A fascinating clash of philosophy, classical studies and Pop Culture, this film capsulizes a number of "Media Prophet" Marshall McLuhan's conclusions about media.
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A fascinating clash of philosophy, classical studies and Pop Culture, this film capsulizes a number of "Media Prophet" Marshall McLuhan's conclusions about media.
An immersion into the rich landscapes of Sable Island and the life of Zoe Lucas, a naturalist and environmentalist who has lived over 40 years on this remote strip of sand.
"Lord of the Brush" details the artist John Howe's history and passion for J.R.R. Tolkien's works. John's story is brought to life with over 100 of his beautiful illustrations, which have had a major impact on the fans and readers of the world about how J.R.R. Tolkien's work is envisioned in images.
Is sand an infinite resource? Can the existing supply satisfy a gigantic demand fueled by construction booms? What are the consequences of intensive beach sand mining for the environment and the neighboring populations?
Five days in the life of fabled Greenwich Village guitar store Carmine Street Guitars.
In this searing documentary, Indigenous people share heartbreaking stories that reveal the injustices inflicted by the Canadian child welfare system.
Inside The Mind of Leonardo is based on the artist’s private journals dating from the Italian Renaissance. With over 6,000 pages of handwritten notes and drawings, da Vinci’s private journals are the most comprehensive documents that chronicle the work of the world’s most renowned inventor, philosopher, painter and genius. Using this precious collection of writings and drawings to recount Da Vinci’s story in his own words, and combining them with stunning visual effects and 3D technology, we re-create the mindscape and ideas of mankind’s greatest polymath.
Montreal’s Botanical Gardens are a storehouse of the wonders of nature. From all over the world scientists have gathered a living collection of plants and flowers, providing delight for the casual visitor and rich material for the student of botany. The actual process of plant growth is revealed for us by the time-lapse camera. We see a practical result of the botanist’s work in British Columbia’s important seed industry. Children, too, at the Montreal Botanical Gardens, cultivating their own plots of ground, take part in the quest for the secrets of nature.
The documentary tells the story of the immigrants who came to Canada with dreams of a better life. Featuring incredible archival footage, photographs and documents as well as interviews with historians, sociologists as well as first-hand accounts from several Italian Canadians.
This short documentary pays tribute to the craftsmen everywhere whose work adds color and richness to life. Filmed in the Canadian Arctic, Finland, India, Nigeria, Japan, Mexico, and Poland, it shows the special skills of artisans working at their crafts - stone sculpture, pottery, ceramics, weaving, dyeing, puppet making, embroidery. Each indigenous skill is a reflection of the culture of the country.
Through the magic of editing and animation, Claude Jutra is seen in dialogue with himself at various stages of his life – becoming the spirited narrator of his own biography. Excerpts from family films, interviews, and clips from some of Jutra's well-known works are seamlessly intertwined with these sequences, forming a portrait of a man whose life was devoted to creativity. Jutra is simultaneously a homage, a love letter to cinema, and the dramatic story of a brilliant artist whose life was all-too-short.
Following five years in the life and career of independent filmmaker Justin McConnell, this documentary explores the struggles of financing, attracting the right talent, working with practical effects and selling the finished product in the hope of turning a profit. Featuring interviews with a range of industry luminaries, not only are technical aspects and interpersonal skills discussed but also the emotional stamina and little-known tips needed to survive in the low budget film industry.
An unfinished film is passed along from one friend to another. The dialog between them is a journey crossed by the swarming of the Great Eastern Brood X of periodical cicadas that prophetically emerge every 17 years in the United States, invoking a reflection of a post-pandemic present and our shared futures. A road movie composed of a chorus of voices (both human and non-human), the warnings of history, the power of nature and rebirth.
This film profiles Canadian actor Christopher Plummer of the Shakespearean Theatre, Stratford, Ontario. As the minutes tick by, cameras register the transformation as he dons his make-up for the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac. We also see Toronto actress Kate Reid as well as actors Len Birman and Martha Henry.
A true animated film about invented islands. About an imaginary, linguistic, political territory. About a real or dreamed country, or something in between. Archipelago is a film of drawings and speeches, that tells and dreams a place and its inhabitants, to tell and dream a little of our world and times.
The Piano Tuner traces the life of 'Red Mike’ MacDonald, who for 60 years has visited Cape Breton homes, churches, concert halls and theatre spaces to tune pianos. But why do people still have this acoustic instrument, its 88 hammers, its 230 strings and each with its own tuning key? Love - love for real sound.
A featurette hosted by Art Hindle and Lynne Griffin, who revisit the original house from the movie 'Black Christmas'.
One of several 1970s documentaries on the subject of unidentified flying objects (UFO), supporting the view that Earth is visited regularly by extra-terrestrial engines and aliens.
This documentary short introduces us to the Caravan Stage Company, the world's only horse-drawn open-air theater. Every summer it tours British Columbia and Alberta, bringing live entertainment to communities where television is often the main diversion. In a montage of short sketches, the film shows the troupe on the road and in performance. Hard work and laughter are basic ingredients of this unconventional lifestyle.
This unique rockumentary features classic performances and Jerry Lee's biggest hits.
In 1975, soon after the end of the Vietnam War, Hoa Thi Le and Hue Nguyen Che fled the country on a small boat. After nine days at sea, they docked in the Philippines, where they were utilized as background extras for “Apocalypse Now.”
Portrays Louis Robichaud, Canadian politician and former Premier of New Brunswick.
Grand Opera marks a stock-taking of Benning's work and his life, presenting a personal and artistic autobiography woven together with a series of events dealing with the historical development of the number pi, Benning's travels, and homages to Michael Snow, Hollis Frampton, George Landow (Owen Land), and Yvonne Rainer.
Documentary about the life and career of a comic genius, Peter Sellers.
A detailed account of one of the bloodiest battles of World War I. Between February and December 1916, the French and German armies relentlessly fought in the devastated camps around the village of Verdun.
In these uncertain times, when Nostradamus and doomsayers are making headlines, this documentary takes a humorous and tongue-in-cheek look at the world of divinatory arts. A fascinating journey into the heart of the unusual, it explores the realms of the paranormal and introduces us to a colorful gallery of characters.
Sasha is a Ukrainian sculptor living in Paris who is haunted by absence and the war. Inspired by the death of her grandmother, she creates a sculpture and travels home to honour her memory. Margaux, a Belgian friend, accompanies her, carrying an old Bolex camera. Throughout the journey, dreams and reality collide as Sasha shares diary pages revealing her innermost feelings.
Two friends, Don and Dave were diving in the cave of Boesmansgat: 283 meters. Right before surfacing up, Dave - who'd just broken a world record - finds a body. They decide to dive back and retrieve it.
Valentine and Jean-Claude start a new life in Kigali with their newborn baby, Justice. Their country, already battered by racial propaganda and brutality, finally seems ready for peace and justice.
Based on the bestselling book, this urgent feature documentary from celebrated director Michelle Latimer will take viewers on a journey into the mind of one of the world’s foremost Indigenous intellectuals, and one of our greatest storytellers: Thomas King.
According to the official history of Afghanistan, ruthless destruction has always prevailed over art and creation; but there is another tale to be told, the forgotten account of a diverse and progressive country, seen through the lens of innovative filmmakers, a story that survives thanks to a few brave Afghans, a small but very passionate group that secretly fought to save a huge film archive that was constantly menaced by war and religious fanaticism.
Documentary of an underwater archaeological expedition led by French explorer Franck Goddio that explores the sunken ancient city of Alexandria, Egypt, where Cleopatra made her home over 2,000 years ago. The underwater exploration team uses advanced scientific methods to locate the remains of Cleopatra's sunken palace as well as the entire submerged Royal Quarters in the harbor of modern Alexandria. Also uses re-enactments, computer graphics and animation to present a picture of Cleopatra's life in ancient Alexandria.
Rematriation explores scientific, cultural, economic and sociopolitical perspectives, as citizens fight to protect the last big trees in British Columbia from being felled. The lessons we take away permeate the fabric of Canadian identity.
Created over 75 years and three generations, Les Quatre Vents stands as an enchanted place of beauty and surprise, a horticultural masterpiece of the 21st century. See how Frank Cabot gave birth to one of the greatest gardens in the world.
A portrait of jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins during a period of self-exile, filmed practicing and reflecting on music, politics, and artistic independence across New York City.
The King family is from Badger's Quay near Greenspond, Newfoundland with over 40 family relatives still living there. The entire community has a population of only 400. Actor/musician Greg King takes us on tour of his family homes, and to meet his father and sister, who work at the hospital where they were all born. They tell of the importance of family and the irony of feeling worldly while connected to a small community in central Newfoundland.
Through an intimate and artistic lens, yet investigative and political, Milk brings a universal focus on the politics, commercialization and controversies surrounding birth and infant feeding over the canvas of stunningly beautiful visuals and poignant voices from around the globe.
Filmed in the town of Normétal in northern Québec, this short documentary provides a first-hand introduction to life in a frontier mining community where all roads lead to the pithead. Dweller of two worlds, the copper miner's life is one of contrasts. A mile underground are the rock face, the clattering drills, the dust of explosions; above ground, all the familiar activities of a small town. - NFB
In Canada, more than 500 cases of Aboriginal women have gone missing or been murdered since the 1960s. Half the cases have never been solved. Now find out what First Nation leaders are doing to try and swing the pendulum in the other direction.
An immersive dive into the world of Heenok and his collective Gangster & Gentleman, while touching on broader questions about the survival of hip-hop and the state of humanity. Did Roi Heenok really earn his first million at 18? Is he a real fake gangster or a fake real MC? And ultimately, is Roi Heenok truly a king?
An ideological and physical barrier fell on 9 November 1989 in Berlin. For 28 years, this 155 km wall divided Germany in two, separating friends and family. The recent discovery of some documents reveals the stories of those who managed to escape to join their loved ones, or simply to regain their freedom. Demonstrating imagination and courage, some dug tunnels to get under the Berlin Wall, others inflated balloons to fly over it, while others disguised themselves with fake uniforms. By combining archives, reconstitution sequences and intrigue scenes, this documentary plunges us into a Berlin that has now disappeared, through the prism of the art of escape under the GDR.
Dream Tower chronicles Toronto's most notorious social experiment of the sixties. Inspired by cultural critic Paul Goodman, philosophies of alternative education, and the decade's political upheaval, a group of young idealists established Rochdale as a free university and student residence in 1968. Rochdale's founders envisioned an enlightened community of self-educators, and the first 100 or so students, earnestly studying subjects such as Heidegger and anarchism in eight-hour seminars, made the dream seem possible. But they didn't anticipate that some people wouldn't know what to do with freedom, that hippies kicked out of Yorkville would overrun the building, or that drug-dealing motorcycle gangs would camp out in the lobby.
Arthur and Ernest are two bachelor fishermen who occupy the proverbial end-of-the-road on Morris Island, an Acadian community in southern Nova Scotia. Sober or not, they carry on with and for the filmmaker who is attempting to find out about their lives. The resulting encounters owe a smuch to Harold Pinter or Samuel beckett is they do to the documentary genre of film-making.
This film is about the experience of dying. Five terminal patients in a Palliative Care Unit share the last days of their lives and deaths with a film crew.
Untethered takes an immensely personal look straight into the heart of the slacklining and highlining community in Vancouver BC. It is an epic ride from beginning to the end, offering an inspiring look into a group that pursues the unthinkable.
At the Waseskun Healing Center, men with troubled and violent pasts follow a treatment plan based on Indigenous philosophy. In the great tradition of cinéma vérité, director Steve Patry spends an extended period of time at the centre, producing a gripping film that captures daily life in this unique alternative detention facility.
Canada's northwest has been opened up by the Alaska Highway. This film looks at the construction of the highway and at the resources and development in the surrounding areas.
A documentary film about the Candomblé spiritual culture in Bahia, Brazil. Grounded in strong community and Earth-based wisdom, this vibrant tradition evolved from the ways of enslaved Africans. The film explores Candomblé's history, social challenges and triumphs through the voices of extraordinary women leaders.
May 2017. As the new President of the United States takes his ease in the White House, the city of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, is the theatre of the mythic Crawfish Festival. It's just another day, in America.
Students seeking greater control over the hiring of faculty occupy the offices of the Political Science Department at McGill University. The film crew lives with the students and follows their action through confusion, argument, dissent, and negotiations with faculty. The result is an intimate view of a student political action.
Recording of a tense discussion between three people around the question of "revolution". Steve Ben Israel (member of the Living Theatre), James Cellan (BBC director) and David Autie (sculptor) confront each other in a debate that provoked a strong political and radical awareness among the students of the Royal College of Art in London. The screening of the document led to the return to school of five students who had been unjustly expelled by the school administration.
Take a breathtaking train a ride through Nothern Quebec and Labrador on Canada’s first First Nations-owned railway. Come for the celebration of the power of independence, the crucial importance of aboriginal owned businesses and stay for the beauty of the northern landscape.
With an empathetic and intimate lens, veteran filmmaker Denys Desjardins captures his elderly mother's experience of neglect in Quebec's healthcare system and his sister's fight to secure her an acceptable long-term care solution.
71 years in the making, this feature documentary experience reveals the extraordinary life journey of Hollywood's most unlikely hero, Danny Trejo.
The story of grassroots innovators striving to create a more sustainable future. From a self-taught engineer who built a solar-powered car to a young woman with disabilities fighting for inclusivity, they are tackling sustainability issues on the ground and empowering their communities. Is the world ready to look elsewhere for solutions to our challenges?
In July 1990, a dispute over a proposed golf course to be built on Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) lands in Oka, Quebec, sets the stage for a historic confrontation that would grab international headlines and sear itself into the Canadian consciousness.
Shot during the first ever Innu circus festival in Labrador, Canada, Tricksters gives the viewing audience a positive glimpse into these troubled native communities. The artistry of international performers is combined with the native tradition of drumming and dancing offering a wider appreciation for the Innu way of life. Tricksters features Beni Malone's Wonderbolt Circus, as well as two time world champion hoop dancer Lisa Odjig who interacts with Innu Elders and children in workshops. Interviews with Innu elders inspire a greater appreciation for the Innu way of life. Tricksters offers an emergence of art and native culture, rarely seen on the screen.
As Athens faces a stray cat crisis, two veterinarians and a network of volunteers give their time and resources to help the city’s overwhelming cat population