A movie premiered in Prince George last night.
There wasn't a lot of pomp and circumstance. No red carpet, no cameras flashing in the faces of celebrities.
All those invited to the exclusive premiere gathered at the Senior Citizens Activity Centre at 425 Brunswick St. for a turkey dinner and a glimpse into the lives of several local seniors.
Through Our Eyes is a compilation of interviews where one or two people at a time offered an oral history of their lives.
Only a brother and sister were from Prince George, everyone else came from somewhere else and settled here to build their lives as the city grew.
The project, filmed last winter, was funded through New Horizons for Seniors, a federal program.
"We have 12 individuals in this video and we probably contacted three times that number," said Lola-Dawn Fennell, manager of the Prince George Council of Seniors Resource Centre. The videographer was Vince Ramcharran and photographer was Bob D'Auray, interviewers were Lola-Dawn Fennell and Jessica and Heather Fisher, a mother-daughter team and the film's editor is Jo Boxwell.
During the video the audience sees the participants share their stories.
"They shared some very personal losses in some cases," said Fennell.
"But also showed how they carried on - life carried on even though they suffered those losses. Each overcame multiple challenges in coming here in the first place and then overcame personal challenges and losses and yet they are all still out there active in the community. That's incredible and we have so much to learn from that."
The individual interviews, as well as the compilation video, will be added to the B.C. Archives at the University of Northern B.C. and at the Prince George Public Library because the Council of Seniors knows those records need to be somewhere they can be accessed in the future, Fennell added.
"It was a fun project," said Fennell.
"The biggest message the film has is get out there and stay involved, volunteer in your community. Young people need to know where they came from - they need to know their own personal history."
