow, what a gem! It was really touching and I can't wait to show it to my own sons. And great work, NFB for showing the films on flights (I watched them all) and having such a great site and providing access to these little films that might otherwise be forgotten!

    JaniceinTokyo, 24 Aug 2014
  • Velveeta

    When I first saw this movie last year I decided to research the public records and found out that the family generally fared well. Shawn Peter Dwyer and his wife had just published a notice of the birth of their daughter in the local paper, some of his brothers and sisters have moved outside the province for work, and their mother had become a successful and reputed rabbit breeder (she was nicknamed the "Rabbit Lady") and passed away a few years ago.

    Velveeta, 11 Jun 2014
  • Grammie

    This film is a treasure. It truly depicts a family in rural Cape Breton coping well with little material resources but having the most important resource -- a loving home base. It would be great to see the children of this family filmed 'now' to find out how they fared in the years between the filming of the show and now. Excellent work.

    Grammie, 17 Jan 2014
  • Grammie

    This film is a treasure. It truly depicts a family in rural Cape Breton coping well with little material resources but having the most important resource -- a loving home base. It would be great to see the children of this family filmed 'now' to find out how they fared in the years between the filming of the show and now. Excellent work.

    Grammie, 17 Jan 2014
  • VincentVanCrow

    Would love to see a follow up story.

    VincentVanCrow, 9 Jul 2011

Related Films

More great films

Explore

The NFB is committed to respecting your privacy

We use cookies to ensure that our site works efficiently, as well as for advertising purposes. If you do not wish to have your information used in this way, you can modify your browser settings before continuing your visit.

Learn more