Join the Commission to celebrate Black History Month in Canada with a virtual screening of 'The Road Taken' and a Q&A with director of the film, Selwyn Jacob.
'The Road Taken' is a nostalgic ride through the 1900s about Black sleeping-car porters working on Canadian railways. The film explores how anti-Black racism and discrimination affected the livelihoods of car-porters, and portrays their fight for justice.
Watch 'The Road Taken' here: [ Ссылка ]
For over three decades, award-winning filmmaker Selwyn Jacob has been telling stories about the lives and experiences of Black Canadians, Indigenous peoples, and other marginalized communities. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Selwyn came to Canada in 1968. He holds a BEd from the University of Alberta (1970) and an MSc in Film Education from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (1975).
Early in his career -1976 to 1981 – Selwyn worked as a teacher, and as a school principal with the Lac La Biche School Division in Northern Alberta. He also taught for two years with Edmonton Public School Board before joining Alberta Education as a Media Consultant from 1983 to 1995.
As an independent filmmaker he directed We Remember Amber Valley (1984), about the Black community that existed near Lac La Biche, AB; Carol’s Mirror (NFB – 1991), which won six international awards; and the Gemini award-winning The Road Taken (1996), about the Black sleeping- car porters of the Canadian railroad.
In 1997 Selwyn joined the National Film Board of Canada as part of the Special Mandate Team for Cultural Diversity. Based at the Pacific and Yukon Studio in Vancouver, he went on to produce over 50 films. During 23 years at the NFB, he produced a wide range of documentaries including Charles Officer’s Leo- and Emmy-award-winning Mighty Jerome (2010) and Mina Shum’s feature documentary Ninth Floor (2015), about the Sir George Williams Riot of 1969. Ninth Floor was selected to TIFF’s annual Top Ten list of the best Canadian films of the year. His most recent films – Holy Angels (2017), Because We Are Girls (2019), and Now Is The Time (2019), were screened at numerous national and international film festivals and received several accolades.
Selwyn’s personal honours include: Lifetime Achievement Award from Vancouver Film Critics Circle (2020); An Honorary Doctor of Laws from Dalhousie University (2019); Outstanding Achievement Award from Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta (2017); Certificate of Appreciation from City of Vancouver, Black History Month Planning Committee (2015); An Alumni Honour Award from the University of Alberta for community contribution (2013); and the John Ware Award for Black Achievement (1997, Edmonton AB).
Selwyn retired from the NFB in June 2019, and spends much of his time mentoring emerging filmmakers.
