Browse our 2010 Film Guide

Passage

Themes: First Nations history, documentary, historical, re-enactment, oral tradition, and racism

It was news that shook the English-speaking world. Celebrated British explorer Sir John Franklin and his crew of 128 men had perished in the Arctic ice during an ill-fated attempt to discover the Northwest Passage. More shocking, they had descended into madness and cannibalism. The report came in 1851, from John Rae, a doctor from Orkney working for the Hudson's Bay Company. But Rae's horrific news did not sit well with Sir John's widow, Lady Franklin, nor with the Admiralty, nor with many others in British society, including Charles Dickens. They waged a bitter public campaign that would discredit Rae's version of events, banish him to the margins of history and mark the entire nation of Inuit with the horrifying label of murderous cannibals.

With Passage, filmmaker John Walker employs an innovative approach to structuring the incredible multi-layered story of John Rae, bringing it to vibrant life. Using a unique blend of dramatic action, and behind-the-scenes documentary footage, Walker pulls back the curtain on his own research into Rae's life and that of his actors, as they determine how to portray the characters and scenes in the film. Set in the actual locations of Rae's journey, Passage is a story of incredible sacrifice, stunning distortion of the truth and single-minded obsession. It is also the story of a historical wrong that has never been righted.

Preceeded by Short Film The Golden Spruce

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