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The Back-breaking Leaf

1959 29 min
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Here is a graphic picture of the tobacco harvest in southwestern Ontario. At the end of July, transient field workers move in for a brief bonanza when the plant is ripe. The tobacco harvesters call it "the back-breaking leaf."

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The Back-breaking Leaf
  • Candid Eye
    Candid Eye
    1958 14 films
    Shot unscripted and unrehearsed, this NFB documentary series for television is a seminal offering in the history of doc filmmaking.

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Details

Here is a graphic picture of the tobacco harvest in southwestern Ontario. At the end of July, transient field workers move in for a brief bonanza when the plant is ripe. The tobacco harvesters call it "the back-breaking leaf."
Agriculture Work and Labour Relations All subjects
  • director
    Terence Macartney-Filgate
  • camera
    Terence Macartney-Filgate
  • assistant director
    Gilles Gascon
  • editing
    John Spotton
  • sound
    Terence Macartney-Filgate
    Victor Merrill
    George Croll
  • music
    Eldon Rathburn
  • commentary
    Stanley Jackson
  • producer
    Roman Kroitor
    Wolf Koenig
  • executive producer
    Tom Daly

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Education

Ages 12 to 17
School subjects
Diversity - Diversity in Communities Diversity - Identity Geography - Natural Resources Geography - Territory: Agricultural History - World History
Discuss the diverse world of the migrant workers who create a multicultural community during the tobacco harvest. Read John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" or watch the film adaptation starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinise. Compare the worlds of George and Lennie and the tobacco primers in Ontario (the social order, the friendships, the challenges, etc.).
The Back-breaking Leaf
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