“CRASH COURSE ALBERTA” TO AIR ON CBC NEWSWORLD NOVEMBER 12 & 16, 2002

“CRASH COURSE ALBERTA” TO AIR ON CBC NEWSWORLD NOVEMBER 12 & 16, 2002


Crash Course Alberta a made-for-television documentary, sets out to explore the persistent undercurrent of sentiment that calls for Alberta to separate from the rest of Canada. It is a minority view but the voices are loud and prominent. They have a way of being heard. The current opposition to the Kyoto Accord by many influential Albertans recalls the protest against the National Energy Program of the mid-80s.

In Crash Course Alberta, Rosie Dransfeld, a new Canadian and a veteran documentary filmmaker from Germany, a country recently reunified, sets out to bargain with the most strident voices for Alberta separation. With her goes a small camera crew.

When asked about her motivation to undertake such a quest Ms. Dransfeld responds, “I endured the long-winded Canadian immigration procedures to become part of the best country in the world. But when I landed in Alberta, I found people speaking quite disparagingly about my newly adopted country. While it was confusing, it also inspired me to investigate and air the issues.”

Crash Course Alberta is a chronicle of her encounters throughout Alberta with a university political science professor, a cattle auctioneer, a rancher, a farmer, an Alberta-based national newsmagazine publisher, an evangelical minister, a writer, an oil rig worker and the like.

Broadcast dates:
Tuesday, November 12 at 8PM Mountain Time (MT)
Saturday, November 16 at 8PM Mountain Time
Program: “Rough Cuts” on CBC Newsworld
Running time: 39:30

Writer/Director/Narrator: Rosie Dransfeld
Producer: Dale Phillips

Produced by Black Spring Pictures, Edmonton in association with CBC Newsworld and with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund, the Alberta Film Development Program, CanWest Western Independent Producers Fund and CAVCO.

The award winning documentary “Shadows of War,” on the search for evidence of war crimes in former Yugoslavia on behalf of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague — undertaken by nine Canadian Forensic investigators, also produced by Black Spring Pictures of Edmonton, will air on CBC Newsworld’s “Passionate Eye” on November 11, 2002 at 8pm, MT.