IRON ROAD | Part 1 Airs tonight 8:00 PM on CBC at Schema : more than ethnic

IRON ROAD | Part 1 Airs tonight 8:00 PM on CBC

The much anticipated 2-part mini-series bringing the history of the Chinese migrants who sacrificed their lives to build the Trans-Canada railroad hits prime time television tonight. IRON ROAD airs Sundays August 9 and August 16th 8:00 - 10:00 PM, on CBC Television.

Despite there being screenings all across the country, this is the first time the Canadian public will watch the full 2-part mini-series. As the most recent China-Canada co-production in the last 25 years, two versions were created: a 90-minute theatrical release and a 180-minute Canadian television version with deeper character development, and more story-lines. According to Chinese Canadian communities from coast to coast, this must-see film is has the potential to significantly change the public's perception of this part of Canadian history.

It took from 1881 to 1885 to construct the Canadian Pacific Railway, a Herculean task undertaken by thousands of labourers, including 17,000 Chinese workers, many of whom lost their lives. But it took even longer to get Iron Road - a glossy CBC miniseries about the building of the railroad, airing tomorrow and next Sunday - from script to screen.
Producers Barry Pearson and Anne Tait got the ball rolling in 2000, securing the rights to a 2001 opera of the same name by Chan Ka Nin and Mark Brownell that combined a complicated interracial love story with a saga about the CPR's creation. The resulting $10-million production, starring Sam Neill and Peter O'Toole, took nine years to make it to the small screen.

» Read the whole article by Fiona Morrow on Globe and Mail

Part 1 Trailer | Part 2 Trailer

More: IRON ROAD | Vancouver screening and youth response | July 16, 2009