Land and Sea documentary filmed by Windsor crew premieres on CBC

A failed northern settlement is the topic of a documentary premiering on CBC's Land and Sea this weekend.

Led by University of Windsor professor Kim Nelson, the film called Bud and Ron's Northern Life looks at a little-known story with Windsor connections. It airs Sunday, January, 27 at 11:30 a.m. on CBC TV.

During the Depression, a "Back to the Land"program took unemployed Windsorites and sent them north to farm and make use of the land in areas like Kapuskasing nearly 800 km north of Canada's southernmost cityin order to help with Ontario's food security needs.

One of those families included brothers Ron and Bud.

While Bud was born in northern Ontario, Ron made the trek north when he was just six days old. Their father, when chosen for the program, was hiding from the mob, said director Nelson.

Land and Sea promo - Bud and Ron's Northern Adventure

6 years ago

Duration 1:10

Land and Sea promo - Bud and Ron's Northern Adventure

It's an unusual tale, with the Windsor mayor at the time eventually ordering an end to the program because families were barely surviving in bleak, dire conditions.

For Nelson, the joy came from working on something unknown that was connected to Windsor.

"It's great to work on stories not known to Windsorites," said Nelson. "There are so many great stories about the city and it's wonderful when they get told."

Nelson went north three times, including once in the spring season with her 12-year-old son. Some of the audio he helped record is included in the documentary.

"To actually go into the bush and experience what that's like was very interesting," said Nelson, describing being attacked by mosquitos and other bugs.

For the winter trips north, Nelson brought her film crew of University of Windsor students and alumni. She has also brought film crews comprisedof Windsor students to places including Europe before.

Seeing what the area was like in the winter helped Nelson think of the brothers Ron and Bud as "true Canadians."

"They can deal with extreme temperatures, they're very hardy," said Nelson. "They're really active, really interesting characters."

Maria Cusumano, as editor, avoided the cold of northern Ontario. Her work happened in post-production, after everything had been filmed.

"What happened was an important story," said Cusumano. "I felt really honoured to be able to bring it to a big screen."

Cusumano was born and raised in Windsor and graduated from the communications program at the University of Windsor.

"I think that there's really rich stories in Windsor-Essex and they're just stories that need to be told," said Cusumano.

She said she hopes the film helps show that real movies can be made in Windsor.

"We have the talent, we have the facilities. We can make some great content."