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Women have always sought ways to terminate unwanted pregnancies, despite powerful patriarchal structures and systems working against them. This film provides a historical overview of how church, state and the medical establishment have determined policies concerning abortion. From this cross-cultural survey--filmed in Ireland, Japan, Thailand, Peru, Colombia, and Canada--emerges one reality: only a small percentage of the world's women has access to safe, legal operations.

A lyrical film ode to the odehimin or heart berry. A two-spirit Anishnaabe person finds themself in a dark place with their body. They undertake a healing journey, stating aloud their intentions and reconnecting with the land and the water for strength. As they get more in touch with their body and the beings around them, we begin to see them heal.

Moving Day tells the story of the people who were left outside – quite literally – during a global pandemic. With the rise of Covid-19, shelters closed, jobs were lost, and homelessness in "Victoria B.C." (unceded L'kwungen Territories), swelled. A community formed in the city’s biggest park and as they learn of an ambitious plan to house everyone by March 31, 2021, uncertainty in the park, and in their lives mounts.

On one day during Holi celebrations every year, veiled women in the northern Indian towns of Nandgaon and Barsana strike men with large staffs, re-enacting an ancient Hindu legend. A psychedelic 16mm journey into light, color, and violence. A hallucinatory journey through the eruption of color, violence, sound and joy, that heralds the beginning of spring in Uttar Pradesh.

Through the memories of three Scarborough residents, unhome explores the cultural identity of home and the impact of gentrification

Tahani Rached’s powerful documentary enters the doors of an AIDS clinic in Montreal. We meet a group of dedicated doctors struggling to provide health care to their patients. This 1994 film explores legal and ethical problems surrounding HIV/AIDS and the struggle against fear, rumours and prejudice. It is still relevant today.

Made as part of the Winnipeg Film Group's "Super 8 Special" film incubator. This picture was captured on super 8 film, drip dyed with a mixture of india ink and water collected from Lake Winnipeg, then digitized and captured on VHS.

The film follows Corey as he navigates daily life, career, and relationships while challenging common assumptions about facial differences. Through candid conversations and everyday moments, Corey shares his perspective on identity, connection, and the complexities of human interaction and his passion for film.

This short documentary highlights one of the biannual dinners at Club Prosper Montagné, a leading international gastronomic society. While elaborate dishes are served with great pomp, we meet Québec’s Chef of the year Marcel Kretz, who is coordinating the feast from the kitchen of Hotel La Sapinière, in the Laurentians.

An elderly widow (Joan Benac) starts to wonder what happened to a would-be lover from her past who appeared with her in a live televised drama in the 1950s. After discovering the show in CBC’s archive, her granddaughter Audrey (Deragh Campbell) attempts to try and track the man down.

The history of Edward Cornwallis, the founder of Halifax, and the modern day controversy surrounding his statue.

Through rare film footage and interviews with some of the pioneers who made film history, this documentary traces the history of filmmaking in Canada from 1939-1953. It covers the establishment of the National Film Board in 1939; the war years; Canada's first Oscar; and John Grierson's sudden demise as Canada's driving force in the industry. We witness the struggles of the private film producers, the development of the film industry in Québec, and the emergence of the documentary. Above all, the film asks whether the alternating fortunes of the Canadian film industry, in the face of an overwhelming American presence, reflect the attitudes of the Canadian people towards themselves and their culture.

A video diary of the things a Vancouver household had to do dealing with bed bugs.

In Nigeria, a young Canadian doctor serves in a local mission hospital and learns much from the experience. Stationed abroad under the Canadian University Service Overseas Plan, Dr. Alex McMahon and his schoolteacher wife find every day a fresh challenge. An interesting study of intercultural help.

Young long-distance runner Bruce Kidd practices and competes.

Separated for several years by time and culture, two sisters are hoping to reunite. For one of them, a trip to Japan turns into a journey of self-discovery thanks, in part, to a piano. This short experimental film has been developed into the feature-length essay documentary "My Dearest Sister". (HD & S8mm)

The story begins in a Russian sauna where very buff naked cadets fan birch branches on each other to stimulate their circulation. The story is of a seduction of a Russian soldier that may or may not go well.

This documentary feature is an in-depth exploration of the world of prostitution. Its characters include pimps, transsexuals, girls/women, boys, and johns. Shot in Montreal in the course of a year, the individual stories of these people cut across each other, and many come together in the film’s conclusion. Their lives―sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious, but often disarming and touching, are presented in a direct, occasionally brutal way. Although there are no explicit scenes in the film, it was given an adult rating. This inside view of a singular world makes us reflect on life, love, relationships, and sexuality.

Three groups of young women of different ages (16 years old, 19 years old and 21 years old) question their relationship with feminity and social construction of gender through discussion.

Combining colour, animation and sound to clarify principles of radio-wave transmission, this film illustrates how antennas propagate radio waves and how they may be adapted to increase the directivity of transmissions. The theoretical concepts are emphasized.

A popular Jamaican women's troupe uses improvisation and theater as consciousness-raising tools for both rural and urban audiences. Their performances speak directly to the daily experiences of women--the least empowered workers, who labor long hours for low wages with no benefits or rights to organize for better conditions. Using role-play and interviews with female cane workers, the collective develops dramatizations which analyze social issues and pinpoint their concerns.

Nine-year-old prodigy Xin Ben takes lessons from Daniel Mergler, a piano teacher at the end of his career. In this remarkable story about a student and her mentor, Xin Ben and Mergler meet 26 times over the course of one year. During this time, Xin Ben illuminates Mergler's final months as an instructor with her youthful talent, and he, in return, lovingly guides her towards a life in music.

Finding the courage to leave the fold is only the beginning for most of these young people. Those who have decided to take this step become pariahs, often completely cut off from the emotional and financial support of their families. To make matters worse, judged by our secular standards, they have no marketable skills. Many only speak Yiddish— or some Hebrew that is stilted and archaic because it is restricted to use only for prayer.

Meet the fascinating felines and the people who pamper then in this whimsical look at the ins and outs of Canada's competitive cat show circuit, where the claws come out when a Turkish Angora and an adorable fluffy red Persian face off to take home the national award for Best in Show.

Take a trip into the core of the Big Apple to see just how it is being eaten away from the inside out in a witty, two-time Emmy Award-winning documentary from filmmaker Mark Lewis exploring the eternal rivalry between man and rat. From the inner walls of New York's tallest skyscrapers to the sewers and subways far beneath the surface, there is virtually no place in the city that these resilient vermin haven't claimed for themselves.

Janette Bertrand will soon celebrate her 100th birthday. This intimate documentary, dotted with archives, pays tribute to this great lady, who devoted her life to providing popular education and breaking taboos. Through her daily life as a nearly century-old woman, Janette takes stock of her career.

How wedge politics on key divisive issues is giving rise to a new kind of populist leaders: disruptors with a new playbook who are loved by some and challenged by others, dividing the electorate. Are they also expressing the will of the people?

Saudade is one of the most beautiful words on the globe. From the Portuguese language, it means a deep longing for something (or someone) that you know you can never have, or see, again.

Every year, l'Association des Transsexuels-les du Québec organizes, in collaboration with Café Cléopatre, an evening of transsexual pride. Entitled "Journée Internationale de la Transsexualité," the event is an opportunity for several generations of transsexual women to get together, recognize the involvement of many in their community and pay tribute to individuals who figure importantly in their history.

The remarkable construction of the venerable snowshoe is demonstrated from start to finish. Atikamekw Elders Mariane and Athanas Jacob take us into the forest to select the tree that will become a fresh new pair of snowshoes.

In 1984, Richard Fung released his seminal first documentary Orientations: Lesbian and Gay Asians. Featuring 14 women and men in Toronto of South, East and Southeast Asian backgrounds, Orientations was the first documentary to explore the experiences and perspectives of queer Asians in North America. Capturing pivotal moments in Toronto’s history, it presents an intimate portrait of the texture of gay live and politics at that time. Re:Orientations revisits seven of the original participants as they see anew the footage of their younger selves, and reflect on their lives and all that has changed over the intervening three decades. Their interviews are deepened and contextualized by conversations with six younger queer and trans activists, scholars and artists.

Boris Malagurski explains how the military-industrial complex, big business and political interest groups endanger peoples' health and existence, focusing on the examples of Serbia, Cuba, Chile, Italy and Bolivia.

Radical politics were raging in Halifax in the late 1960s, but in sleepy Lake Loon, it took the arrival of a mysterious man from the USA to awaken Black Consciousness in the mind of ten-year-old Deanna Sparks.

When James Pollard is given a terminal cancer diagnosis, he sets about orchestrating his own death. Like any good theatre producer, he researches options into different modes of burial, and the best means and methodologies of preserving his body after death. This may sound slightly morbid, but the practicality, and often surprising amounts of humour, with which James contends with his situation allows for an openness and freedom in dealing with death.

Thirty years after the Oka Crisis, a fragile peace remains in place between the Mohawks of Kanesatake and the other residents of the region. Rappers Biz and Samian do a double take on the history of this longstanding territorial conflict.

This feature documentary offers a reflection on the changing reality of work. The 20th century has seen the creation of colossal wealth and exploding economies. Yet, the days of industry providing mass employment are over. In the global economy, human resources are being replaced more and more by technology. Will this revolution mean the end of work as we know it? Contributing to the discussion are V. Forrester, author of The Economic Horror; US economist J. Rifkin; J. Attali, former president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and other experts.

Heroes brings to life the harrowing exploits of a Canadian platoon who fought to hold their vulnerable outpost in the face of repeated attacks during the Korean War.

A homeopath experiments with bee stings as a way to cure cancer.

In a remote village in Thailand, Sukwan, an 8-year-old autodidact, is building with her parents’ help a life-sized version of ‘Snowyaland’: an imaginary world she has conceived in her own mind. Against all odds, the modest family has been pursuing this colossal endeavour over the years while attempting to preserve Sukwan’s luxuriant inner world as she is soon approaching adolescence and its many temptations.

A portrait of Hamilton, the Pittsburgh or Birmingham of Canada. This is a rich and colourful subject that encourages imaginative treatment on the screen. The heart of the city is the immense complex of furnaces and rolling mills, but nearby are the lake, the mountain, and the rich fruit farms. How the work of the steel mills touches the city and its surroundings is shown in many views during both day and night.

A visual poem on the theme of depression. Poetry superimposed with hand processed 16mm film collected on the Film for Artists and Film Farm Residency. Footage includes found footage, and non-camera hand techniques including but not limited to tinting, toning, varnish, bleach and painting.

The film itself is an interesting look behind the scenes of GSP’s rise to the top and David Loiseau’s struggle to remain amongst the world’s best fighters. Both are inspiring stories and that’s what it’s all about. I liked the film a lot. Both fighters pour their hearts out and we get a fantastic look at their strengths but also their vulnerabilities and fears.

This experimental autobiographical film, in which features the filmmaker's family, questions the emotion of the faded moment through audiovisual memory. The artist reappropriates on Super8 film the last moments of Hélène Lamoureux, his recently deceased grandmother. The memory image crystallizes a chaos frozen around the inanimate body.

Through concerts and interviews, folk-progressive group Harmonium takes Quebec culture to California. This documentary full of colour and sound, filmed in California in 1978, recounts the ups and downs of the journey of the Quebec musical group Harmonium, who came to feel the pulse of Americans and see if culture, their culture, can succeed in crossing borders.

In the 1970s, young people from Baie-Comeau – Hauterive sought to take their place in an industrial society dedicated to work and consumption. Often left to their own devices while waiting to enter the job market, many of them seek their paths in artistic creation. The feast of St. John 74 gives them an opportunity to shout their existence loud and clear and to shake up the existing order. We follow them here in their adventure and their reality.

A gentle blend of music, people and nature; a summer camp where melodies ripple off the waves and rhythms bounce out of the shadows. Every summer since 1953, CAMMAC (Canadian Amateur Musicians/Musiciens Amateurs du Canada) has held a bilingual music camp in Québec's Laurentian Mountains. Here, people of all ages and levels of musical ability come together to learn and make music with a professional staff of Canadian and international musicians.

The filmmaker, starting a documentary research, interviews clients from the Champs bar to understand the importance of lesbo-queer bars for the community.

Some people call it an engineering triumph. The Cree and Inuit refer to it as cultural genocide. This is the controversy surrounding the James Bay hydroelectric project in Northern Quebec.

The Priory is a public extended-care hospital in Victoria, British Columbia, for people suffering from chronic geriatric illnesses. Treatment is innovative. It is based on the theory that even the ordinary activities of a patient's life contain elements of therapy. The film shows us how patients are encouraged to do as much as they can for themselves despite their confinement to wheelchairs.

A history of mankind's interactions with Niagara Falls, from initial awe, to harnessing of the Falls' power, which leads to the destruction of nearby areas like Love Canal.

Amazon, Ecuador — From Sarayaku to Yasuni and Lago Agrio - a region devastated by the Chevron Texaco corporation -, several Indigenous communities are still trying to make their voices heard. Denouncing the social, cultural, environmental and human damage caused by oil extraction, these communities propose different alternatives. How does one rethink development? What solutions are to be found through education? Dialogue with those who resist and bringing forth other frameworks of society.

A film demonstrating steps to take in the event of a nuclear attack. Animated drawings show the effects of atomic explosions in the air and at ground level. How wide an area is affected by light and heat flash, radiation and radioactive fall-out are clearly illustrated. How to build or improvise a fall-out shelter, what to stock in it, when to take shelter and how long to stay there are similarly explained. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada for Emergency Planning Canada.

Jeanne is a black artist in her sixties who hasn't had the career she'd hoped for. She has fallen into a deep depression. Bitter, she is unable to communicate with her thirty-year-old daughter, whose mere presence reminds her of her failures. Will she be able to rise above her bitterness to start living again and break out of her solitude? Perhaps one day.

Two young brothers from the Lil'wat Nation set out to ski the sacred mountain they were raised beneath, pushing both themselves and their culture to evolve.

Violet Gave Willingly immerses us in the colourful and tactile studio and inner life of textile artist Deborah Dumka. An unflinchingly intimate mother–daughter conversation, the film lays bare the continuum and legacy of gender-based discrimination, sexism and sexual violence.

An extraordinary foray into the many worlds of a renowned artist, opera and theatre director, activist, and professor. Art and Life: Finding the Thread offers a unique perspective on the human experience. Shot over the course of six years, Marina Goldovskaya's inquisitive lens moves effortlessly between the intimate and public worlds occupied by Peter Sellars, carrying on a thought-provoking dialogue which stays with the viewer long after the last images have faded from view.