High Steel is a 1965 short National Film Board of Canada documentary film directed by Don Owen about Mohawk people Ironworkers from Kahnawake building New York City skycrapers.
Synopsis
Featuring breathtaking sequences of workers walking along narrow steel beams high above street level,
High Steel is based largely on the experiences of one
Mohawk people ironworker working in
Manhattan, Harold McComber. The film contrasts the daring work of McComber and his coworkers in the skies above New York City with life back home in
Kahnawake. It also explains how the Mohawk people living across the Saint Lawrence River from Montreal first gained their reputation for high steel work in the late 19th century by working on a railway bridge that ran through their land. However, as the film recounts through narration and archival photos, such a reputation came at a terrible cost. While working on the
Quebec Bridge farther down river near
Quebec City, dozens of Mohawks were among the 75 men killed during its 1907 construction collapse with a devastating impact on the small community. While celebrating their courage and skill, the film also makes it plain how the Mohawks are forced to leave home to make a living, and McComber regrets that his sons have had to grow up without their father.
Production
The film's director of photography was
John Spotton, with
Don Francks as narrator,
Julian Biggs as producer, and a song by
Bruce Mackay, "Mountains of Iron and Steel" (replacing
Gordon Lightfoot, who was originally supposed to have provided music). The film was shot using 35 mm cameras, with film crews having to gain access to the construction site high above the ground by traversing a ladder from an adjacent building.
Awards
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Cork International Film Festival, Cork, Ireland: Bronze Statuette of St. Finbarr - First Prize, Documentary, 1966
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Locarno Festival, Locarno, Switzerland: Diploma of Honour, 1967
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Kraków Film Festival, Kraków, Poland: Diploma of Honour, 1967
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Melbourne Film Festival, Melbourne: Diploma of Merit, 1967
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International Days of Short Films, Tours, France: Prize of the Cine-Clubs, 1967
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Berlin International Film Festival, Berlin: Special Youth Prize, 1967
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18th Canadian Film Awards, Montreal: Best Editing, to Don Owen 1966
See also
Further reading
External links
