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Remembering Billy
“There’s not a lot of records [about black history in Canada], so I certainly wanted to document a story like this….”
Ernesto Griffith, who played Billy Beal in the 2010 movie of the same name, saw a piece of Canadian history that needed to be remembered.
After four years, a lack of funding, and inaccessibility to some prime archival material — Beal’s photographic images — the project finally reached fruition.
Along with the film’s director, Winston Washington Moxam, the duo wrote and produced this venture, preserving the memory one of the first black people to settle in Manitoba.
Who was Billy Beal and why did he leave friends and family to homestead in the “wilds” of the Swan River Valley in 1906? Why did Griffith and Moxam feel compelled to work on this movie?
Prior to the launch of the film, Griffith spoke with Canada’s History editorial assistant Beverley Tallon on the making of Billy Beal. The film has since gone on to win two awards.
You can help share stories of Canada’s diverse history
Thanks to Section 25 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canada became the first country in the world to recognize multiculturalism in its Constitution. With your help, we can continue to share voices from the past that were previously silenced or ignored.
We highlight our nation’s diverse past by telling stories that illuminate the people, places, and events that unite us as Canadians, and by making those stories accessible to everyone through our free online content.
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