The Story Of The “I’m Alone”

Filmmaker Allison Wolvers, along with John Flood of Penumbra Press, proudly present this Animated Short Film which retells the story of the I’m Alone. The I’m Alone was a Canadian schooner built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, in the 1920s and used in the illicit trade of contraband during Prohibition. “The Story of the I’m Alone” includes the original song by Wade Hemsworth with back-up vocals by Anna McGarrigle and The Mountain City Four, recorded in 1969 by Peter Weldon in Montréal.
An iconic Canadian folksinger, Wade Hemsworth composed some of the most classic Canadian folk songs, including “The Blackfly Song” and “The Log Driver’s Waltz”. Performed by the McGarrigle Sisters, both of these songs were also produced as animations by the National Film Board. “The Blackfly Song” was nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 64th Academy Awards in 1992.
Wolvers was commissioned by Penumbra Press to recreate the original storyboard drawn by award-winning cartoonist, Peter Whalley, who illustrated for Maclean’s and Weekend Magazine in the 1950s and 1960s and is in the Canadian Cartoonist Hall of Fame.



“The Story of the I’m Alone” chronicles events from 100 years ago. Rum-running between Atlantic Canada and the United States is a significant part of our shared history and spreading stories through the medium of animation will help to bring these tales to the rest of the world.