150 Stories that Shape British Columbia
2021 marks 150 years since British Columbia joined Confederation and became a part of Canada. Explore 150 films by BC filmmakers about history, art and culture that shape our province.
2021 marks 150 years since British Columbia joined Confederation and became a part of Canada. Explore 150 films by BC filmmakers about history, art and culture that shape our province.
On November 7, 1885 the ceremonial last spike was driven to complete the Canadian Pacific Railway. This is the story...
This is the story of how Joe Fortes, an immigrant from Trinidad, was appointed the first official lifeguard in...
In May 1967 Dan McLeod published the first edition of his alternative newspaper, the Georgia Straight. He reflects...
In 1947 a group of kids from Ladysmith BC protested the rising price of chocolate bars.
Renowned Vancouver artist Ken Lum reflects on his childhood and what the East Van Cross represents to him.
At the age of 12, Severn Suzuki delivered a passionate speech before the UN on climate change. Years later, she...
Vancouver Sun photographer, Glenn Baglo, reflects on what it was like to be at the centre of the Gastown Riot,...
Rex Weyler is one of the original founders of Greenpeace. Rex talks about his early days with the organization, and...
Judy Williams, one of the central ambassadors and protectors of Vancouver's Wreck Beach, reflects on her life as a...
We follow the progression of a day at the cabin. Looking at different cabin types and locations, a rhthym is...
Nitobe Memorial Garden at UBC is one of the most authentic Japanese gardens in North America. Dedicated to Nitobe...
John and Patricia Patkau have designed many of the most notable pieces of architecture in Canada, including the...
A self-described conduit of creative energy, John Fleuvog has built a boutique empire of shoe stores known for their...
Touted worldwide as an outstanding example of mixed use urban design, Granville Island remains as popular today as...
Fred Hollingsworth originally unveiled the "Sky Bungalow in 1949 in Vancouver, but didn't take off as much as the "...
Arthur Erickson lived life to the fullest and never stopped expanding his practice and creative range. We look at...
Charles Edward Pratt had a big impact on architecture in Vancouver and mentored some of Canada's infamous architects...
Invented by Rex Field of Courtenay, BC, the Buzz Bomb is an ingenious salmon fishing lure that is known world wide...
In 1911, Joseph Coyle invented the egg carton using leftover pulp from his newspaper publishing business. Now his...
There are over 100 Aboriginal Friendship Centres across Canada. A Place to Belong celebrates Christmas at the very...
The sumptuous Casa Mia mansion hides a dirty secret. Newspaper headlines reveal connections between rum running...
An impressionistic moment in time at the Hastings Racecourse, Vancouver's oldest sporting facility.
Joseph R. Selsey's belongings were discovered in a shoebox by a dumpster in 2015. The provide us with a rare glimpse...
In 1930, Indar Singh traveled from India to Abbotsford and was forced to leave his wife behind. During their 22-year...
A dat in the life of 91.1, Nuxalk Radio is a radio station built to help keep the Nuxalkmc language alive,...
Spoken word artist Sol Diana shares a poem inspired by the origin stories of the Igarot people of northern Luzon,...
Temple Emanu-El is Canada's oldest surviving synagogue building that is still in use as a synagogue.
The fine line between kitsch and caricature is examined in this quirky short about the Tomahawk Restaurant - the...
Lyana Patrick shares her story of her family's powerful story of love and survival at Lejac Indian Residential...
Barkerville's historical interpreters debate the pros and cons of BC's entry into the Dominion of Canada in 1871.
BC's Pacific National Exhibition is over 100 years old, and this collection of archival artifacts highlights the...
The year is 1922 and the city of Vancouver is about to make major changes to how traffic flows on its streets.
A tantalizing glimpse of Vancouver in a gilded age- scenes of daily life in 1933 featuring places like Stanley Park...
BC is dotted with old company towns, one of which is Powell River. Resident Stewart Alsgard takes us on a tour of...
BC Electric Rail is fondly remembered by those who lived in the lower mainland in the early half of the 20th century...
There was a time when Union Steamships were "the streetcars of the coast" in BC. We hear from a woman who rode the...
Expo 86 was a celebration of technology, progress and a bold new future for the hopeful young city of Vancouver.
Warren Bernard was a young child when he was captured in a famous WW2 photograph titled "Wait For me Daddy." Now in...
Marine Biologist Alexandra Morton sounds the alarm on BC's salmon farming industry and makes a passionate plea for...
Arts Umbrella co-founder, Carol Henriquez, tells the story of Arts Umbrella's inception, describes the impact the...
Entrepreneurial icon Chip Wilson sits down to talk about the forces that shaped his work creating Lululemon and the...
Dr. Julio Montaner, a physician, researcher and professor, recounts his journey and explains how his pioneering...
Freshwater advocate Kat Hartwig explains how we're at the beginning of a new era in which the impacts of climate...
Pioneering author and sex educator Meg Hickling looks back over her career starting in the early 1970s when talking...
Community activist Sarah Blyth has been working on the front lines of the drug crisis in Vancouver's Downtown East...
Shel Piercy directs productions and recounts the history of Vancouver's iconic Theatre Under the Stars at Stanley...
Environmental activist Tzeporah Berman explains why climate change is a tipping point moment in history and posits...
Acclaimed author and explorer Wade Davis to answer the question: "if a Martian anthropologist came to Earth, what...
Vancouver's oldest used and antiquarian bookstore, MacLeod's Books, holds hundreds of thousands of colourful...
Emily Carr's acclaimed work as an author informed her unique painting style she became famous for.
Author Doretta Lau examines the legacy and impact of Wayson Choy's "The Jade Peony"; for British Columbia's Chinese-...
Author Anne Fleming reexamines how Jane Rule changed the literary landscape for queer fictions in North America.
Author John Vaillant revisits the people and events on Haida Gwaii that inspired his interspecies murder-mystery "...
Linguistic anthropologist Jay Powell delves into the history behind the "Dictionary of Chinook Jargon."
Author Evelyn Lau reflects on her groundbreaking memoir "Runaway: Diary Of A Street Kid" on the 30th anniversary of...
Publisher Howard White looks back at how British Columbia's fledgling publishing industry began to emerge in the...
The story of the real-life adventures of a young widow and her five children as they explore the southern coast of...
A the age of 16, Red Robinson became British Columbia's first rock & roll disc jockey. We follow Red's early...
British Columbia's Aldergrove is not exactly known as the epicentre of counterculture, but for one magic weekend in...
At the height of his popularity, Paul Horn performed a series of solo flute concerts for a grieving orca named Haida...
Vancouver's Penthouse has been and seen a lot of things, but in the 40s and 50s- before becoming one of Canada's...
After gaining popularity in Russia with his album "Live at the Planetarium," local jazz pioneer Fraser MacPherson...
When it comes to the Vancouver punk rock scene, The Dishrags are at ground zero- and they were the first all-female...
A performative protest against the selling of Vancouver to the world at the expense of its less fortunate citizens,...
For the better part of the 20th century a converted two-level garage on Hornby Street in downtown Vancouver was one...
What began as a private club for railway workers became the hotbed of the Canadian roots, rock & roll and...
Little Mountain Sound was initially designed to record radio jingles. With the hand of music producers Bob Rock and...
Author Sylvia Olsen and her daughter explain the origins of the Cowichan sweater and the ingenuity and resilience of...
In the early 1900s, Finnish socialist philosopher, Matti Kurrika, established a utopian colony off the coast of...
Leah Oke is one of Canada's female pioneers in professional cold water surfing. She attributes her success to her...
The sinking of the S.S. Valencia in 1906 was one of Canada's biggest marine tragedies at the time and would lead to...
Seafood has always been a main stake of the west coast diet and an important resource for trade.
British-born Francis Rattenbury won a competition to design British Columbia's new parliament building. His vision...
Robert Bateman is one of Canada's most prolific wildlife artists and naturalists. His move from Ontario to Salt...
In 1964, a tsunami flooded the unsuspecting communities of Alberni and Port Alberni and forever changed British...
Poverty and discrimination rampaged Victoria's Chinatown in the late 1880s. A group of Chinese merchants created the...
Jeff George and Caroline Woodward are light keepers who care for Lennard Island Lighthouse just off the coast of...
Basil Izumi was five years old when his family was torn apart and sent to live at the internment camps in the...
Gina Landucci tells us the story of her Italian grandfather who moved to Trail in the early 1900’s to work at the...
This story weaves together the stories of three women of different generations who have all fled persecution for...
Sophie Pierre was forced to attend St. Eugene’s Residential School as a girl, removing her from her family and...
Stanley Triggs travelled to the Easy Kootenays during the time that the prime agricultural land was being...
Painter/sculptor Gathie Falk turns the ordinary into extraordinary that challenges everyday perspectives. Her work...
Photographer Fred Herzog captures intensity of the extraordinary through his photographs which present a commentary...
Sarah McLachlan interprets the role of artists in our society to be true communicators leaving a positive mark on...
William Gibson describes a writer's creative journey as channeling your inner muse and leaving yourself open to...
Shawn Hunt's artistic works reflect his Heiltsuk and Scottish background. He views an artist as someone who is both...
Martha Sturdy creates simplicity and a sense of peace through the exploratory process of her craft.
James Cheng's architecture reflects the intrinsic values of the Vancouver community by creating life between...
Actor Ian Tracey refers to himself as a servant of entertainment and explains that actors are providing a service to...
The fun and energetic sound created by world music group Delhi 2 Dublin is formed from the synergy of different...
Sculptor Parviz Tanavoli finds inspiration within his cultural background and in the beauty of the British Columbian...
By balancing her passions of motherhood and music, Nelly Furtado can focus on family and creativity in her home life...
Taking a deep breath of British Columbia ocean air is an indicator of home for a hockey player who lived his life on...
Between train whistles and memories of his wife, this author makes his home in the small town of Yale – maintaining...
This Canadian soccer star started playing at just 4 years old – and with a family legacy of soccer, it is clear why...
On the road, in the mountains, in the air, in the past; author Joy Kogawa remembers home with a sense of peace.
For an Olympic gold medalist who lives life on the road, coming home provides the opportunity to shift gears and...
What happens to a home when it becomes dwarfed by construction and high-rise buildings? This chilling poetic tale...
In a busy life that takes her across Canada for her job as a senator, the feeling of heading home is one of...
The Killer Whale Woman is both scientist and artist. She has lived in many places, but Haida Gwaii is her spiritual...
“I’m a traveler, because I’m an astrophysicist”. With a career that provides him with a universal perspective, his...
A long-distance relationship that spanned twenty-five years resulted in love and a new perspective of home for this...
A 400-year-old Douglas Fir and a Canadian writer both share the same home - a living, breathing house containing...
Landscapes that produce a unity between inside and outside spaces are the specialty of this architect who is...
The repatriation of Indigenous People’s art to their rightful home on the coast is informed by the connection...
Indigenous artist Sonny Assu finds that sometimes the most meaningful way to experience a sense of home is by...
Spending months on the road can strain your sense of home, so this musician followed his heart to a new home in...
Considering the evolution of the notion of home, society is now able to move around with such speed and frequency...
A small company town born in 1906 was home to more than pulp mill workers, it was also a vibrant community that...
The disastrous bridge collapse during construction of the Second Narrows cantilever bridge resulted in the single...
Setting the stage for the women’s suffrage movement in Vancouver, Helena Gutteridge played an integral role in...
The booming forest industry in British Columbia fostered the creation of an ethnically diverse town called Paldi,...
Through candid photos of labourers from all trades, Mattie Gunterman documented the pioneer life of British...
“The main thing that working women need is union organization”. Watch how the unionization movement for working...
An 8-year long Silicosis campaign ran by Bea Zucco became a rallying point for groups who were disgruntled by the...
The formation of the BC fisherman’s union in 1899 challenged the dominance of cannery owners, resulting in a strike...
The first woman in western Canada to get a commercial pilots license had yearned to fly since childhood, and left a...
Despite racial barriers and the disaster of Pearl Harbour, Buck Suzuki remained a recognized visionary in the BC...
The Indigenous People of British Columbia have had a long history of labour, from building their economies on...
The invention of steam-ships revolutionized transportation for British Columbia in the 1800’s, allowing workers to...
Asian discrimination escalated in British Columbia after the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, resulting...
A mining explosion in Coal Creek triggered a movement to protect children from being exploited through child labour...
The first strike in the British Columbia telephone industry was catalyzed by the emergence of women operators who...
A paradoxical situation in the long shoring industry informed the creation of the Bows and Arrows union,...
Contrasted against the beauty of the Fraser River, the construction crews of the Canadian Northern Railway faced...
With gas explosions killing hundreds, miners working in Vancouver Island initiated BC’s longest and most violent...
With gas explosions killing hundreds, miners working in Vancouver Island initiated BC’s longest and most violent...
Learn how the death of a single union worker led to Canada’s first general strike in 1918.
Travelling across miles of rough terrain with a home-made darkroom hitched to the back of his car, Wilmer Gold...
A dispute between the Langley School Board and Langley Teachers Association led by Connie Jervis set the precedent...
Unemployment strife during the Great Depression came to a head in Vancouver when peaceful protests became anything...
Women’s entry into the labour force during World War II opened the conversation within unions to establish equal pay...
A lack of union protection for farmworkers in BC resulted in years-long battles between the Canadian Farmworkers...
The Solidarity campaign represented over 400,000 BC workers, setting the stage for the largest labour protest in...
Work relief camps that sprung up during the Great Depression inspired union activists to take their grievances all...
Learn about the miners’ strike in the 1870’s that was sparked by inhumane working conditions set by the wealthy...
Gold fever spread dreams of great fortune for seekers willing to brave the harsh conditions of gold mining in the...
Carrielynn Xwementelot Victor of the Cheam First Nation sings a lullaby in Halq'emeylem for her newborn.
Realizing you want to learn the Tsilhqot'in language as an adult, it helps when your mom is a famous Tsilhqot'in...
In 1977, Dave Elliot developed an alphabet and a typewriter to keep the Sencoten language thriving.
For Earl Smith, one of the legacies of Residential school is the drive to learn his Ehattesaht language.