Northwest passage

Canada, 1970

Please note

Sorry, we don't have images or video for this item.

It took a supertanker like the U.S.S. Manhattan, assisted by a nimble icebreaker, the Canadian John A. Macdonald, to realize the dream of centuries: the navigation of a commercial sea lane through the Arctic channels. This is a record of that historic expedition, filmed in colour from both ships and from a reconnaissance helicopter. Commentary by ships’ navigators and observers, and shipside sounds of formidable sea ice groaning, straining and cracking make this an adventure rarely seen on film.

How to watch

This work has not been digitised and is currently unavailable to view online. It may be possible for approved reseachers to view onsite at ACMI.

Learn more about accessing our collection

Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

producer

Francois Seguillon

production company

ONF | NFB

director

Bernard Gosselin

Duration

00:27:00:00

Production places

Canada

Production dates

1970

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

013905

Language

English

Subject categories

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Arctic regions

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Arctic regions - Discovery and exploration

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Canada - Exploring expeditions

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Ice-breaking vessels

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Ocean travel

Climate, Environment, Natural Resources & Disasters → Geology

Communications, Infrastructure, & Transport → Ice-breaking vessels

Communications, Infrastructure, & Transport → Navigation - Equipment and supplies

Communications, Infrastructure, & Transport → Navigation - History

Communications, Infrastructure, & Transport → Shipping

Communications, Infrastructure, & Transport → Ships

Communications, Infrastructure, & Transport → Ships - Equipment and supplies

Communications, Infrastructure, & Transport → Transportation - History

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - Canada

History → History

History → Navigation - History

History → Trade routes - History

Mathematics, Science & Technology → Geology

Mathematics, Science & Technology → Ice-breaking vessels

Places → Arctic regions

Short films

Short films → Short films - Canada

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/76126--northwest-passage/ |title=Northwest passage |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=28 November 2022 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}