Lighthouses are perhaps the most iconic structure in Atlantic Canada and are featured on countless road signs, logos, and postcards. These amazing structures have illuminated Nova Scotia shorelines for hundreds of years guiding generations of sailors and fisherman safely home. They stand as a modern day reminder of our rich maritime history and for many coastal communities they now also provide opportunities for the future.
Nova Scotia boasts more lighthouses than any other province – 160 in total – but scores of them may soon disappear forever. The Federal Government has declared dozens of these lights “surplus” and given a deadline of 2015 to find a new caretaker or they will be destroyed. This isn’t the first time that lighthouses have been under threat. In the 1980’s, the light at Peggy’s Cove – Nova Scotia’s most photographed lighthouse – was scheduled to be demolished. The massive public outcry from across the country forced the Federal Government to back down but now the oldest lighthouse in all of the America’s in Sambro faces the same threat.
Lighthouses is a half hour documentary that sheds light on the history of lighthouses and the important role that they continue to play today as a living link to Canada’s seafaring past. The film visits lighthouses in Liverpool, Isle Madame, and Sambro to reveal how the local community groups are finding innovative ways to keep these historic lights burning bright.
Lighthouses will have its world broadcast premiere on CBC Television’s Land & Sea on Sunday, November 24, 2013 at 12 Noon. Following the broadcast, the documentary can be watched on the CBC TV website at:
www.cbc.ca/landandsea. Land & Sea is CBC’s 2nd longest running TV series and can be followed on Twitter:
@cbclandandsea
Lighthouses was produced in association with CBC TV with funding from Film and Creative Industries Nova Scotia, and Provincial and Federal tax credits.