Local history has the power to enable connections between people and the places they live, work and visit. In order for people to care about these places, they must know the ingenuity, hard-work and determination that created their community, their way of life, or their business. They must know the forces of nature that for millions of years carved the lake, grew the forest, or created the natural resource that they use daily. The best way to do this is through the personal narrative - through stories.
The non-profit Ontario Visual Heritage Project has been empowering communities to tell their unique and important stories to the world since 2001. We work with individuals, municipalities and NGOs to create compelling multimedia tool kits to teach, preserve and promote the history of Ontario to audiences young and old. The central component of each Project is a feature length, High Definition documentary on the history of a community or region, complete with re-enactments of historical events, interviews, historical photographs and film, 2D animation, 3D re-creations and original music. Eleven projects have already been completed in this exciting series, including: Haldimand County, Norfolk County, Brant/Brantford/Six Nations, Elgin County, Oxford County, Sarnia-Lambton, Chatham-Kent, Muskoka, West Parry Sound, the City of Greater Sudbury, and Manitoulin Island.
