SHATTERED CITY

A miniseries of heroic proportions, Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion tells the incredible true story of Halifax, Nova Scotia, a city devastated by a massive explosion and its aftermath—a historic tragedy that became a living metaphor for a worldwide conflict.

By 1917, the Great War had escalated beyond a scale ever imagined by Great Britain and its Allies. Though thousands of Canadian soldiers had lost their lives in Europe, the city of Halifax was a flourishing port—until 9:05 am on December 6 when the Mont Blanc, a French freighter carrying a cargo of explosives, collided with a Belgian relief ship and exploded near Halifax Harbour. The blast turned 1,600 houses to matchwood, killed 2,000 people, tossed ships up onto dry land, and swept hundreds of victims out to sea. Forming a mushroom cloud the size of an atomic bomb, it was heard and felt a hundred miles away. Fires swept through the city, incinerating those trapped in the wreckage, and the freezing temperatures brought death to homeless survivors.

Told through the eyes of the courageous Collins family, the miniseries portrays Halifax’s rise from the ashes, tells of survival, faith, and the strength of the human spirit and explores the intriguing, controversial political firestorm surrounding the Mont Blanc’s hidden cargo. This heart-wrenching, epic miniseries stars Oscar nominees Graham Greene (Dances with Wolves) and Pete Postlethwaite (In the Name of the Father).

Fabulous special effects, individual acts of heroism and treachery, and a compelling love story combine to bring this catastrophic event to the screen for the first time in Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion. Executive produced by Mary Young Leckie of Tapestry Pictures Inc. and Michael Donovan of Salter Street Films, winner of an Academy Award for Bowling for Columbine.