First winter

This historical drama features the first winter spent in Canada by a family of Irish immigrants deep in the Ottawa Valley. The year is 1830. Because the father is working in a logging camp, the mother has sole charge of the family. Sickness overtakes her and she dies. The children are left on their own to survive. The film graphically illustrates the enormous hardships endured by the first settlers who had to cope with a climate they were unfamiliar with. Filmed in Algonquin Park.

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

production company

ONF | NFB

co-producer

John Smith

Sam Grana

Roman Kroitor

director

John Smith

Duration

00:26:00:00

Production places

Canada

Production dates

1981

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

016622

Language

English

Subject categories

History → Canada - History

History → History

Short films

Short films → Short films - Canada

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

16mm film; Preservation Print (Section 5)

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)

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/78127--first-winter/ |title=First winter |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=26 January 2023 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}

Canada, 1981

Please note