Films about Saskatchewan heritage viewed at WDM event

Visitors to Heritage Day at the Western Development Museum had the option to see a mini-festival of heritage-based films.

Eleven films were screened, in the Winning the Prairie Gamble theatre.

Among them were four from the Prairie Grasslands Project. The four shorts look at the Southern Saskatchewan struggle for survival in the grasslands.

One by one, they focused on keeping the French language up in Gravelbourg, the battle to save the Village of Wood Mountain, the spectacular grasslands landscape and artists drawn to it, and an aging man who returned to the family farm 30 years ago to fulfil his parents’ dream to keep the farm in the family.

The Wood Mountain film featured 14 of the 21 residents, among them the now deceased Mayor Mike Klein. Another National Film Board film, Shipbuilder, dealt with Tom Sukanen, the Finnish settler who built a ship in the middle of the Prairie to sail home.

The 1985 film was directed by Stephen Surjik, who grew up a mile from Sukanen’s farm. The ship was restored and is the centre piece of the Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village and Museum, south of Moose Jaw.

Other films dealt with the Snowbirds aerial demonstration team, Al Capone’s Moose Jaw connection, Second World War stories of courage, heritage transportation and the unappreciated nature connection throughout most of Saskatchewan.

Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net