''The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar'' is a 1968

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Peter Pearson and written by Joan Finnigan. The 49-minute drama stars

Chris Wiggins Christopher John Wiggins (January 13, 1931 – February 19, 2017) was an English-born Canadian actor. Career He started out as a banker in his home country before he began his acting career in Canada, where he moved in 1952. Wiggins is probably ...

and

Kate Reid Daphne Katherine Reid (4 November 1930 – 27 March 1993) was an English-born Canadian stage, film, and television actress. She played more than one thousand roles, most notably onstage in ''Death of a Salesman'', in the 1980 film ''Atlantic Ci ...

, along with

Margot Kidder Margaret Ruth Kidder (October 17, 1948 – May 13, 2018), known professionally as Margot Kidder, was a Canadian-American actress whose career spanned five decades. Her accolades include three Canadian Screen Awards and one Daytime Emmy Awa ...

in her first feature role. Produced by John Kemeny 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 ...

, the film won eight awards at the

Canadian Film Awards The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

, including Film of the Year. Produced for the NFB's

Challenge for Change Challenge for Change (French: ''Societé Nouvelle'') was a participatory film and video project created by the National Film Board of Canada in 1967, the Canadian Centennial. Active until 1980, Challenge for Change used film and video production t ...

program, the film had initially been "pushed aside and ignored by CBC TV," according to Canadian film scholar

Gerald Pratley Gerald Arthur Pratley (September 3, 1923 – March 14, 2011) was a Canadian film critic and historian. Piers Handling"Gerald Arthur Pratley" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', September 18, 2011. A longtime film critic for the Canadian Broadcasting Cor ...

, who called it "A brilliant example of what our filmmakers could do if they had the opportunities and the material to replace the run-of-the-mill American films that dominate our theatres and television – the kind of inexpensive creativity private broadcasters continue to say they cannot afford."

Synopsis

One of the best English-Canadian

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typic ...

s from the 1960s, ''The Best Damn Fiddler'' is a realistic account of an itinerant bush worker (Chris Wiggins) living in the rural area of the

Ottawa Valley The Ottawa Valley is the valley of the Ottawa River, along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais, Quebec, Canada. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield. Because of the surroundi ...

who can't make enough money to feed his large family but nevertheless rejects government handouts. The oldest daughter (Margot Kidder) eventually leaves home to find work and a better future.

Awards

– Film of the Year, Non-Feature Direction, Non-Feature Screenplay, Non-Feature Actor (Chris Wiggins), Non-Feature Cinematography (b+w), Non-Feature Editing, Non-Feature Art DirectionMaria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''.

Stoddart Publishing Stoddart Publishing was a Canadian book publisher and distributor, owned by Jack Stoddart, which ceased operations in 2002.UncreditedBook giant Stoddart files for creditor protection CBC News, May 1, 2002. Retrieved 2016-01-15. History General ...

, 2000. .

Filming locations

* The farm locations, dance hall and river scenes were shot at Barryvale, Ontario. * The downtown scenes were shot in

Renfrew, Ontario Renfrew is a town on the Bonnechere River in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. Located one hour west of Ottawa in Eastern Ontario, Renfrew is the fourth largest town in the county after Petawawa, Pembroke, Ontario, Pembroke and Arnprior. The town ...

References

Works cited

External links

Watch ''The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar'' at NFB.ca
* 1968 films Canadian drama films English-language Canadian films National Film Board of Canada films Best Picture Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners 1968 drama films Films produced by John Kemeny 1960s English-language films Canadian black-and-white films 1960s Canadian films {{1960s-drama-film-stub