3 days ago
Film footage of Winnipeg from the 1960s surfaces online after languishing in storage locker
A billboard for Salisbury House in Winnipeg in 1965 is seen in a screengrab from a film strip uploaded to YouTube recently. (Francois Arseneault).
Vintage billboards popping out in crystal clear quality, cars driving down recognizable Winnipeg streets, families seen playing in the snow — these are just a few scenes of an era gone by.
B.C. photographer Francois Arseneault restored two videos showing a typical Winnipeg day in the 1960s and uploaded them to YouTube, but the material was almost lost to history.
The original film strips were discovered in a storage locker in Vancouver that had been rented out for five decades and deemed abandoned after the owner died.
'A colleague of mine in Vancouver found it, and the person who had it wasn't interested in the films and was going to toss the film into the landfill,' Arseneault said. 'I couldn't let that happen.'
vintage winnipeg
A billboard for Salisbury House in Winnipeg in 1965 is seen in a screengrab from a film strip uploaded to YouTube recently. (Francois Arseneault).
vintage winnipeg
A billboard for Red Rose Tea in Winnipeg in 1966 is seen in a screengrab from a film strip uploaded to YouTube recently. (Francois Arseneault).
Arseneault said the film hadn't been viewed and noted that masking tape – put on to prevent old film from unravelling – had fully calcified. Once he removed the tape, he was able to scan and view the 16 mm film, which he said was in remarkable condition for its age.
He discovered through his research that the film was shot by Irme Michalik, a Hungarian immigrant who lived in Vancouver and has since passed away, leaving no children. Michalik's videography skills were quite sharp in the footage he shot, Arseneault said.
'The guy had his pretty serious camera chops; he had some really good skill sets,' Arseneault said. 'He knew what he was doing, his composition, his framing, his camera work. It was really delightful to work with.'
Francois Arseneault
Francois Arseneault is seen in a 2019 photo. (Francois Arseneault)
Connecting the past with the present
Due to the presence of billboards and advertising in the video, Arseneault said he suspects Michalik was doing freelance work for an advertising company when he was filming in Winnipeg. Arseneault said the presence of these ads also gives a glimpse into how things have evolved over the decades.
'Billboards and advertising is a little part of our culture, a little bit of our history. It helps us recollect what times were like back then,' he said. 'Reality is absolutely wonderful to see, and we catch details in there that we don't even think of that today.'
vintage winnipeg
A billboard in Winnipeg from 1966 is seen in a screengrab from a film strip uploaded to YouTube recently. (Francois Arseneault).
Jarad Buckwold, digital archivist with the City of Winnipeg, said having major events documented is important, but the everyday scenes are also important, as they provide a 'shared experience' for people.
'It's something that we can identify with,' he said. 'We can imagine, but we don't really know what it would be like to live through the General Strike, for example, but we understand what it's like to drive to work and to be in traffic, or to see billboards on the streets and things of that nature.'
Seeing history clearly
The 16mm film was scanned at 4K resolution and the details of it were crystal clear, Arseneault said.
'You can read licence plates, you can read details in windows,' he said. 'You can read signs at a greater distance than you ever could before. And most interestingly, you can see people. You can make out people's faces and details.'
In previous videos he has scanned and uploaded for other cities, Arseneault said he has received a lot of responses from people who have been able to see their family members preserved on film.
'I'll get a response back from someone who says, 'Hey, that's my grandfather. That's my uncle, or as my grandmother, how did you find this?'' he said. 'It really makes me feel good that people are seeing people that they remember, that they recognize.'
Arseneault's videos of Winnipeg and other cities can be viewed online on YouTube.
