Sylvia Hamilton

Black Mother Black Daughter explores the lives and experiences of black women in Nova Scotia, their contributions to the home, the church and the community and the strengths they pass on to their daughters.

Award-winning filmmaker and writer Sylvia Hamilton painstakingly unearths the story of the children, women, men who were students and teachers in Canada’s racially segregated schools in The Little Black School House. The film is a compelling illustration of how many of the students who attended Canada’s all-Black schools look back on the experience with conflicted feelings: fondness for the dedication of their Black teachers, and outrage at being denied a right, fundamental to democracy in Canada: equal access to quality education.

Part 2 of the "Hymn to Freedom" TV docuseries on the Black experience in Canada, Sylvia Hamilton documents the history of Black immigration and community in Nova Scotia.

Director Sylvia Hamilton reflects on her work with the NFBs Atlantic Studio and the birth of New Initiatives in Film - A Studio D initiative for women of colour and aboriginal women.

The film examines what it means to be Black in Nova Scotia - from the history of racial segregation in the province, to the frustration of being from this place and yet continually asked, "Where are you really from?"

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Waters of the Diaspora is a short lyrical meditation and imagining of the enduring legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in African people. Water was central to that trade. It was the means used to ship human beings–treated as cargo/free labour– to the New World to create wealth. A poetic text on screen overlays a montage of moving images of water and waves. A soundscape of a griot’s voice and mournful echoes of distant keening and the scritch of a ship’s tackle conveys present to past, and a return to present. This reflective film lays bare the lingering emotional impact of the willful theft and ill-treatment of African people.

In their predominantly white high school in Halifax, a group of black students face daily reminders of racism, ranging from abuse (racist graffiti on washroom walls), to exclusion (the omission of black history from textbooks). They work to establish a Cultural Awareness Youth Group, a vehicle for building pride and self-esteem through educational and cultural programs. With help from mentors, they discover the richness of their heritage and learn some of the ways they can begin to effect change.

Biography of Nova Scotia born contralto Portia White, who in the 1940' and 50's was often compared to the American Marian Anderson, covering her singing and teaching careers. Uses archival film and TV footage, excerpts from recordings, and interviews with family, friends, pupils and her accompanist, to portray a talented, dignified woman, her career shortened by mismanagement and ill health, but who left an important heritage that is remembered by those who knew her.

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