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Journey to Justice

2000 47 min
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This documentary pays tribute to a group of Canadians who took racism to court. They are Canada's unsung heroes in the fight for Black civil rights. Focusing on the 1930s to the 1950s, this film documents the struggle of 6 people who refused to accept inequality. Featured here, among others, are Viola Desmond, a woman who insisted on keeping her seat at the Roseland movie theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia in 1946 rather than moving to the section normally reserved for the city's Black population, and Fred Christie, who took his case to the Supreme Court after being denied …

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Journey to Justice

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This documentary pays tribute to a group of Canadians who took racism to court. They are Canada's unsung heroes in the fight for Black civil rights. Focusing on the 1930s to the 1950s, this film documents the struggle of 6 people who refused to accept inequality. Featured here, among others, are Viola Desmond, a woman who insisted on keeping her seat at the Roseland movie theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia in 1946 rather than moving to the section normally reserved for the city's Black population, and Fred Christie, who took his case to the Supreme Court after being denied service at a Montreal tavern in 1936. These brave pioneers helped secure justice for all Canadians. Their stories deserve to be told.
  • director
    Roger McTair
  • producer
    Karen King-Chigbo
  • executive producer
    Louise Lore
  • editor
    Tom Latimer
    Steve Weslak
  • director of photography
    Stanislaw Barua
  • sound design
    Alan Geldart
  • original music
    Guy Zerafa
  • narrator
    Datejie Green
  • narration - writer
    Laine Drewery
    Roger McTair
    Alan Mendelson
  • story consultant
    Laine Drewery
    Alan Mendelson
    Claire Prieto
  • consultant
    Sheldon Taylor
    James Walker
  • additional directing
    Milton Bryan
  • production manager
    Julie Crooks
    Claire Prieto
  • production supervisor
    Kemp Archibald
    James Fiege
  • assistant production supervisor
    Michael Sardella
  • production coordinator
    Nadine Simunic
  • program administrator
    Ida Di Fruscia
  • content researcher
    Patrice Dutil
    Dorothy Williams
    Julie Crooks
    Tana Turner
    Nadine Tsehaie Makonnen
    Juanita Peters
  • visual researcher
    Tanya Fleet
    Tana Turner
    Bonnie G. Rowan
    Elspeth Domville
  • audio archival researcher
    Alyssa Ryvers
  • director's intern
    Nadine Tsehaie Makonnen
  • assistant cinematographer
    Kenneth Salah
    Rick Jarjoura
  • sound recordist
    John Martin
    Sanjay Mehta
    Brian Dupuis
    Robert Fletcher
    Michael Kennedy
    Kenneth Lee
    Ismaël Cordeiro
    Arthur McKay
  • gaffer
    Douglas Marshall
    Gerry Mendoza
  • grip
    John Adams
    Cabral Trotman
    Joseph Kneller
  • set decorator
    Melissa Olson
    Elsa Levy
  • wardrobe
    Starr Jacobs
  • assistant video editor
    Anita Malhotra
  • assistant sound editor
    Patricia Quintanilla
  • production assistant
    Andrew Bristow
    Kelly Conley
  • technical assistant
    Kevin Drysdale
    Mark Wilson
  • stills photographer
    Ian Watson
  • music clearances
    Ann Mayall
  • online editor
    Andrew Mandziuk
  • re-recording mixer
    Wayne Swingle
  • foley artist
    Sid Lieberman
  • Rostrum camera
    Jenny Lianos
  • colourist
    Andrew Mandziuk
  • graphic design
    Martha Newbigging
    Michael Chambers
  • digital imaging - assistance
    Ian Prieto-McTair
  • cast
    Stanley Taylor
    Brock Curley
    David Collins
    Jacob Adams
    Terri Oliver
    Geoff McLean
    Malcolm Younger
    Kurt Brunus
    Christine Brubaker

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Education

Ages 12 to 17
Study Guide
School subjects
Have students research the history of a non-white group of immigrants/residents of Canada, detailing where they settled, conflicts that arose, laws that discriminated, and so on. Then have students interview an elder from their community. They can ask questions about how things were for minorities in Canada in the years leading up to the civil-rights movement. Were they exposed to racism? Students can then discuss how things may have changed – or not.
Journey to Justice
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