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This short film from 1946 presents an outline of the fur trade's history and the commercial use of fur in Canada. A thirst for fur by the kings and courts of the Old World positioned the fur trade as part of the country's industrial economy. Fur farming and conservation became increasingly important, although the lonely life of the trapper remained the same. This film offers a view of both.

Through the eyes of children and women of different generations, this film reveals the soul of a small village on the Upper North Shore. Mrs. Kennedy has a vital link with the forest: Diane, faced with the difficult path of her life, raises her head; Cathy, at 18, has the biting lucidity of those who have had to fight. The strength and willpower of each of them is echoed by Guylaine, the young soprano who, throughout the film, plays, sings and exudes joie de vivre.

A journey through the little known region of Ontario's Wabakimi Provincial Park.

Under Dorchester Square in Montreal lies the cemetery where 55,000 people were buried in the 19th century. The square is still at the heart of social conflicts in Quebec, 150 years later.

Continuous Journey is an inquiry into the largely ignored history of Canada's exclusion of the South Asians by a little known immigration policy called the Continuous Journey Regulation of 1908. Unlike the Chinese and the Japanese, people from British India were excluded by a regulation that appeared fair, but in reality, was an effective way of keeping people from India out of Canada until 1948. As a direct result, only a half-mile from Canadian shores, the Komagata Maru was surrounded by immigration boats and the passengers were held incommunicado virtual prisoners on the ship. Thus began a dramatic stand-off which would escalate over the course of two months, becoming one of the most infamous incidents in Canadian history.

While the world knows of the KGB spies and agents who crossed over to the West, few know of this tale of secret dissention from within. There is one officer, Viktor Orekhov, who went from repression of dissidents to joining their cause. After months and months of searching, the filmmaker tracked down Orekhov and now brings his story to the world. Illustrated with the unique testimonies of Viktor Orekhov, now 65, archives and accurately re-enacted sequences, the documentary tells the story of a man who braved an impenetrable system and dared to challenge the KGB.

What is it like to be young and grow up on a reserve? Focussing on music lessons, the film reveals the complex relationships that Indigenous youth can have with their “white” teachers. How can two cultures come together? A question the film asks, while inviting us into the private worlds of three Atikamekw teenagers, Myrann, Wapan and Seskin, who are trying to build their future and find a place in this world.

Wiebo Ludwig is the leader of a Christian group who brought his family to live in Alberta, Canada, 25 years ago in order live a life according to scripture. They built a small, self-sufficient community in a place that they did not realize was one of the largest undeveloped natural gas fields in North America. Unlike others who lived in the area, Wiebo and his family refused to sell their land and move, and now Wiebo is the prime suspect in a series of pipeline bombings and other acts of sabotage against the local oil industry.

This film looks at the formation and forecasting of weather systems and at the effect weather has on individuals in three different Canadian communities.

Two well-known Quebec artists (filmmaker Jacques Godbout and playwright René-Daniel Dubois) look at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. Whose version of this historic event should prevail? Is history best served by documentary or fiction? We also meet Baron Georges Savarin de Marestan and Andrew Wolfe-Burroughs, direct descendants of Montcalm and Wolfe, both of whom died in the battle that would give birth to Canada and to the province of Quebec.

NiiSoTeWak means “walking the path together.” Tapwewin and Pawaken are 10-year-old brothers trying to make sense of the world, their family and each other. They’re already grappling with some heady questions about identity. What does it mean to be a twin? What does it mean to be Cree? How do you define yourself when you’re forever linked to someone else? The twins discuss these questions with their two elder brothers — 22-year-old actor Asivak and 20-year-old basketball player Mahiigan — and their parents, Jules and Jake.

Every year, hundreds of women develop relationships with prisoners. They fall under the charms of killers, petty criminals, rapists and crooks. Most only share a few letters, but some make it all the way to the altar. It is hard to understand what these women expect from a relationship with a convict with a long prison sentence. This documentary takes a look at their lives and the reasons that make them pursue a relationship with a criminal.

Over 40 years ago, filmmaker Min Sook Lee’s mother died by suicide. Using her camera, Lee explores long-held silences, unstable memories and unforgettable truths, attempting to understand what happened.

By using film as a means of communication, the people of Fogo Island, Newfoundland, voice some of their daily concerns and thoughts about the future. Some of the problems discussed are the fishermen's unions, the fish plant, able-bodied men on welfare, the problems of education, and the issue of the consolidation of schools.

Nestor, Lei, Pierrette, Mohamed, Hafida, Marius, Marc, Galina, Genady, Mike and Lala: through their presence, Le temps qu’il fait weaves a mosaic of stories in which dreams and disappointments, hopes and worries intertwine with the life that is before them. In counterpoint, there are these new landscapes of financial centers, abandoned industrial spaces and wasteland from which we hear the echo of speeches that call to take the train of the new economy. By their simple attachment to a profession which gives them a living, the men and women of the film put up resistance to these slogans. Little by little, a radical rupture is emerging between economic thought and the movement of life. A break that shapes the present time.

Join Emmy-winning filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici on a globe-spanning search for the lost tribes of Israel. The mystery of the lost tribes of Israel reverberates through three millennia of human experience. Of the twelve tribes mentioned in the Bible, only those of Judah and Benjamin survived the Assyrian capture of Israel. The fate of the other ten tribes has puzzled and provoked scholars ever since.

Google 'The Process Church of the Final Judgement' and you'll discover a long list of conspiracy theories. Only now, former members reveal the truth about the misunderstood group once dubbed 'One of the most dangerous Satanic cults in America.'

This film traces a geography of the soul of ten men whose spirit flickers above the contemporary wreckage of life.

Following the work of Marie-Claire Blais and featuring book excerpts, this film presents a mosaic of her universe, giving a fresh take on the cinematic literary biography.

In 1931, a stranger appeared out of nowhere in the Canadian Arctic. Months later, the North's biggest manhunt was launched to find the elusive murderer and thief. The fugitive's unknown identity died with him, never to be discovered-until now.

A section cut through a transitional editing tool, the dissolve. For Craig Baldwin.

Afros, braids or corn-rows--hairstyles have always carried a social message, and few issues cause as many battles between Black parents and their daughters. To "relax" one's hair into straight tresses or to leave it "natural" inevitably raises questions of conformity and rebellion, pride and identity. Today trend-setting teens proudly reinvent themselves on a daily basis, while career women strive for the right "professional" image, and other women go "natural" as a symbol of comfort in their Blackness. Filmmaker Nadine Valcin meets a range of women as they reveal how their hairstyles relate to their lives and life choices.

SOMBRIO is a an hour long documentary about the eviction of a diverse community of surfers and squatters that existed on the West Coast of Vancouver Island for more than thirty years. It centers on a family with ten children who grew up surfing on the beach and captures them and other residents over a two-year period, revealing their personal stories and convictions as they come to terms with their impending eviction. Sombrio presents a portrait of a vital subculture in BC’s history and challenges our notions of what it means to be a self-determined citizen.

A documentary film that can best be described as a portrait of an author about and featuring André Forcier. It is the story of an extraordinary and undeniable filmmaker in the landscape of Canadian national cinema and a pillar at the heart of its identity. It is an opportunity to relive his work, known for its strong dose of magical realism, through the reenactment of scenes from his entire filmography. It is a walk through his world, which sometimes appears like a memory, a footprint, or a recollection.

Two sailing passionates build an ice canoe, igniting the spark of a rediscovered memory for a rich culture that is still very much alive.

Gerry Rogers, a filmmaker in Newfoundland, documents her personal battle with breast cancer. With her partner Peggy and lots of support from family and friends, she makes her way to recovery.

Seven lives come together amid the stench of beer and tobacco smoke in an apartment block where single rooms are for rent and the bathroom is in the hall. Only friendship, mutual aid and a healthy sense of humor allow these men, scarred by self-destruction and addiction, to face the harsh reality of their lives.

Camel racing is a popular sport in the Middle East. In past years, thousands of young boys have been trafficked from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Mauritania and other countries to work as jockeys in the UAE under excruciating conditions. Over the last 10 years, some governments have tried to put an end to the use of child jockeys. Desert Riders will examine the situation before and since these government policies were enacted, as well as the difficult journey to retrieve and recuperate these children

Painter, poet and playwright, teacher and freethinker, lover and traveler, Austrian artist Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980) was a rare individual who remained lucid and passionate throughout his long life.

You find fungi in Antarctica and in nuclear reactors. They live inside your lungs and your skin is covered with them. Fungi are the most under appreciated and unexplained organisms, yet they could cure you from smallpox and turn cardboard boxes into forests. They could even transform Mars into Eden. There are vastly more fungi species than plants and each and every one of them play a crucial role in life’s support systems. Join us on a journey into the mysterious world of Fungi to witness their beauty, unravel their mysteries and discover how this secret kingdom is essential to life on Earth, and may in fact hold the key to our future.

In the early 1930s, Orson Welles ascends to unprecedented stardom while President Franklin Delano Roosevelt navigates a nation in crisis. As WWII begins, an American boy visits abroad, and an American soldier enlists in the army.

How can you continue to create when you can barely feed yourself? Alex Anna presents their film "Scars" at a sunlit festival, but behind their apparent success hides a ceaseless fight with their own mind. Expressing the brutality of loneliness through a poetic act of cinematography, Create; survive confronts our virtual and public identities against the intimate reality of depression.

Stories of hope and homecoming intersect as Indigenous multimedia changemakers learn and document the teachings of their Elders. Ecko Aleck of the Nlaka'pamux Nation (Lytton, BC,) Alfonso Salinas of the shíshálh Nation (Sunshine Coast, BC,) and Charlene SanJenko of Splatsin of the Secwépemc Nation (Shuswap, BC,) are learning and documenting the traditional cultural teachings and legacies of their Elders, including the impacts of genocide resulting from Canada's Indian Residential School (IRS) system. Calling the audience's attention to the filmmaking process of narrative collaboration between an Indigenous and settler team, this character-driven documentary connects the transformative stories of three Indigenous multimedia changemakers and their four Elders. Infused by Indigenous ceremony, s-yéwyáw: Awaken walks alongside the process of intergenerational healing.

Boris was a Ukrainian-Canadian mountaineer whose love for mountains was deeply spiritual. Now, his family must face their first expedition without him as they take his ashes to Patagonia – a place he considered Heaven on Earth. A contrast of laughter and tears, BORIS is a story about finding meaning after loss, and the power of nature to heal and unite us.

This animated short challenges enduring myths, spawned by fairy tales and romances, about women in medieval society. It explores the differences and similarities between that distant period and our own, and shows what medieval women’s lives were really like.

In March 2002, a state TV signal in China gets hacked by members of the banned spiritual group Falun Gong. Their goal is to counter the government narrative about their practice. In the aftermath, police raids sweep Changchun City, and comic book illustrator Daxiong (Justice League, Star Wars), a Falun Gong practitioner, is forced to flee. He arrives in North America, blaming the hijacking for worsening an already violent repression. But his views are challenged when he meets the lone surviving participant to have escaped China, now living in Seoul, South Korea.

We live with stories. And it's hard for us to give up on these stories, which provide us our identity, a way of understanding ourselves. Reflections from three successive generations are dusted off and presented as remaining fragments. An attempt to archive thoughts on familial history, narrative traditions, human perception and "the story" from known and unknown sources. "There is history behind it and the history becomes the story and the story becomes the pattern and the pattern becomes rigidity."

In Jordan, in the heart of the Middle East, Iraqi, Palestinian and Lebanese refugees are working on the filming of "Incendies", an adaptation of Wajdi Mouawad's play. Whether extras or onlookers, these exiles once experienced scenes very similar to the ones depicted in Denis Villeneuve's movie. "Remembering the Ashes: Incendies Through Their Eyes" explores their views on the vicious war and cycle of violence being recreated before their eyes, and by their own efforts.

Filmmaker Marc Fafard examines the historical and cultural significance of the seafaring Vikings.

Meat the Future ushers the viewer into a world vexed by the impacts of modern day industrial animal agriculture and zeros in on a solution-focused story. Revealing challenges and breakthroughs and posing a myriad of questions about the future, this 90-minute character-driven documentary explores the advent of real meat without the need to raise and slaughter animals. Spanning three years, Meat the Future chronicles the potentially game-changing birth of a new food industry referred to as “cell-based” “clean” and “cultured” meat – a term hotly debated as the industry approaches commercialization

Raël's story in Quebec, from a sympathetic guide to the scandals of a guru. In the mid-1970s, Quebec experienced major religious, cultural, societal, and political upheavals: the ideal breeding ground for a new religion.

In Sarajevo, three teenage boys train with their coach on a luge track left over from the 1984 Winter Games, now bullet-riddled, covered in graffiti, and swarmed by tourists. Three decades after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mirza, Zlatan, and Hamza are the next generation of athletes in a country facing an uncertain future. The tensions of the past still loom large in these young Muslims’ lives, and their Olympic dreams are stunted by a lack of state support despite the efforts of their dedicated coach. Director Ryan Sidhoo takes a longitudinal approach in his directorial debut, intimately capturing the boys’ journey as they reckon with growing up under the shadow of the past. A deeply affecting coming-of-age underdog story, The Track is an ode to the power of hope, friendship, and chasing your dreams against all odds.

A mysterious forest in early fall echoes with birdsong and the sound of a river. Fallen leaves speckle gold on the blue stones. Two weary travellers make their way on foot – the painter Meng Huang and writer Ma Jian. When, as if after a long journey, they finally reach a cabin, they eat and drink, but the mood is not one of contentment. Their gaze is dark, haunted by memories of the China they have fled: persecution, resistance and the treatment meted out to those who fight for human rights. With the forest arousing painful thoughts and existential considerations, they talk about art. For the two artists, whose world view has been upended by the Tiananmen Square massacre, creation offers an answer to oppression and lies. But what kind of life remains for the exiles?

Guest speakers from "Women In Motion" Conference, Vancouver, B.C. 1975.

Billy is a film buff who films himself non-stop. During a film shoot, he meets Lawrence Côté-Collins and the two become friends. One night, he assaults her. Years later, in prison for the deaths of two people, Billy is diagnosed with schizophrenia. With the help of the filmmaker, his only remaining relationship apart from his family, his personal archives become an invaluable resource for understanding his illness. A formal deconstruction of schizophrenia through a remarkably open-minded gaze.

In a continuation of her first film We Are Not Speaking the Same Language, Danika explains what it feels like to be displaced Indigenous urban.

With a new baby and wife to support, out-of-work filmmaker Matt Gallagher tries his hand - and some would say, luck at playing poker for a living.

Some of today's most original recording artists perform the work of famed composer Harold Arlen.

Untamed beauty and the lure of the North have drawn artist Cory Trépanier to paint the Canadian Arctic for over a decade. Preparing for a touring exhibition to premiere in Washington DC, he now heads back on an expedition to complete his vision. But much has changed since he first went North. Shrinking sea ice is opening the door to a world hungry for its resources. Remoteness can no longer protect this land or its people from the coming impacts. For 9 weeks and 25,000 kilometres, Cory immerses himself into the Arctic. Explores with Inuit elders. Paddles the most northerly canoe route in North America. Walks in the footsteps of early explorers John Rae and John Franklin. Voyages through the Northwest Passage. And deeply connects with a changing land, to bring it to the eyes of those who may never see it. With the future of the North at a crossroads, can a simple stick and some bristle paint the Arctic into the hearts and minds of others, so far away?

This film introduces the Fogo Island/Newfoundland Project series which is an experiment in how film can be a catalyst for social change by serving as a direct means of communication. It gives some basic facts about Fogo Island, Newfoundland, and explains why it was chosen for the film project.

Rescue plunges audiences into the hard, but inspiring work of saving lives in the face of a natural disaster. Behind the scenes, the film follows a Canadian naval commander, two pilots, and a volunteer rescue technician as they train for action. When an earthquake strikes Haiti, creating one of the biggest humanitarian disasters of the century, the audience is swept along, joining with the massive effort that brings military and civilian responders and hardware from around the world. Rescue is a journey of real-world disaster and emergency response captured (in 3D) with unprecedented scale and impact for the giant screen.

On my first time crossing the Atlantic, a fleeting desire for an impossibility occurs. Surprise feelings over international waters. Shot at CDG Airport baggage claim on a new Flip camera in 2011.

My Jules Verne, by director Patricio Guzman, presents modern-day explorers who retrace the paths of some of Jules Verne's intrepid characters. Accompany Hubert Reeves, Laurence de La Ferrière, Hubert Falco and others to the Antarctic, to the centre of the earth, under the seas and into outer space.

Canada’s first Jewish Supreme Court Judge reflects on a career that made her a human rights hero. As a passionate advocate for the disabled community and visible minorities, she commands respect across the political spectrum.

In the Shadow of Hollywood examines this assault on our senses through interviews with directors, producers, writers and other experts in the film industry.

An immersive, behind-the-scenes look at one of the world’s leading ballet companies as it mounts a new production of Swan Lake. Ballet icon Karen Kain, on the eve of her retirement, directs the National Ballet of Canada. The film weaves together intimate scenes of the creative process and the dancers’ personal lives. Executive Produced by Neve Campbell.