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Doubting details of her mother’s deathbed story, a skeptical daughter drags her brother on a genealogical goose chase through the Canadian prairies to the remote Icelandic highland. Determined to prove her mother spun tall tales, Erika delves into a basement full of file boxes only to find that family history triggers her own obsessive curiosity. Holed up with stacks of diaries, letters and pictures, Erika becomes spellbound by her increasing sense of belonging to an unfolding story.

The capital of Lebanon burns through photo-chemical manipulation, specifically variations on Mordançage and Chromaflex film processing techniques. Still, the images from one of the oldest cities in the world remain recognizable... The footage is almost entirely edited in camera. The sound design includes field recordings, modular synthesizers, and Buzuk samples by Bob Lachapelle.

This documentary reveals something of the Chinese temperament through a visit to a seemingly ordinary railway station. Then we start to wonder. What does the “moving red flag” mean? Who are these Orientals, so patient in waiting, so concerned with order and the public good? Astonishment is followed by sympathy for the spontaneity and humor of these Chinese who, like us, share the same hopes and concerns.

Reveals the history and worldwide scope of plastics pollution, investigates its toxicity and explores solutions. From styrofoam cups to artificial organs, plastics are perhaps the most ubiquitous and versatile material ever invented. No invention in the past 100 years has had more influence and presence than synthetics. But such progress has had a cost.

A study of the teacher's vital role in a child's development. Learning through natural curiousity in the pre-school years. Different types of teachers, the destructive effect of a short-tempered instructor on this natural curiosity; the wise teacher helping a troubled child to regain self-confidence.

A musical documentary that travels across Canada and looks at four extraordinary Black Canadian families.

Ray used to be a sailor, but now he lives on the streets of Toronto. He dreams of getting back on the water and - in the ultimate achievement of the oblivion he craves - sailing away from it all.

This documentary by Michael Rubbo (Waiting for Fidel) offers candid glimpses of Indonesia and its people. Filming in and around the capital of Jakarta, the cameras follow where chance leads, capturing the flavour of life in this fertile crescent of tropical islands. Throughout the film, the focus is on a society caught between the past and the conflicting options for the future - to change or not to change from long-established patterns of life to ones more influenced by western technology.

Huahua, an eccentric and exuberant woman from Xiongan New Area, livestreams herself dancing, singing, and chatting with fans for a living. Cell phone screens, beauty filters, and digital soundscapes reveal a world that Huahua creates with her own image.

On the one hand, there is Murdochville, founded in Gaspésie in 1950 following the discovery of a large copper deposit. In 1970, it had over 5,000 inhabitants. Today, since the mine closed, fewer than 1,000 people live there. On the other hand, there is the ISO, which “brings together experts to share knowledge and develop [...] market- relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solu- tions to global challenges.” * On the one hand, the needs of people facing unemployment and a loss of identity; on the other, an institution which advocates the efficiency and performance that lead to profit.

Recovering from her experience as a caregiver for her mother, Maripierre sits in her cottage. Her sister Raphaëlle visits her and the two reflect on the day their mother sought out medically assisted death on October 5th.

This short film tells the deeply personal and emotional journey of a father who made the life-altering decision to immigrate to Canada from Congo with his family. Narrated from his perspective, it dives into the challenges and obstacles he faced while fleeing his home country.

Generation Baby Buster is a documentary feature that explores why so many women are just saying no to procreation. Armed with insight from those who write and think about the current state of affairs for mothers, the director confronts her own ambivalence towards children head on and offers up some baby food-for-thought to a new generation of women: the baby busters.

There were these reels that Mireille Dansereau kept at home. However, the filmmaker didn’t know exactly what was on them or what they might contain. In 2024, Mireille Dansereau and André Habib agreed: these reels would be digitized at the CinéMedias Laboratory. Led by André Habib and Florence Audet, the digitization process gradually revealed these family archives.

An experience through neon visuals, things you've seen before in ways you haven't seen it. Neon distorted imagery through visuals consisting of gaming, clubs, film, cities, nature, and unidentifiable moving imagery.

Feature-length documentary filmed in three locations as far apart as possible: Louisiana, Acadia and Quebec, but where Le reel du pendu is played – a musical piece performed on the violin, harmonica and guitar or the accordion for over two hundred years. Through this improvised music of a death row inmate, the spectator is invited to discover for himself “the sound of the French in America”.

A legal clinic is formed in inner city Montreal.

They say the honeymoon period lasts only a short time.

This quirky little short by Gilles Carle was filmed on the pierced rock that stands near Quebec’s Gaspé peninsula. It is perhaps the most photographed natural phenomenon on Canada’s East Coast. Shot in the 1960s, the film has a very psychedelic feel to it, with animation, special effects, and a trio of women to guide us through.

To mark the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, CBC presents a two hour documentary based on the findings of the 9/11 Commission and featuring former White House Advisor Richard Clarke.

Host Marie-Claude Julien meets director Bernard Émond on the day of the launch of his latest film Une femme respectable. He chose Trois-Rivières and its historic rue Des Ursulines to set the story of his main character. The house where the filming took place belongs to Marie-Claude. She took advantage of the director's visit to conduct this interview.

In southwestern China, state athletic coaches scour the countryside to recruit poor, rural teenagers who demonstrate a natural ability to throw a good punch. Moved into boxing training centers, these boys and girls undergo a rigorous regimen that grooms them to be China’s next Olympic heroes but also prepares them for life outside the ring. As these young boxers develop, the allure of turning professional for personal gain and glory competes with the main philosophy behind their training – to represent their country. Interconnected with their story is that of their charismatic coach, Qi Moxiang, who – now in his late thirties and determined to win back lost honor – trains for a significant fight.

This feature documentary is an inquiry into Canada's economic troubles of the 1970 and '80s. The film summarizes the facts at hand, including some pre-NAFTA speculation about economic dependency on the United States. At roughly thirty percent, the Canada of a few decades ago was more foreign-owned than any other country in the world. Still, however, a great and stubborn national pride in our cultural and social idiosyncrasies persists, resulting in the confidence to look elsewhere besides the United States for economic alliances and models. This episode is the fifth and last part of the series Reckoning: The Political Economy of Canada.

This short documentary includes three vignettes about life off the coast of Newfoundland. In Island of Birds, we visit Green Island, a sea bird sanctuary where puffins frolic. In Caplin Harvest, little silvery fish called caplin spawn by washing ashore along the waves, making an easy catch for fishermen. In Outports on the Move, off-shore houses are pried loose from their foundation and floated to the Newfoundland mainland, where schools, hospitals, stores and services are available to the community.

An exploration of micro and macro scales of time - from a single generation to the entire expanse of the universe's lifespan.

This feature documentary uses music to reveal the many faces of jazz, New Orleans style. Colourful and alive with music, the film captures the street life and traditions of this vibrant city and explores the roots of the music that springs from the soul of the African-American community.

A primatologist and sex researcher uncover love as a test case, while weighing in on Palestine, power and bonobos.

An instructive compilation about pioneer Ottawa animator Evelyn Lambart, playfully contextualized by filmmaker Donald McWilliams.

Further Sasquatch encounters.

A series of cinematic portraits shot in domestic spaces in a former gold mining town in New Zealand expand into a tapestry of glistening natural light and vaporous movement, created via a painstaking process of in-camera layering effects.

Toronto filmmaker Charles Officer profiles the young people of Villaways Park, a housing project on brink of historic change.

Just north of the City of Edmonton lies Poundmaker’s Lodge, an addiction and mental-health facility specializing in treatment for Indigenous people. Founded in 1973 and still operational today, the Lodge’s programs and services are Indigenous-run and based in culturally appropriate recovery and healing techniques. Framing the short documentary with the words of the great Plains Cree Chief Pîhtokahanapiwiyin (Poundmaker), Alanis Obomsawin presents a frank examination of the root causes of substance abuse in Indigenous communities and how the absence of love and support – exacerbated by the impacts of colonialism and racism – created a legacy of alcoholism for some individuals. Through searing and emotional testimonies of people in the Lodge, this work presents portraits of courage and perseverance, and hope for future generations.

This short film was an experiment in using video recordings and closed circuit television to stimulate social action in a poor Montreal neighbourhood. A citizen's committee filmed people's concerns and then played back the tapes for the community. Upon recognizing their common problems, people began to talk about joint solutions. It proved an important and effective method of promoting social change.

Six months following the events of her documentary The People of the Kattawapiskak River, Alanis Obomsawin returns to the Cree community of Attawapiskat in northern Ontario, whose severe housing crisis in 2011 made international headlines. While the public outcry resulted in some short-term relief for the most in need, Obomsawin reveals that the crisis persists in the isolated First Nation. Relief homes sent to the community are not equipped to deal with the harsh winter, as overcrowding and homelessness remain daily realities. Despite their ordeals, the residents of Attawapiskat remain strong, united in love and a belief that a better future must be achieved.

Close-up photographs of baskets, tools and utensils used in the past and still used today by the L'ilawat of Canada. Printed notes describe the use of each item

Lacan Palestine is a found footage essay about the troubled couple in Palestine. This country without a country has been party to imperial projections for centuries, amply on display here in waves of armed crusaders, legionnaires, Mongols on horseback and biplanes issuing state edicts from the end of a machine gun. There are maps by the galore, drawn and redrawn as occupied territories are bartered in foreign capitals. Contemporary art activists Velcrow Ripper, Elle Flanders, Tamira Sawatzky, Dani Leventhal and others have generously donated their keen lookings and these have been blended with newsreels, desert spectaculars, historical recreations and intimate encounters. Mike Cartmell appears as the ghost of psychoanalysis, offering ruminations on killing the father, John Coltrane and why enjoyment is difficult

"The Art of the Animator" series examines the creative thoughts and processes behind the meticulous work of several animators; this part examines the work of Co Hoedeman, Jacques Drouin, George Ungar and Gayle Thomas - animators who create motion out of still images, in what is often lonesome and painstaking work. By observing these artists at work, the filmmakers show the deft and quite magical process of animation that requires great commitment, patience and artistic cleverness.

Untangling Alzheimer's is a dramatic and inspiring medical investigation driven by David Suzuki's journey to understand the science of Alzheimer's and the surprising new insights into its cause. David has a very personal interest in the disease because his mother, aunt and two uncles died of it. We join David on an intimate journey as he explores the newest breakthroughs in this devastating disease as well as his own chances of contracting the cruel condition.

The director deals with the subject of the sexuality of older people, an often taboo subject. The actress Louise Portal and her partner Jacques Hébert participated in this documentary. They share their experience with us.

A short film documenting the time the filmmaker spent in Kenya.

With the magic of Loulou (Louise Deschâtelets), Patrice Michaud realizes his dream of temporarily returning to the past. It is with pride and swaying hips that he slips into the universe of the 1970s to 1990s! Accompanied by his musicians, Patrice Michaud invites us on his visual and sound journey where the funk, pop and rock rhythms of his songs intertwine. 1980s icon Martine St-Clair takes part in the journey and "ouh, stop, un instant", we capture a moment from the 1990s with Gabrielle Shonk. A great, colorful escape where pleasure abounds!

History, religion, and colonialism collide with spiritual awakening, miracles, and poverty in Portobelo, Panama, where locals worship a black Jesus Christ. Culminating in the rapturous yearly festival, his most devout followers share how they came to their faith.

Within the jazz milieu of Paris, a story of music and friendship that revolves around questions of artistic exile, and begins and ends with a photograph.

Many lacrosse players and coaches often don’t know that the origins of the game of lacrosse has it’s roots in North American Indigenous nations.This short documentary provides a brief history of the sacred and cultural aspects of this sport, originally played for the Creator, as well as for the health and welfare of the people. The movie also defines the three types of North American, Indigenous lacrosse: Iroquois, Great Lakes, and Southeastern.

"Bangkok Girl" is a 'remarkably accomplished, beautifully photographed and intimate debut documentary that puts a human face on the devastating social issue that, sadly, is the fate of too many impoverished girls.' The documentary provides a glimpse of Thailand's sex tourism told through the experiences of a 19-year-old bar girl named Pla.

A story of the resilience and determination of a group of children in London, Ont., battling leukemia at a time when no child had survived the disease.

This installment in the Canada Vignettes series depicts the Canadian Forces Air Demonstration Aerobatics team at work.

This documentary explores Indigeneity in prairie settings, highlighting feelings of disconnection and the desire for kinship with the Land. Through contrasting experiences and landscapes, it reflects on cultural dispossession and the ongoing journey to reconnect with one’s roots.

A chance encounter at a Tim Horton's in downtown Winnipeg brought filmmaker, Barry Gibson and psychic, David Pandorra together. Pandorra, looking for an audience for his demonstrations, found in Gibson a skeptic about psychic phenomenon, but a believer in chasing a dream. A Question of Reality is a virtual frantic monologue as Pandora attempts to demonstrate the reality of psychic phenomenon. Success and failure at cards and a link to UFO's underscore a desperate effort to be as famous as Uri Geller. Gibson shows the audience a warm and humorous account of life in pursuit of a dream.

Expert fishers for their entire lives, Líl̓wat Elders Cora and Daniel Wells share their deep knowledge of salmon fishing, cleaning and smoking.

Award-winning Canadian documentarian Hubert Davis chronicles the inspirational work of Giants of Africa, a program founded by Toronto Raptors GM Masai Ujiri that uses basketball to educate and enrich the lives of underprivileged African youth.

Tracing back a lost identity, hidden in the forests of an abandoned war zone. How does trauma get carried on from a generation to another and is there a way to stop the cycle? The filmmaker tries to understand how to heal from the pressures of the past by searching for their grandmother's childhood home. Taking the journey with their parents, they find themselves in a village located in the old Karelia, now a part of Russia.

In 2009, veteran documentarian and filmmaker Brigitte Berman released Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel, a film about the life and legacy of Hugh Hefner. Expanding on Hefner's influence not only as a celebrity figure but as a catalyst for social awareness, discussion and change, Berman continues to break new ground in Playboy: After Dark, Speaking Out in America. In this doc, Berman details the run and lasting influence of Hefner's two short-lived television shows Playboy: After Dark (1969-1970) and Playboy's Penthouse (1959-1960). Part entertainment segments, part talkshows, the programs featured numerous celebrity guests and covered a diverse range of subjects during their respective runs, including race, integration, environmental changes and free speech. With the story told through interviews and a collection of archived footage, this documentary makes it clear how and why both programs deserve their spots in television history.

An exploratory journey highlighting the largely unrecognized yet hugely vibrant Pan European feminist movement that is very much alive today, from Turkey to Portugal, by the way of the Balkans, to Italy, Spain and Portugal.

A detailed examination of The School of Athens, unveiling its rich symbolism and the subtle levels of meaning to provide viewers with a profound sense of the elaborately constructed beauty and harmony of this extraordinary masterwork by Raphael.

A man struggles with uniting different aspects of his identity. He finds some solace in a conversation with his cousins who experience similar challenges. Insights and advice are shared in the hope of connecting further with their black and queer identities. They will get there,‘Bi and by’.

Digging far below the surface, two gritty teams of hobbyist cavers are poised to discover the longest and deepest caves in Canada. Risking life and limb, their curiosity is matched only by their courage to chart the unknown.