NOTES

DOUGLAS WILLIAMS - Writer Director

Hitler's Canadians tells the little-known story of German POWs in Canada during WW2. It features brilliant and hilarious escapes, the biggest prison rebellion in Canadian history and surprising interviews with former prisoners.

For director-writer Doug Williams, Hitler's Canadians was a real voyage of discovery. "I was handed an enormous pile of research and spent months reviewing this terrible time in world history. I learned a lot."

The film reveals a little-known side of Canada 's role. Says Williams: "There were 26 POW camps in Canada during the war years. One surprise was the distinction between concentration camps and POW camps.  In Canada , German POWs lived in luxury!"  One German POW actually compares life in Canada 's camps to "a 5-star hotel."

"But it wasn't a vacation for everyone," continues Williams. "Day-to-day POW camp life was run by the inmates - and organized along military lines. This meant that committed Nazis were frequently in command positions. They made life miserable for anyone deemed less-committed to the Nazi cause. Two suspect prisoners were lynched in the Medicine Hat camp."

The production employed over 40 military re-enactors from the Perth Regiment and other groups. Williams's experience directing a DND film a few years ago positioned him well for the task. "Working with military re-enactors is always a pleasure. Although it's a very grown-up activity, by the end of filming, I was "playing war" right along with them. I hadn't had so much fun since I was a kid."  

Williams is also a fan of recent developments in television documentary form: "The documentary-drama hybrid is a terrifically exciting genre to work in. It's such an efficient form of story-telling: you set up scenes with archive and interview, then cut to the essential dramatic moments that reveal the human frailty, passion and comedy. It's highly effective and a real audience-pleaser."

Documentary film's reputation for "truth" brings with it many production advantages," says Williams, "particularly with historical recreation.  While the owner of vintage vehicles or military paraphernalia might charge high rental fees to a movie production, they're much more charitable for low-budget documentaries. Hitler's Canadians got free vintage cars and even barbed wire chain-link from local people who were fans of History Television and just wanted to help out.  Our main POW camp location was graciously donated by the Darul Uloom Islamic School in Bowmanville.  Hitler's Canadians became a real community project."

back to NOTES