Winter 2008 Film Series
Our winter 2008 film series ended January 31. Thank you to the hundreds of visitors who came to Ironworld to view films about the people of the Iron Range. Check back often for updates on our next film series.Films from the 2008 Film Series Included
The Iron Range: A Peoples History
Produced in 1994 by Twin Cities Public Television, The Iron Range: A Peoples History is the history of the Iron Range told by the people who lived it. Elio Varani, 86, humorously tells of the everyday life of immigrant families. Elsie Lowder, 83, recalls with vivid detail the Milford mine disaster of 1924. Bennie Ochis and Toini Mackie tell of the spirited energy of the progressive political movement and the upset election of John T. Bertrand to Congress. Brothers Russel and Robert Monson, retired miners, recount the rise of the taconite industry.
The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa: Our Story
Using oral histories of band members, this film shares the stories and memories of the Bois Forte people, describing their cultural heritage and plans for the future.
The Woodlands: The Story of the Mille Lacs Ojibwe
Narrated by Oneida actor Graham Greene, this 60 minute documentary produced by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe traces 300 years of Mille Lacs Band history, from their arrival in Minnesota up to the present day. The film combines interviews with tribal elders and noted historians with historical photos and documents, plus archival and modern location footage and traditional Ojibwe music.
The American Experience: Journey to America
Journey to America is a tribute to the over 12 million men, women, and children who made the torturous journey from the old world to the new between 1890 and 1920. Producer Charles Guggenheim weaves rare archival material with letters, diaries and oral interviews to depict the largest single human migration in recorded history.
Spies in Steel: The Dollar-a-Day Man
This documentary is based on the book Spies in Steel by journalist Frank L. Palmer. In 1928, Palmer traveled to the Mesaba Iron Range to expose the extensive company spy system. Using first-hand accounts of blacklisting, company spies, and strikes by immigrant miners; Palmer publishes his expose which is quickly bought up and burned by local mining companies. However, Palmers 1936 testimony during senate hearings on labor, help to bring about the final destruction of industrial spies in America.
The Survivors: North American Finns in Stalins Russia
In the early 1930s, the Soviet government, in need of technological aid to build up Russian industries, began to recruit Finnish-Americans and Finnish-Canadians to move to Soviet Karelia. They promised them good jobs, an education for their children, and the chance to create a new good life for themselves in this socialist county. Thousands emigrated to Karelia only to find their dreams destroyed within a few years in Stalins Great Terror, when many were arrested and shot or sent off to slave labor camps.
This documentary is their story, told by twenty of the survivors. They remember the enthusiasm, the camaraderie and the accomplishments of their early years in Karelia, as well as the suspicion, bewilderment, and fear they experienced during the purges and the war.