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Awards

As they should!

Canada-Russia hockey triumph among programs to be preserved as Masterworks
OTTAWA (CP) – The CBC broadcast of the hockey moment that still ranks as Canadian sports ecstasy was among 12 works selected for re-airing and special preservation Monday.
Game 8 of the 1972 Canada-Russia showdown unleashed jubilant mayhem as Paul Henderson’s series-winning shot crossed the Russian goal line with 34 seconds left.
That treasured broadcast – along with The Beachcombers, the Quebec film The Decline of the American Empire, and a recording by contralto Maureen Forrester – were among Masterworks awards announced Monday.
The Masterworks title is bestowed by AV Preservation Trust, a non-profit agency working to promote and preserve Canada’s audio-visual heritage.
Recipients, including hockey legend Henderson, were to be honoured Monday at a gala in Ottawa.
The federally funded trust works with partners, including the CBC and the National Film Board, to restore productions where needed. It also helps ensure that Canadians get more opportunities to see or hear productions such as the fabled hockey match.
Caroline Leaf was among those honoured Monday for a much-loved film that she now hopes will find new audiences. Her 1976 animated short film The Street, based on Mordecai Richler’s short story about growing up in Montreal, was nominated for an Oscar.
It won a slew of international awards, but recognition back home is especially sweet, Leaf said.
“I travel and people come up to me and tell me how they’ve been affected by this film.
“It’s an official recognition that pleases me a lot.”
The 12 works honoured Monday join 36 others named since 2000.
The trust was founded in 1996 by the federal department of Canadian Heritage, the National Archives of Canada and private partners because Canada was losing its cultural gems, said spokeswoman Susan Tolusso.
“A lot of the stuff is gone. Canada’s first feature film, our first talkie, is gone.”
Preventable damage has robbed Canadians of irreplaceable works, she explained.
“They weren’t stored properly. They were kept in places like barns.”
Three productions in each category – film, television, radio and sound recording or music – were announced Monday.
The 12 productions named Monday as Masterworks by the AV Preservation Trust of Canada:

Film: The Decline of the American Empire (1986); Nobody Waved Good-Bye (1964); The Street (1976)
Television: The Beachcombers (1972-1990); Point de Mire news magazine (1956-59); Canada-Russia hockey series Game 8 (1972)
Radio: Anthology (1954-1985) featured episode ‘Aspects of the Canadian Novel and body of work, CBC; Radio-Bigoudi (1955-57) and body of work, CBC; La cloison (Oct. 28, 1971) and body of work, Radio Canada
Sound recording or music: Rock opera Starmania (1978); Maureen Forrester, contralto, body of work and selected recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 ‘Resurrection (1958); The late Henry Burr, tenor, body of work and selected recording ‘When You and I were Young, Maggie (1909).’