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Return to Mayalan is an hour long film about the return of Guatemala's refugees to their homeland after years of exile in Mexico. The film's focus is on one group of refugees, former members of the Cooperative Communities of the Ixcan Grande who are now attempting to resume their lives in the land they fled under terrible circumstances in the early 1980's. The return of the refugees has been an extremely important event in this struggle. The ability of the refugees to re-establish their lives in peace and security is seen as a test case for the entire society and is being closely watched both in Guatemala and throughout the world. The film celebrates their courage, determination and accomplishments.

On January 26, 1950, a US Airforce troop plane left Anchorage for Montana with 44 people on board. The crew of the Douglas C-54 Skymaster #2469 was supposed to check in every half hour along the route. As the aircraft crossed into Yukon, they radioed the tiny outpost of Snag to say that there was ice forming on the wings, but otherwise all was well. After that, the Skymaster disappeared. And to this day no sign of the aircraft or its passengers has ever been found. This fascinating Yukon-shot documentary tells the stories of the victim’s families and an intrepid group of Yukoners striving to give those families closure by searching every summer in hopes that the Skymaster will finally turn up.

SD Holman talks with BTGWTV about the Queer Arts Festival 2013 and the societal need for radical representation of queer art. Performances by Cris Derksen and Kinnie Starr are included.

Profiles Ruth and Harriet, two women in their thirties who live in the Peace River area of northern Alberta. Strongly individualistic, they care for their families and homesteads in a manner as self-reliant as that of pioneers of the past.

This immersive documentary uses underwater drones to investigate the impact of invasive quagga mussels on the Great Lakes ecosystem, illustrating significant ecological changes. The filmmakers spent over 150 days capturing underwater footage, resulting in a comprehensive exploration of freshwater wildlife and environments. Blending scientific inquiry with natural history, the film offers a unique perspective on this pressing ecological issue.

A grandmother faintly narrates her quilts, as seen through the warped glass lens of a broken camera, a laptop webcam, and a clunky Xerox scanner.

A study of the automobile and its pervasive effect on the history of North America. Focusing on the Ford dynasty, from the original Henry car through to Henry II, the film demonstrates how society has adapted to fit the needs of the automobile.

Aline Morales is one of the main broadcasters of Maracatu in Toronto. From a meeting with members of Recife's Maracatu Estrela Brilhante Nação, she and her traveling companions reflect deeply on the different aspects of this genre, beyond music.

Conversations about life, love and loss, naturally ensue between friends, old and new, over shisha and coffee. Generations reminisce about their shisha adventures, from underground shisha dens in Sudan, to the bustling shisha scene in Russia.

This short documentary presents the empowering story of Rodney "Geeyo" Poucette's struggle against prejudice in the Indigenous community as a two-spirited person.

Following up on her 2000 opus Suspicious River, Lynne Stopkewich directs this documentary about the final Lilith Fair. Launched in 1997 by Sarah McLachlan and a host of other female singer/songwriters, the concert series quickly became one of the most popular, and profitable, tours of the late '90s. Stopkewich, along with her crew, tagged along during the 2000 tour, traveling to 42 shows across the continent. Rising early and crashing late -- often in the bus as it drives to the next destination, Stopkewich's crew quickly gets a taste of the rigors of life on the road. Along the way, they interview fans, crew, tech staff, and the stars. Apart from such documentary footage, Lilith also features performances from McLachlan, Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders, Sheryl Crow, the Dixie Chicks, and sundry other.

A day and night in the life of three alcoholic derelicts: "and the meek shall inherit the earth - six feet of it".

A documentary on the band Tegan and Sara's recording of the album The Con

Every morning, Marcel confides in his tape recorder. It is from his reflections on life that this film takes us into the wake of his story.

An immigrant's last attempt to restore childhood innocence on strange lands.

This feature-length documentary chronicles the Sundance ceremony brought to Eastern Canada by William Nevin of the Elsipogtog First Nation of the Mi'kmaq. Nevin learned from Elder Keith Chiefmoon of the Blackfoot Confederacy in Alberta. Under the July sky, participants in the Sundance ceremony go four days without food or water. Then they will pierce the flesh of their chests in an offering to the Creator. This event marks a transmission of culture and a link to the warrior traditions of the past.

A tribute to the late Pat Schulz, an influential Canadian feminist.

In the Paris suburbs, the ashes of the night's riots fall on the lives of young people. Games, rap, intimacy, boredom and tension resonate in the concrete. In the streets, demonstrations see groups clashing and dividing. Meanwhile, in the 6th arrondissement, the students of Fenelon high school meet between classes, kiss each other, share their fears and imagine their future. Sociologist Alain Touraine, who is old enough to be their grandfather, tries to make sense of a fractured society. He was welcomed with open arms in Latin America where his ideas still found an audience. Chronicle of a year in Paris.

A biography about Canada's great unknown environmental and social activist, Rudy Haase. Rudy was born in the USA and lives in Nova Scotia with his wife Mickey. His life's work has involved preserving wilderness in Canada, the USA, Costa Rica, and New Zealand. In Nova Scotia Rudy Haase has been active for more than four decades on many environmental issues from fighting against the clear cutting and pesticide spraying of forests to opposing uranium mining.

A portrait of work, landscape and community in an era of globalization. In the rich fabric of Sarnia, Ontario's landscape— the bright sprawl of petrochemical plants, swollen hospital wards and crowded bars— one finds a microcosm of the 21st century. Tattooed men serving fries, basement musicians, boilermakers and volunteer firemen, heartbroken widows and an optimistic mayor - the lives of a diverse medley of characters intersect to reveal the dramas and contradictions of an industrial town out of sync with a post-industrial world. As the dystopian architecture of the petrochemical plants, squatted like crushed space stations just meters away from homes and schoolyards, give way to the spaces that make this city a community, we begin to see what it is that everyone seems so afraid to lose. Land of Destiny is a tender portrait of a working-class city in paralysis and a devastating investigation into when and for what people fight for.

Pedophiles have long been the most demonized people in society, but new research is showing that understanding them is the first step in lowering instances of child sexual abuse. Meet the men born attracted to the impossible, and the maverick doctors who dare advocate on their behalf.

Six composers work on a composition to be performed in a shopping mall.

An American elementary school program from the 1970s, Man: A Course of Study (MACOS), looked to the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic to help students see their own society in a new way. At its core was The Netsilik Film Series, an acclaimed benchmark of visual anthropology from the National Film Board that captured a year in the life of an Inuit family, reconstructing an ancient culture on the cusp of contact with the outside world. But the graphic images of the Netsilik people created a clash of values that tore rifts in communities across the U.S. and revealed a fragile relationship between politics and education. A fiery national debate ensued between academic and conservative forces. hrough These Eyes looks back at the high stakes of this controversial curriculum. Decades later, as American influence continues to affect cultures worldwide, the story of MACOS resonates strongly.

The urge to relieve a winter valley of permanent shadow and find gold in alluvial gravel is part of a long history of desire and extraction in the far Canadian north. Cancan dancers, curlers, smelters, former city officials, and a curious cliff-side mirrored disc congregate to form a town portrait. Shot on location in Dawson City, Yukon Territory.

A look at the daily life of midwives across Quebec.

This full-length documentary from the Challenge for Change program addresses housing issues affecting Montreal in the mid-1970s. As the city is restoring older apartments through direct action and government subsidies, new, low-rent housing is being integrated into old neighborhoods.

From the bottom of the Baie aux Feuilles, itself in the hollow of Ungava bay, at the summer solstice, a filmmaker is on the lookout. His camera scans the tundra, looking for a herd of muskox stubbornly refusing to be targeted - even by a documentary. A film which illustrates the thoughts of a humanist who is insatiably curious.

This feature-length documentary looks at the Canadian-British-American struggle for the Ohio valley during the War of 1812, and how it contributed to American and Canadian nationalism. It also examines a few of the myths that emerged from the war with a very sardonic eye. Part 3 of the series Struggle for a Border: Canada's Relations with the United States.

When Jacob Hoggard is accused of rape, blind devotion collides with truth. Breaking Idol exposes the price of power, the peril of fandom, and the courage it takes to speak out.

Made in 1957, this film glamorizes a service job in which minor emergencies appear as serious and absorbing challenges. Marriage is assumed to be the natural end of the middle-class woman's working life. No. 97 in the Eye Witness film series.

On August 13th 2007, ten rowing teams from a clutch of islands in Atlantic Canada made history when they faced the open sea in the first race of its kind. But the centuries of boat building tradition behind their wooden punts are in danger. Modern materials and the retreating number of old school builders are threatening the very survival of the humble wooden punt. The teams are not just in a race of endurance - they are in a race against time; to save the wooden boat building tradition from disappearing from the islands forever.

At a critical moment in the history of the written word, as humanity’s archives migrate to the cloud, one filmmaker goes on a journey around the globe to better understand how she can preserve her own Romanian and Armenian heritage, as well as our collective memory. Blending the intellectual with the poetic, she embarks on a personal quest with universal resonance, navigating the continuum between paper and digital—and reminding us that human knowledge is above all an affair of the soul and the spirit.

In this feature-length documentary, 8 Inuit teens with cameras offer a vibrant and contemporary view of life in Canada's North. They also use their newly acquired film skills to confront a broad range of issues, from the widening communication gap between youth and their elders to the loss of their peers to suicide. In Inuktitut with English subtitles.

Voleurz's third movie, with skiing, snowboarding and more goofiness from the Voleurz crew.

A documentary about children's horror classic Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. It includes the author's family, scholars, folklorists, artists, and children's book authors such as R.L. Stine, Q.L. Pearce, and more.

Chronicling the making of Indigenous all-elder music videos through skits, performances, and behind-the-scenes footage.

Walk Good is an unflinching documentary about a mother who lost all three of her children in three separate and unrelated acts of gun violence.

A vibrant documentary spotlighting married comedians Darcy and Jer on their groundbreaking No Refunds comedy tour. Explore their dynamic marriage and rise to fame, amassing 7 million social media followers. Packed with humor and heart, this film captures their journey as they take the stage for their debut stand-up tour as a duo, blending love and laughter like never before.

Dime's first video when they were known as the Dimestore but didn't have a store yet

Chronicles the modern-day David and Goliath tale amidst North America's housing crisis. During the pandemic, Khaleel Seivwright, a young Toronto carpenter, builds life-saving shelters for unhoused people facing the winter outside. His actions attracted international acclaim but also staunch opposition from the city government, portraying a compelling narrative set against the backdrop of societal challenges and governmental resistance.

In the 1940's American-born Willard MacDonald jumped his troop train heading to WWII. Fearing authorities he lived as a hermit deep in the northern wilderness of Nova Scotia, Canada for more than 60 years inspiring folklore for generations.

World War II propaganda film made to show an American audience that the Dutch were and would continue to be valuable allies in the fight against the Axis powers.

Over 2 billion people on earth eat insects for protein. The Gateway Bug explores how changing daily eating habits can feed humanity in an uncertain age, one meal at a time.

A behind-the-scenes documentary designed to preview/promote the then-about-to-debut syndicated adventure/fantasy series about the "game of the immortals" as seen through the eyes of one Scottish participant.

Inma (24) is determined to win a marathon in the Sahara Desert. But her motives run deeper than the physical challenge. A few months ago, she came across adoption papers that revealed the birthplace of her biological mother: Laayoune, Western Sahara. Having never heard of the country, she decides to train for an international marathon that takes place in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Northern Africa. It is the perfect opportunity for her to learn about a history she never faced growing up in Spain.

At Caledonia Junior High - like at so many schools - students and teachers live in an environment of disrespect and potential danger.

English and French words flash individually over a black background.

Maryam Salehizadeh, an Iranian-Canadian goalball athlete with only five percent vision, is offered a surgery that could partially restore her sight. As she contemplates the possibility, memories and dreams resurface, challenging her sense of identity and what it truly means to see.

Danny Berish’s grandparents met at a nudist camp in 1949. In an effort to understand his grandparents’ radical lifestyle, he meets and mingles with members of Van Tan, Canada’s oldest naturist club.

In Search of a Perfect World is a documentary marking the 70th anniversary of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at a moment when the very idea seems in peril.

Feature documentary on the agricultural Abitibi. This film is a real plea for the earth and for a more human kind of life in the face of a society that has become cold and insensitive.

The story of Canadian R&B icon Erroll Starr’s rise to fame and sudden departure from the spotlight in the late 1980’s, amid shifting mentalities about what constitutes “Black” music and the place of Black musicians in the Canadian music industry.

After an unsuccessful attempt at establishing himself in the early 1970s music scene, Jamaican-born reggae legend Stranger Cole opens a record store, the first Caribbean business in Toronto's Kensington Market.

Sacred explores cultural and religious ritual as it relates to life’s cycles: birth, adolescence, marriage, aging and other key passages of life.

Three million years ago, camels roamed through Greenland’s endless forests and our ancestors lived in the trees. It all came to an end with the Ice Ages. What died and what survived, as natural selection shaped the evolutionary tree during this epochal shift from hot to cold? Until now, scientists have known less about the natural world before the Ice Age than they did about the age of dinosaurs, which ended 64 million years ago. A new discovery is set to reveal this lost world, species by species. Led by Danish gene-hunter Eske Willerslev, a team of scientists for the first time in history is sequencing DNA from before the Ice Age. The picture that emerges is of a hot planet, when forests blanketed the Arctic and carbon levels matched those in our atmosphere today. Is this a portrait of our own climate future?

This VICE feature film follows the lives of people in Alberta, Canada, affected by the powerful opioid drug fentanyl. The underlying source of the fentanyl crisis in the country goes back to 2012, when the notorious prescription painkiller OxyContin was pulled from pharmacy shelves in lieu of a "safer" alternative called OxyNeo. In response to the change, counterfeit fentanyl disguised as fake OxyContin pills started popping up, proliferated, and ended up sparking a full-on crisis in the country-with Canada's west becoming a major epicenter.

As the world learns to live again in the midst of the pandemic, for many Arabic-speaking LGBTQ+ people living in Montreal, this is just a period of time like any other. When you’ve fled homophobic violence in your home country and endured a painful migratory journey, or you still face social prejudices stemming from intercultural and intergenerational conflicts, surviving social isolation is nothing new.