John Walker to receive The 2010 Erik Barnouw Award April 10, 2010

Passage, directed by Canadian filmmaker John Walker, distributed by Bullfrog Films, Inc., The National Film Board of Canada and PTV Productions, has been selected by the Organization of American Historians (OAH) to receive the 2010 Erik Barnouw Award. First given in 1983, the award is given annually in recognition of outstanding reporting or programming on network or cable television, or in documentary film, concerned with American history, the study of American history, and/or the promotion of history.

On Saturday, April 10th, OAH President Elaine Tyler May and President-Elect David A. Hollinger will present the award to John, the first Canadian recipient, in Washington, D.C., during the OAH Awards Ceremony and Presidential Address of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the Organization.

Walker’s film follows celebrated British explorer Sir John Franklin and his crew of 128 men who perished in the Arctic ice during an ill-fated attempt to discover the Northwest Passage. More shocking, these men descend into madness and cannibalism. The report of this - to English authorities, came from John Rae, a Scottish doctor working for the Hudson's Bay Company. Rae's horrific news did not sit well with Franklin's widow, Lady Franklin, or with Charles Dickens. They waged a bitter campaign that would discredit Rae and mark the Inuit people with the horrifying label of murderous cannibals.

Official Website: http://www.oah.org/meetings/2010/program/saturday.pdf