''Los Canadienses'' is a 1976 documentary about the Canadian volunteers who fought in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

. It was directed by

Albert Kish Albert Kish (14 May 1937 – 23 October 2015) was a Canadian documentarian/filmmaker. Life and career Kish was born in Albert Kiss in Eger, Hungary, the son of Olga Weisz, a clothing store manager, and Albert Kiss, a customs officer. He beca ...

and produced by Tom Daly and Colin Low for the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

. It won several awards, including the 1977

BAFTA Award for Best Documentary This page lists the winners for the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, formerly known as the Robert Flaherty Documentary Award, for each year. History The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts an ...

Synopsis

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was a conflict between Spain's Nationalists, a right-wing alliance led by General Francisco Franco’s

military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...

, and Republicans, a left- and -centre wing group opposing the Nationalist overthrow of the constitutionally-elected government. Forty thousand volunteers from around the world traveled to Spain to fight in the war. Of all nationalities, only France saw more volunteers take part than Canada—1,200 Canadians joined the struggle as the

XV International Brigade The Abraham Lincoln Brigade ( es, Brigada Abraham Lincoln), officially the XV International Brigade (''XV Brigada Internacional''), was a mixed brigade that fought for the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War as a part of the Internation ...

of the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion; over half were killed. As it is illegal for civilian Canadians to participate in foreign wars, survivors were not recognized by military institutions, or in official Canadian histories. Kish sought to give them their due through this film which, though emotional and respectful, does not lapse into sentimentality.

Awards

30th British Academy Film Awards The 30th British Academy Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts on 24 March 1977, honoured the best films of 1976. Winners and nominees BAFTA Fellowship: Denis Forman Statistics See also * 49th Academy Aw ...

, London:

, 1977 *

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

, Chicago: Silver Hugo Award, 1977 *

Yorkton Film Festival Yorkton Film Festival (YFF) is an annual film festival held in late May in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council (YFC) was founded and in 1950 the first international documentary film festival officially opened in we ...

Yorkton Yorkton is a city located in south-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is about 450 kilometres north-west of Winnipeg and 300 kilometres south-east of Saskatoon and is the sixth largest city in the province. As of 2017 the census population of the ...

, Saskatchewan: Golden Sheaf Award, Best Documentary, 1977 * Melbourne Film Festival,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

: TV Award for Best Film Made for TV, 1977 * American Film and Video Festival, New York: Blue Ribbon, International History and Culture, 1977 * International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg,

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

: Special Mention from the Fédération internationale de la presse cinématographique, 1976 * International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg,

: Special Prize for the Best Film, 1976

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Los Canadienses BAFTA winners (films) National Film Board of Canada documentaries 1976 documentary films Films produced by Colin Low (filmmaker) Documentary films about the Spanish Civil War 1970s Canadian films