Discover Movies

The huge tar sands in Alberta are a potentially profitable resource, but the environmental impact could be heavy and long-term.

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.

Inside the Hothouse takes an informal look at this NFB experiment, Animation Hothouse, at its halfway point. In a handheld, gritty style, Inside the Hothouse gives the viewer a glimpse into the project and the participants' perspectives.

Maylin cooks mouth-watering meals at her father's restaurant in Chinatown, but her father and brothers take all the credit. When a dignitary from China arrives for a sumptuous banquet, Maylin's father serves him her special dish, Roses Sing on New Snow. The visitor is so impressed that he demands the recipe! After her brothers fail miserably at recreating it, the father must call for his daughter. Maylin demonstrates as the dignitary follows every step. After tasting his own cooking, the man realizes he cannot duplicate the dish. The chef is the most important ingredient of all! Maylin finally receives the credit she deserves for her inspired fusion of Old and New World cuisine.

A poetic meditation by a man and a woman whose teenage son has threatened to end his life. What drives someone to that terrible extreme? In an effort to understand and demystify the phenomenon of suicide, the two parents search for answers within themselves. Their personal reflection is intercut with dramatic sequences, archival footage, animation, interviews and first-person accounts that look at suicide from an emotional, rational, cultural, social or medical perspective.

It's Our Game documents one of the Canadian national hockey teams, showcasing how passionately their countrymen love the sport. The filmmakers follow the team as they travel to Finland to play in international competition.

Light Rapid Transit

Johnny GreyEyes is a girl from an injun family. Since her childhood she was abused by her father and one day she killed him. She was arrested and convicted by the court to a long term in local prison. Where she finds the woman, another inmate, who became for her and her family and her first love.

Translated from a self-reflexive Chinese saying, Yun Lam Li's I thought of you often, this film is a visual poem about the meaning of aging within a culture that is not one's own.

Filmed at the Wing Fong Farm in Ontario, this documentary follows the tilling, planting and harvesting of Asian vegetables destined for Chinese markets and restaurants. On 80 acres of land, Lau King-Fai, her son and a half-dozen migrant Mexican workers care for the plants. For Yeung Kwan, her son, the farm represents personal and financial independence. For his mother, it is an oasis of peace. For the Mexican workers, it provides jobs that help support their children back home.

Remake of the 1991 low-budget thriller. Jeff works the night shift, then comes home to his domineering mother, who has the grisly habit of slaughtering neighborhood children to satisfy her insatiable bloodlust.

Legendary poet John Ashbery scripted this absurdist step-by-step guide to bathing, excerpted from Guy Maddin's feature THE FORBIDDEN ROOM and restored to its original form as a stand-alone film.

An indie rock trio tries to make it big in Montreal.

Jack Richards, a professor in his 50's, has apparently gone mad over the supposed abduction of his daughter by a sinister cult. Wallowing in self-pity for years, he decides to commit suicide. However, the manner in which he decides to suicide is quite peculiar: he allows himself to be abducted by a cult, whose members treat him as their "king" for one year (he is given a castle, concubines, gifts, etc...), and then murder him as an atonement for their yearly sins.

An eight-minute work filmed on 35mm film, Collage d’Hollywood explores the materiality of the film medium in a literal way. Collage is assembled from movie trailers found at a deserted drive-in cinema, and explores onscreen sex and violence

A young man having intimacy problems with his girlfriend develops a abnormally large blackhead in the center of his back. Skinfections trilogy no. 2

Triumph performs live at the US Festival which took place in California in 1983. Songs include: Allied Forces, Lay It on the Line, Never Surrender, Magic Power, World of Fantasy, Rock and Roll Machine, When the Lights Go Down, Fight the Good Fight, Spellbound and Follow Your Heart

A surreal and comic exploration of an office space and its inhabitants and the decorations of a living room.

This documentary features the story of Jules Paivio, the last living Canadian volunteer of the infamous Mackenzie-Papineau Battallion of the “International Brigades”. When Jules left from his home near Port Arthur (Thunder Bay), Ontario, his father, a famous Finnish poet, wrote a lasting lament: “To My Son In Spain”. In 1936-37, 1700 Canadians volunteered to fight with the Spanish people against a fascist coup d’etat led by elements of the Spanish Army. Backed by Musselini and Hitler, the fascists were bent on overthrowing Spain’s democratically elected socialist government and replacing it with military and church rule. It could be argued this conflict marked the true beginning of what would become World War II.

Romeo Montague is the alias of (the re-animated) Patient Zero, a skilled, mutated android hit-man/pimp/ancient relics collector, that lives in Verona City, N.Y.; a dystopic metropolis filled with extreme horror & sexual deviancy; featuring: a lustful, demonic, man-eating Astro-Queen, a psychotic South American underworld god, human/android sex-slave party-girls, bloodthirsty zombies, vengeful deities and alien hooker vampire junkies/go-go girls. The cities are also plagued with murderous cybernetic 'goon' robots, that are constantly trying to take Montague's life, as he and his street hustling pal 'Tricky' tries to figure out which one of his jive-ass enemies are trying to kill him (as well as trying to stay one step ahead of 'The Man'). In the middle of this chaos, Romeo/Zero tries to find the thief of his ancient , multi-million dollar voodoo ring.

Comedy short

A swirling animated trip through hockey's erotic behind-the-scenes world. Cam Christiansen uses his signature stylized animation, developed through motion capture and video mapping, to create a vibrant and bold musical sketch.

After two new bumbling young dentists partner with a 'night-only' dentist, the staff and clients from the two different 'lifestyles' clash.

Joseph takes a fragile step into adolescence while Matt, his big brother, stagnates in a menial job. At home, they rarely interact. One night, their house gets broken into and their father's gun is stolen.

Carl, a man taught that life 'either likes you or hates you' has always thought life hated him.

Olivia lives in a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada along with her son, Thomas, a daughter, Sarah, and has been separated from her French-speaking husband, Jean Marc. She has an estranged brother named Jack Walker who she has not seen for many years, as he refused to return her phone calls, and neglected to attend their father's funeral in Montana, U.S.A.. Due to opening of Cynaco and MacNeil Mining Company, the town expects to have about new 125 new jobs. One day she gets a surprise visit from Jack, both brother and sister update each other, and Jack also gets to meet Thomas and Sarah, as well as Olivia's attractive South Asian neighbor, Lia, a single mother. He soon starts an affair with her, and even moves in her house.

In “Paddle to Seattle” two friends build their own kayaks and paddle alone for 97 days in the wilderness. They travel an epic adventure that takes them over 1,300 miles from Alaska to Seattle and survive still able to talk about most of their experiences.

A man is confronted with his purgatory.

Olivier, a young boy who lives in the countryside, sees his father doing something he will never forget.

A poetic meditation on the beauty, perils and power of sexuality in a transsexual woman's body.

In November 2001, Quebec Painter Edmund Alleyn (1931-2004) agreed to be filmed in his Montreal studio by his daughter, filmmaker Jennifer Alleyn. There, something unexpected happened : an authentic encounter, with no beating around the bush, no mask. From a few existential questions –about life, painting, death- thruth emerged. The artist died of cancer in December 2004 before Jennifer could film him again. After inheriting his studio, she found herself in this sacred space, still imbued with the presence and imagination of her father. Her film is an attempt to prolong the dialogue, to find the missing fragments of her father’s life. Edmund Alleyn was an intense and complex man of integrity who left his mark on Canadian art history.

Paul McCartney and his band performed at Halifax Commons on July 11 2009. One of the highlights of the concert was a performance of the song Mull of Kintyre with the Pipes and drums of the 78th Highlanders. The concert was originally shown on PPV in Canada.

Get lost in this slightly surreal animated short composed of exquisite black-and-white illustrations. As we move through the landscape, we pass elaborate topiaries, dust-devil ballets, horses traversing the horizon, and wild reflections in the water. It's a lyrical film that carries you through a visually-rich tapestry of incredible hand-drawn images.

What does a curious little girl find on her way north? Wolves, trees, stones, people. Through Gracile's quest to find her father, this documentary tale takes us into a world of men. Men whose sometimes tragic destinies are linked to the land they inhabit, whether by choice or necessity. It's as if a fatality drags them into the movement of the world in spite of themselves. Like the men she meets along the way - all possible fathers for Gracile - the paths she travels sometimes open onto gaping wounds: devastated forests, mine holes, ruined industrial zones. The lament of trees can be heard while men remain silent. From the moment she sets out and throughout her journey, the little girl is accompanied in spirit by her mother and nature, as well as by an Innu grandmother whose voice nourishes her dreams. This dreamlike world rubs shoulders with the raw reality Gracile is confronted with.

This documentary captures the road-trip odyssey of Canadian filmmaker Mireille Dansereau as she travels to Louisiana to screen one of her films — inspired by the works of her friend, Marie-Claire Blais — and seek her cinematic identity in the process.

Obinna, an African refugee in Canada, faces deportation in 30 days. When all hope seems lost, a chance confrontation with Timothy, his terminally ill landlord, provides him an opportunity to remain in the country. Timothy who is a former immigration officer makes him a deal; he will intervene in his pending deportation if Obinna finds his estranged daughter Nicole and convinces her to see him one last time before he dies. With the clock ticking, Obinna fights to save his dreams, in the course of which he stumbles on a discovery that will shake the very foundations of his principles.

School's out, but the learning's just begun. A cottage party for a group of university grads turns into a weekend of love, lies, casual sex and crucial understanding. The future isn't the dream they once shared. The choices they make today will determine the lives they live tomorrow.

Benoit Pilon introduces us to those who live in the vast region more than a thousand kilometers northwest of Montreal, where, in the early 1970s, the massive James Bay project forever changed the landscape and people's lives. To carry out this mega-project, one village was created (Radisson) and another moved (Fort George, now known as Chisasibi). Though most of the workers have since gone home, some chose to stay. Radisson's inhabitants are still often tempted to move back down South, but many have developed imaginative ways of putting down roots. And while the Crees of Chisasibi look to the future, they also want to maintain their traditions, especially for the younger generation who are so attracted to the ease of modern life. But what with the hunting trips, going-away parties and still-vibrant customs, the residents of these two communities simply enjoy the Northern way of life.

Documents life aboard a modern Canadian ice breaker.

Five siblings are brought together through the death of their father and must decide how to spend their inheritance.

A lively PSA that explains the importance of balancing food and activity and encourages kids to "eat smart and move more."

Something Dancing About Her is an affectionate portrait of Pegi Nicol MacLeod, a charismatic yet relatively unknown painter. Shedding fresh light on her place in Canadian art history, director Michael Ostroff chronicles the life of this remarkable creative spirit who threw herself into painting, left-wing politics and love affairs with equal enthusiasm.

A creepy British hostel. Half-cooked chicken. A filmmaker's first kiss. The unfortunately true story of the filmmaker's first kiss with a stranger he met overseas.

This documentary portrays the front-line street workers who serve the needy under the umbrella of the Salvation Army. Shot in Toronto at Christmastime, the film chronicles the small hopes and tiny victories of life lived below the poverty line and the daily rewards for those who work to serve others.

Celebration of film as an artform for the Liaison Independent Filmmakers of Toronto: 25 Film Manifesto’s. Both sound and picture drawn onto 35mm film.

Mummers and Masks is a one-hour documentary Christmas Special that explores the ageless world of mummers. The producer traces the legacy of mummering from the humble kitchen parties of the remote outports of Newfoundland to the wild parades and razamatazz of the New Orleans Mardi Gras, and the gaudy present-day Philadelphia Mummer's Parade with its swirling batons, clowns and string bands, to the ancient folk dramas (with their ageless renditions of death and resurrection) still annually, lovingly re-enacted in rustic corners of the British Isles and Europe.

Detailing the life and cinematic oeuvre of Canadian filmmaker Larry Kent, featuring interviews with Susan Sarandon and Dave Foley.

After the fall of mankind, one man is left to rebuild. The world's other survivors, however, are vampires. Our hero is about to be added to the menu.

Documentary about the 1971 Canadian film by Claude Jutra.

Professor Francois Lacombe is an expert parapsychologist, a master in the art of demystifying the paranormal. For years he has traveled throughout the world looking for unexplained phenomenons. Now back from his travels Lacombe is assigned to a new investigation. It takes him to the Red Forest Research Center the scene of disturbing metaphysical agitations; visions, disappearances and murders. As he and his team begin their work the atmosphere intensifies and their primary objective is no longer the investigation--it is survival.