''The Grasslands Project'' is a 2016 series of 10 short documentary films about small rural communities in

southern Alberta Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2016, the region's population was approximately 291,112. The primary cities are Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. The region is known mostly for agricultural production, but o ...

and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, directed by Scott Parker and produced by

David Christensen David Christensen is an Alberta film director and producer who since October 2007 has been an executive producer with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) at its Northwest Centre, based in Edmonton. Directing His directorial credits include ...

for the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

(NFB).

Development and production

Christensen, head of the NFB's Northwest Studio in Edmonton, had developed the idea for a series of short films that would tell the stories of small communities in Canada's southern Prairie grasslands. To direct the project, he hired Alberta filmmaker Scott Parker, with whom he had previously worked on the NFB's ''Stories from Our Land'' project. In February 2015, Christensen and Parker travelled to rural communities for a series of 10 public meetings to identify the key themes and concerns of local residents. Parker stated in May 2016 interview that he worked every day for six or seven months, shooting, travelling as well as editing. On one occasion, he made an 800-kilometre round trip to screen one of the films for a participant. Altogether, he calculated that he travelled 30,000 km. in the summer of 2015 to complete the films.

Films

The Alberta films were shot in or nearby

Coutts Coutts & Co. () is a British private bank and wealth manager headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1692, it is the eighth oldest bank in the world. Today, Coutts forms part of NatWest Group's wealth management division. In the Channe ...

, Magrath and Foremost. Saskatchewan’s locations were Eastend,

Val Marie Val Marie ( 2021 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Val Marie No. 17 and Census Division 4. It is about 30 kilometres from the Canada–United States border. Considered the g ...

Gravelbourg Gravelbourg () is a small multicultural town in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located just west of the Wood River at the junction of provincial Highway 43 and Highway 58, approximately 125 kilometres from Moose Jaw, Swift Curre ...

, Wood Mountain,

Rockglen Rockglen is a town in the Burning Hills of the Wood Mountain Uplands, in Saskatchewan, Canada. It offers various amenities including a school, community hall, public library and five parks, as well a local service industry. The municipal offi ...

—as well as Radville, for the short film ''Generations'', about the passing on of a family farm in nearby Ceylon, Saskatchewan.

Titles

* ''A Rancher’s View'', about a ranching family in Fir Mountain, Saskatchewan who manage their grazing lands in an environmentally sustainable way. * ''No Other Place,'' about local arts communities in the region * ''Homecoming'' * ''Life Out Here'', a documentary about women farmers. * ''The Last One'' and ''Population 21'', two films about declining rural populations * ''Generations'' * ''Val Marie Hotel'' * ''After the Fire'' * ''Les

Fransaskois Fransaskois (; cf. Québécois), Franco-Saskatchewanais () or Franco-Saskatchewanians are French Canadians or Canadian francophones living in the province of Saskatchewan. According to the 2016 Canadian Census, approximately 17,735 residents o ...

'' From May 6 to 14, 2016, the films had their world premieres in the communities where they were filmed.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grasslands Project, The Film series introduced in 2016 Documentary films about Canada National Film Board of Canada documentary series Films set in the Canadian Prairies Canadian short documentary films Documentary films about agriculture Films shot in Alberta Films shot in Saskatchewan Southern Alberta Films produced by David Christensen Works about Alberta Works about Saskatchewan