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Persistence of Vision

It was to be the greatest animated film of all time. Not just an eye-opener, but a game-changer. Richard Williams demanded nothing less, investing nearly three decades into his movie masterpiece. From as early as 1964 he ploughed most of the profits right back into his pet project, a feature inspired by the Arabian Nights and provisionally known as Mullah Nasruddin. He assembled a team of inspired young artists—and brought in the best Hollywood craftsmen to teach them—and devised what would be the most elaborate, kaleidoscopic, mind-boggling visual sequences ever committed to celluloid. Years passed. Potential financiers came and went. Work continued. But it was only after Roger Rabbit that Williams had a studio budget to corroborate the munificence of his imagination.

Persistence of Vision

8.0 2012
Thin Ice

Giant apes dotting the New York skyline waiting to audition for 'King Kong'... fine open-air dining on the wings of an aircraft - while airborne... A Canadian border town offering 'quickie baptisms' and 'hatless dancing.' The documentary THIN ICE captures the zany and fertile imagination of acclaimed humourist Bruce McCall, and reveals his personal and creative journey from a 1940s boyhood in small-town Canada to present-day success as a New York writer and artist. McCall has been called variously a "god" and a "genius" by admirers like Steve Martin and David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker.

Thin Ice

9.0 2001
Tokyo Girls

A candid journey into the world of 4 young Canadian women who work as well-paid hostesses in exclusive Japanese nightclubs. Lured by adventure and easy money, these modern-day geisha find themselves caught up in the mizu shobai—the complex "floating water world" of Tokyo clubs and bars. Drawn by fast money, some women become consumed by the lavish lifestyle and forget why they came; one hostess calls this "losing the plot." With a pulsating visual style, Tokyo Girls captures the raw energy of urban Japan and its fascination with the new.

Tokyo Girls

4.7 2000
Break-through

On June 6, 1944, supported by an immense naval armada, Allied troops, including the First Canadian Army, led by General Harry Crerar, launch an amphibious invasion of Normandy, France. Facing a fierce resistance by Nazi forces, the Allied armies establish a beachhead on the Normandy coast. Seeking redemption after their earlier rout at the Dieppe raid in 1942, the Canadians are able to gain control of Juno Beach. Before regrouping for an advance into France, Allied troops are replenished by transport of war materiél and reinforcements. The Canadian contingent is tasked with an attack on Caen, France, held by the German 7th Army.

Break-through

10.0 1944
Bicentenario

Exactly 200 years after Simón Bolívar’s Colombian war of independence, a campaign that ran from late May to early August 1819, filmmaker Pablo Alvarez-Mesa follows the iconic Libertador’s route through the country. At each historic battleground, he calls on a medium to summon the general’s spirit, helping Alvarez-Mesa reveal Bolívar’s permanent and more or less visible presence in an array of social rituals and state structures. This historic legacy, after two centuries transfigured into a blend of political mysticism and unchallenged military doctrine, remains an integral part of Colombia’s collective unconscious. It keeps finding new expression in an endless cycle of violence, which this intriguing medium-length film seeks to exorcise. (Charlotte Selb)

Bicentenario

NR 2020
Fighting Sea-Fleas

First half of film portrays life in port, including rum issue, distribution of letters, and taking on ammunition, the remainder tells the story of an action against German S-boats, in a stock-shot compilation including some captured film. Officers briefed; boats leave harbour, put to sea, "action", a Nazi naval flag is reclaimed from wreckage in the sea, and the motor torpedo boat (MTB) returns to port flying it below the British White Ensign. Film ends with a sequence showing the funeral of a Canadian seaman.

Fighting Sea-Fleas

9.0 1944
The First Emperor of China

This historical drama tells the story of Qin Shihuang, who unified China's vast territory and declared himself emperor in 221 B.C. During his reign, he introduced sweeping reforms, built a vast network of roads and connected the Great Wall of China. From the grandiose inner sanctum of Emperor Qin's royal palace, to fierce battles with feudal kings, this film re-creates the glory and the terror of the Qin Dynasty, including footage of Qin's life-sized terra cotta army, constructed 2,200 years ago for his tomb.

The First Emperor of China

5.3 1989
Theodore Ushev: Unseen Connections

While visiting his native country to shoot his first live-action film (PHI 1.618), animation filmmaker Theodore Ushev recounts the highlights of his life in Bulgaria and recalls the various underground artistic movements that have influenced him. Featuring archival footage, film clips and talking-head segments with friends and family, this fascinating documentary takes a personal and political dive into the teeming creative universe developed through experience with people and events by the award-winning director of LIPSETT DIARIES, BLIND VAYSHA and THE PHYSICS OF SORROW.

Theodore Ushev: Unseen Connections

NR 2022
The Captains: Still Kicking

Still Kicking: William Shatner and 'Christopher Plummer' is a one-hour television special that captures the memories and insights of these two icons. The setting is the stage of the renowned Stratford Shakespeare Festival Stage, where both men launched their careers in the 1950s, and were then propelled to international stardom. Both continue to produce incredible work. Plummer earned an Academy Award in 2012 for his performance in Beginners. He recently wrote a best-selling autobiography, and will soon be returning to the stage of the Stratford Festival for the theatre's 60th anniversary season. Shatner won four Emmys for his portrayal of Denny Crane on Boston Legal, and also recently wrote a best-selling book, and currently has an amazing four television series on air.

The Captains: Still Kicking

6.0 2013
Disco's Revenge

Born underground, on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement and the Stonewall Riots, disco’s nascent popularity saw the spectacular takeover of the dancefloor, the airwaves and burgeoning fashion trends that reflected the joy and freedom inherent to the genre. Co-opted and exploited through references like John Travolta’s strut and shiny Swedish tracksuits, disco eventually reaches the mainstream, losing its original flair and purpose rooted in radical politics and social change.

Disco's Revenge

6.6 2024
Sam's Army

Canada was led to war by a bigoted, ignorant, self-obsessed Minister of Militia, who may well have been clinically insane, but the importance of Canada's contribution in that war owes a great deal to him. The man of course, was Colonel - later made Lieutenant General by his own hand - Sam Hughes. Sam's Army is a compelling portrait of a complex man and the formidable military he built. Sam Hughes was not your standard-issue military leader. Canada's World War I Minister of Militia and Defence concentrated power in his own hands, insisted that the Canadian military use the ill-conceived Ross rifle and liberally promoted his cronies. But there was no denying Hughes was a visionary. He assembled the world's largest-ever volunteer army and bucked superiors to keep his ferocious fighting force together in one Canadian Corps.

Sam's Army

9.0 1999
Race for the Arctic

The Arctic is melting. Fast. There is a scramble by Russia, China, the US, Canada and the EU to secure the region’s natural resources and control the Arctic’s sea lanes. The sooner the Arctic melts, the more dangerous the fight for its control will be. Even Greenland is suddenly up for grabs, if the new US president gets his way. To find out how soon we will have an ice free Arctic, the American ice breaker USCGC Healy is on a scientific mission to the Extreme North. So who is leading the race for control of the Arctic? And what will the Healy discover in its historic mission to the Arctic Ocean?

Race for the Arctic

NR 2025
Undercover Jihadi

Undercover Jihadi follows the quest of Mubin Shaikh, a man who went from extremist militant to undercover operative, to expose a major terrorist cell in Canada and send 11 men to prison. Today, he's a well-connected international Counter-Terrorism expert and is on a mission to stop the radicalization of Muslim youth. We follow his journey into counter-terrorism in the UK, Canada, the U.S., Germany and France. Led by a personal duty to Islam, Shaikh takes to the frontlines of the battle against the radicalization of youth at risk.

Undercover Jihadi

NR 2017
The Hecklers

An imaginative history of editorial cartooning in Canada. The documentary provides a witty take on Canada's history through the eyes of political cartoonists like Duncan Macpherson, Robert LaPalme, and Aislin (Terry Mosher). Over 50 artists' notable cartoons and their impact are explored, capturing reactions from their subjects. One cartoonist sums it up: "A picture is worth a thousand words, but a well-crafted cartoon is worth a thousand pictures." An absolute must for cartoon buffs.

The Hecklers

9.0 1975
Youth Unstoppable

A film 12 years in the making, Youth Unstoppable documents the struggles and events of the largely unseen and misunderstood Global Youth Climate Movement. Beginning at age 15, Slater Jewell-Kemker tells the story of a generation fighting to be heard within the frustrating and complex process of UN Climate Change negotiations. From flood ravaged villages in Nepal to the Alberta Tar Sands to the riots in Copenhagen, Youth Unstoppable shows a powerful vision for the future of our planet and the youth who will lead us there.

Youth Unstoppable

NR 2020
Soviet Bus Stops

“There’s a bus stop I want to photograph.” This may sound like a parody of an esoteric festival film, but Canadian Christopher Herwig’s photography project is entirely in earnest, and likely you will be won over by his passion for this unusual subject within the first five minutes. Soviet architecture of the 1960s and 70s was by and large utilitarian, regimented, and mass-produced. Yet the bus stops Herwig discovers on his journeys criss-crossing the vast former Soviet Bloc are something else entirely: whimsical, eccentric, flamboyantly artistic, audacious, colourful. They speak of individualism and locality, concepts anathema to the Communist doctrine. Herwig wants to know how this came to pass and tracks down some of the original unsung designers, but above all he wants to capture these exceptional roadside way stations on film before they disappear.

Soviet Bus Stops

9.0 2024
Gabor

The first documentary feature by Joannie Lafrenière paints a tender and light-hearted portrait of her friend, the talented photographer Gabor Szilasi. Structured around a number of interviews, notably one between the filmmaker and the energetic, eloquent, insightful and inspiring man himself. This intimate and unconventional documentary revisits the career and personal history of a remarkably creative nonagenarian with a fascinating life story. The film is a journey through the past that remains firmly anchored in the present, much like the photographer himself, who passionately continues to capture the poetry of daily life in his adopted homeland as he has done over the past six decades.

Gabor

NR 2021
Driving to the Edge

Between 2007 and 2011, 725 Quebecers aged 16 to 24 were killed in car accidents. Excessive speed and alcohol were involved in half of these deaths. To try to understand what is going on in these young drivers' heads when they get behind the wheel, host and documentary filmmaker Paul Arcand met with some of them. On one hand, he gives a voice to these young people who love driving fast. On the other hand, he provides a forum for two accident victims who were injured both physically and psychologically. Finally, the director meets the mother of little Bianca Leduc, who was killed by a drunk driver while she was in the care of her babysitter, and the parents of Michael Borduas, 23, who is severely disabled from an accident.

Driving to the Edge

6.3 2012