A Sigh and a Wish: Helen Creighton's Maritimes (2001)
A Sigh and a Wish tells the story of pioneer folklorist Helen Creighton and of the enduring appeal of her remarkable collections of song and story. Creighton helped define Maritime culture as we know it. Thanks to her, folk songs moved out of the kitchens and the fishing boats and into the mainstream. Top contemporary Maritime musicians - talents like Mary Jane Lamond and Lennie Gallant - describe how deeply they have been influenced by Creighton. For 60 years, Creighton sought out ghost stories, superstitions and tales of buried treasure, as well as songs handed down from generation to generation: fishing songs, work songs, love songs. Timeless songs. A Sigh and a Wish is a moving tribute to the genius of a self-taught folklorist and to the continuing strength of the deep oral traditions she helped preserve. But it also raises important questions. Does Creighton's collection truly reflect Maritime culture, or is it tinged by her own upper-middle-class assumptions?
Director: Donna Davies
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Odile Boyd as Himself |
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Clary Croft as Himself |
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Teresa Doyle as Herself |
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Lennie Gallant as Himself |
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Mary Jane Lamond as Herself |
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Ashley MacIsaac as Narrator |
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Rod C. MacNeil as Himself |
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Catherine Martin as Herself |
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Raylene Rankin as Herself |
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Pete Seeger as Himself |
| Production | Sally Bochner | Executive Producer |
| Sound | Mary Jane Lamond | Original Music Composer |
| Directing | Donna Davies | Director |
| Writing | Donna Davies | Writer |
| Production | Kent Martin | Producer |
| Camera | Kent Nason | Director of Photography |
| Editing | Kimberlee McTaggart | Editor |
| Production | Patsy Coughran | Associate Producer |
