Death or Canada (2008)

Directed by

Ruán Magan

Genre

docudrama, documentary television program

Country

Canada

How it feels

This two part docudrama follows a Protestant family from Ireland as they flee the Great Famine in 1847 and travel to Canada. Their journey is intercut with commentary from historians and experts.

historicalsombereducationalpersonalreflectiveearnestinformative

What happens

Death or Canada is a two-part Canadian–Irish docudrama which was broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One in November/December 2008. In the UK on The History Channel UK in January and February 2009 as Fleeing The Famine. The film was also featured as part of the celebrations for Toronto's 175th anniversary. Narrated by Brian Dennehy, the film follows the Protestant Willis family from the west of Ireland as they flee to Canada in the Spring of 1847 at the height of the Great Famine, ultimately arriving in Toronto, The story is intercut with commentary from historians and other experts. It was directed by Ruán Magan. The title of the film comes from the research of one of the main contributors, Mark McGowan, Principal of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto. He says that "The title, Death or Canada, was something that I discovered in archives in Limerick, Ireland, in a newspaper where the locals were writing about the choices that had to be made in 1847. They said: 'During the Cromwellian period, it was to hell or Connaught, and now that's being writ large in our own time as death or Canada.' " (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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