50 million people in North America claim Irish ancestry. Many of their ancestors arrived in Canada during the famine years. Now a powerful new film shows what life was like for these people.
Death or Canada is an IFTA-nominated two-part Canadian-Irish docudrama which was broadcast in Ireland in November/December 2008 and has now been shown on Canada's History Television. The film, narrated by Brian Dennehy, follows the Protestant Willis family from Limerick to flee to Canada in the Spring of 1847 at the height of Great Famine. This dramatic story is interspersed with commentary from historians and other experts.
Death or Canada is a Canada-Ireland Treaty Co-Production, produced by Canada's Ballinran Productions and by the Irish television production company Tile Films', the company behind the September 2008 documentary Cromwell in Ireland.
The film's web site provides much more information, including a video "trailer," at http://www.deathorcanada.com.
