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Our latest catalogue is available for download in PDF. To view this document, you will need the free software Adobe Reader. If you need help, you can read our detailed instructions on downloading Adobe Reader. You can also view our comprehensive online catalogue in HTML, indexed by Title, Subject and Director/Producer. If you have any other questions, please call us at 604.684.3014 or send us an e-mail |
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Canadian filmmaker Allan King died at his home in Toronto June 15th. Born in Vancouver in 1930, King studied philosophy at UBC. He began his career making documentaries at the CBC, with Skid Row in 1956. King pioneered cinéma vérité and direct cinema techniques, and he described his work as "actuality drama--filming the drama of everyday life as it happens, spontaneously, without direction, interviews or narrative."
Allan King is often remembered for his first major feature documentary work, Warrendale, followed by A Married Couple, which was screened at the Director's Fortnight at Cannes in 1970. His first dramatic feature film, Who Has Seen The Wind, won the Grand Prix in 1976 at the Paris International Film Festival.
In his 70s, he created a critically acclaimed series on aging and Alzheimer's, including Dying at Grace (2003) which won the Donald Brittain Award for Best Social Documentary. He continued to create films about subjects that interested him, such as EMPz 4 Life in 2006, exploring racial stereotyping of young black men in Toronto. He was developing his last film, Endings, when diagnosed with a brain tumour in April 2009.
Allan King inspired audiences and filmmakers alike for over 50 years. We are honoured to distribute a documentary, made in 2006 by John Haslett Cuff, Nick Hector and Sun-Kyung Yi, that celebrates this great filmmaker--ACTUALITY: The Art and Life of Allan King.
6 Possibilities: Speculations on the Origin of Form
Directed and produced by Daniel Conrad
Rhodopsin Productions
15:00 •
2002
Available on DVD and VHS
Dance, choreographed for the camera, speculates on the origins of life. It grows more complex as it courses to its climax, imagining the extinction of the human species in a grand “memento mori” to lines from Goethe’s Der Fischer. Double exposure in the filming process layers imagery of dancers, architecture by Gaudi, and the wilderness of Haida Gwaii on Canada’s Northwest coast.
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419: The Nigerian Scam
Directed and produced by Sorin Milhailovici
20:00 •
2009 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
Every year, more than 50,000 people fall victim to the Nigerian Scam. It usually starts with an e-mail about a business proposal or winning a lottery, followed by stories with tempting outcomes until the victim’s lifetime savings are lost. Article 419 in the Nigerian Constitution deals with this scam reported to be the third most lucrative one in the country, generating over 5 billion dollars in the last 20 years. This short drama, based on a true story, shows how the scam works.
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Apart
Directed and produced by Richard Martin
7:30 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
Avant-garde filmmaker Richard Martin creates an atmospheric meditation in Apart. He marries fluid visuals and views of the world through tracks of raindrops on glass with a powerful yet subtle sound design to created a cinematic poem on rain.
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Appassionata: The Extraordinary Life and Music of Sonia Eckhardt-Gramatte
Directed by Paula Kelly
Poduced by Paula Kelly and Liz Jarvis
Buffalo Gal Pictures
94:00 •
2006 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
This feature-length documentary special is a journey into the passion of Sophie-Carmen (Sonia) Eckhardt-Gramatte, an artistic rebel who defied all barriers to become one of the great modern classical composers of the 20th century. Throughout an astonishing career that would take Sonia from Paris, Berlin and Vienna to the new world of Winnipeg in Western Canada, she and her two great loves—the artist Walter and the writer Ferdinand—would remain forever inseparable in death as much as in life.
Award(s): Chris Award, Columbus International Film Festival[top]
The Art of Drowning
Directed and produced by Diego Maclean
2:00 •
2009 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
Talented animation from Diego Maclean meets the poetic talent of American poet Billy Collins to ponder the possibilities of those last few moments of life. The film is a visual interpretation of the poem by Billy Collins.
Diego MacLean is a graduate of Emily Carr University of Art & Design. Billy Collins is a distinguished professor at Lehman College and the City University of New York and was named U.S. Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003. His poem, The Art of Drowning, appears in a book of poetry with the same title, published in 2009 by the University of Pittsburgh Press.
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The Artist's Life, Series Three (a 12-part series)
Directed and produced by Michael Glassbourg
TickleScratch Productions
24:00 per part •
2007
Available on DVD and VHS
The Artist’s Life, Series Three profiles both emerging and established Canadian artists and provides insight into their artistic processes. For the first two series profiling Canadian artists, please see our online catalogue.
David Blackwood (Printmaking)David Blackwood is widely regarded as Canada’s most accomplished printmaker. Although his studio is in Port Hope, Ontario, Blackwood was born in Newfoundland and has not abandoned those roots. He has won several awards and is best known for his stark blue/black etchings that reflect storytelling traditions of sea-faring Newfoundland towns. He talks about his work and shows the process for printmaking from conception to press.
Eric Cator (Mixed media)
This young Ontario artist paints scenes that are appealing, fascinating, startling and sometimes humourous. He works across disciplines, having graduated from Fanshawe College in the Fine Arts program and the Film and Television Pro-duction program at Humber College. Cator rides his bicycle through alleys and streets looking for the fodder that becomes the basis of his paintings. Through the process of his brush strokes, his use of colour, his illustrations and his photographs, we are drawn further and further into an imaginary world that resounds with meaning.
Jim Chambers (Photography)
Jim Chambers is a photographer who combines humour with heartache, explores the underbelly of both his home town and cultures far from home as well as producing images of objects that range from the mundane to the magnificent. Following him at work in this documentary leads to Hamilton Ontario’s steel mills, a mental institution, an archeological sight, and North James Street.
Ken Danby (Painting)
Ken Danby’s paintings are recognized all over the world. From the painting of hands reaching down to lace up a skate, to the portrait of Wayne Gretzsky on the occasion of his retirement, to a woman on horseback in the surf or the profoundly insightful portrait of Gordon Lightfoot, Danby’s work has left a lasting impression. A visit to his studio outside Guelph, Ontario provides an opportunity for Danby to explain in great detail the process of his work. Filmed just a month before he died prematurely of a heart attack, this documentary celebrates the work of an enigmatic man who is as impressive as his paintings.
Laura Hollick (Mixed media)
The work of this young artist is in mixed media and is cutting edge as well as mesmerizing. A BFA from from McMaster University for Time-Line Therapy, Hypnotherapy, DNA Reprogramming and Neuro-Linguistic Programming and her own self-trained art techniques have moved her to a unique art practice that she discusses in this documentary. As founder of the SOUL ART Studio, she also teaches people to find their inner image and express it through unique creative techniques.
Heather Horton (Painting)
Heather Horton is one of the brightest young lights in Canadian painting, creating portraits that haunt and resonate long after viewing and convey a sense of alienation in natural surroundings. Horton discusses her creative process and photographs two of her favorite models to create images that will be the basis for future paintings.
Natalka Husar (Painting, Mixed media)
This passionate and socially conscious artist thoroughly engages us in reflections on art, history and the process of painting. Inspired by her Ukrainian heritage, she explores cultural identity, political change and gender and consumerism through reoccurring personas representing herself or historically relevant figures such as the “young girl from Chernobyl”, around which the rest of the painting develops. Her innovative imagery is dreamy yet unusually present, expressing a subconscious unease of the human condition. Sources of inspiration vary from miscellaneous photographs to Harlequin book titles she subversively illustrates. Natalka Husar’s need to express ideas in new ways drives her work and she believes art can make a difference by helping us see the world. Her message to artists is to take chances and avoid comfort zones.
Mara Korkola (Painting)
Mara Korkola creates small, snapshot-sized meditative landscapes. Painted in one session, her works have both a freshness and sense of immediacy. Using her own photographs, she proceeds through the artistic process to transform mundane environments like highways and suburban streets into a scattering of lights that take on the beauty of constellations. The profile of this artist goes from conception to finished painting as she takes us through the nocturnal inter-urban roadscapes she so enthusiastically embraces as her main subject of inspiration--those in-between, faceless, silent places of our modern age that are ugly and threatening yet wondrously beautiful.
Lui Liu (Painting)
After participating in the “China Avant-Garde Show” at the National Gallery in 1989, Liu im-migrated to Canada in 1991. His humour and surreal approach to imagery counterbalances the seriousness of his subjects which include sexuality, portraiture and the absurdity of life. As he paints, he talks about how art can transform experience and the importance of cultivating skill and craft, a message that will resonate with young artists in today’s speedy Information Age.
Charles Pachter (Painting, Sculpture, Design)
With work that moves smoothly from the hilarious to the thought provoking, Charles Pachter has created some of the most fascinating images that include Queen Elizabeth II riding a moose. He talks about his projects and creative process in his urban studio, in Toronto’s Chinatown, and his rural retreat on Lake Simcoe.
Ernestine Tahedl (Stained glass, Painting)
This graduate of the Vienna Academy of Applied Arts moved to Canada in 1963 and continued with the stained glass work she had done in Europe. One of her most famous commissions was in the Canada Pavillion at Expo 67. Following that, she soon became recognized as a very talented painter and has won many awards. Her work is recognized internationally and her inspirations come from travel to the Arctic, Tibet, and Central America. This documentary follows Tahedl as she paints from the blank canvas to finished work.
Margaux Williamson (Painting)
This young artist studied at Queen’s University before moving to Toronto in 2000. Her honest and witty approach to both painting and life provides an insight into a rich imagination where individuals live side by side with toy like creatures in a dreamy, yet disturbing world. As she paints and discusses the creative process, this young artist provides insight into why she has been hailed as one of the best Canadian painters of her generation.
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Baby Boots
Directed and produced by Hans Olson
15:00 •
2008
Available on DVD and VHS
Walt has cerebral palsy and lives on the farm with his recently separated father. Their daily routine is interrupted when a young woman shows up to use the phone for a tow truck. For Walt, it’s a welcome break to have a visitor; for her, it’s a chance to shift her attitude toward a person with a disability.
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Besieged Land
Directed and produced by Maria Teresa Larrain
65:00 •
2007
Spanish with English subtitles
Available on DVD and VHS
In Southern Chile, in a region of vast forestry plantations, two neighbours, a powerful landowner and a respected Mapuche Chief, fight over contested land. One night, the landowner’s home catches fire. He blames his neighbour and, without listening to the Mapuche Chief’s protestations of innocence, takes him to court. What starts as a mere dispute between neighbours escalates into “The Trial of Pascual Pichun”, a clash between two cultures that have opposing views of the world. At the centre of the conflict lies, in desolation, the land.
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Blue Skies & Rocky Shores
Directed and produced by Linda Rae Dornan
21:00 •
2008
Available on DVD and VHS
Artist and university professor John Asimakos was diagnosed with Pick’s Disease in 1994. This rare form of dementia slowly erodes cognitive abilities. His wife and caregiver, Linda Rae Dornan, documented her experience of caring for John through his illness, over a period of nine years. What emerges is a touching glimpse of caregiving as John struggled to live with dignity and joy as his life drastically changed.
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The Canyon War: The Untold Story
Directed by Eva Wunderman
52:00 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
The Canyon War covers the tumultuous events of 1858 in British Columbia—events which led to a little-known war that could have escalated, had it not been for the persuasive diplomacy of Chief Spintlum of the Nlaka’pamux First Nation. 2008 marked the 150th anniversary of the Fraser River Gold Rush, which saw some 30 to 40 thousand gold seekers flood into the Fraser Valley, culminating in the Fraser River War in August of that year. Many lives were lost, both Native and non-Native, until peace was finally concluded in Lytton by Chief Spintlum and Henry Snyder.
Throughout the descendants from this time, Kevin Loring and Dr. Dan Marshall, Canyon War provides a lasting legacy of this even and is shot on the war's little-known battlefields–from the fight of Boston Bar to the peace at Kumsheen.
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A Case of Rape
Directed and produced by Jonathan Amitay
3:30 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
Jonathan Amitay uses coloured sand in stop-motion animation to tell a story of sexual assault. The story is based on experience, as relayed to him by a friend.
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Cedar and Bamboo
Directed by Dianna E. Leung and Kamala Todd
Produced by Karin Lee and Jennifer Lau
Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC
22:00 •
2010 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
Chinese people arrived on the Western shores of Canada many generations ago. Since then, they have formed unique relations and shared many experiences with indigenous people. Cedar & Bamboo explores those relationships through the lives of four people of Chinese and Aboriginal roots in British Columbia. Their stories reveal the difficult circumstances of aboriginal people and early Chinese immigrants that both led to these unions but also challenged these families to stay as a whole.
At the age of five, elder Judy Joe was taken from Vancouver to her father’s village in China, where she was raised by her stepfamily. She fought to reclaim her Canadian identity; and when she finally returned to Canadian soil, she felt like an immigrant in her place of birth.
Musqueam elder Howard Grant, who shares a long heritage of the Musequeam people through his mother and a Chinese heritage through his father, reflects on his experiences with both cultures. Siblings Jordie and Hannah Yow, who grew up in Kamploops and are now in their 20s, reflect on growing up in an absence of information on their cultural backgrounds.
As an extra on the DVD, 1788 provides 10 minutes of academic commentary from Harley Wylie of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation and Professors Jean Barman and Henry Yu of the University of British Columbia on the shared histories in British Columbia of these two peoples.
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Celesta Found
Directed by David McIlwraith
Produced by Rina Fratticelli
Wild Zone Films
44:00 •
2003
Available on DVD and VHS
A chance discovery of journals written in the early 20th century by a woman who lived in Quebec’s Eastern Townships enticed Rina Fraticelli on a journey of discovery. The journals were written by Celesta Taylor, and they give a powerful portrayal of daily life for women in rural Canada between 1895 and 1916. Dancer Peggy Baker portrays Celesta Taylor in dramatic recreations constructed from her journals.
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Damian and Ende
Directed and produced by Benjamin Schuetze
10:00 •
2008
Available on DVD and VHS
A young man visits his childhood friend in the forest where he lives. The two negotiate the changing seasons and the memory of the tragic event that brought them there in this film about friends growing apart.
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Dancing with Northern Lights
Directed and produced by Jonathan Amitay
2:30 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
Traditional dances of Canada’s First Nations people and the wondrous spectacle of northern lights are the inspiration for this coloured sand stop- motion animation by one of Canada’s most gifted animators.
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Dinner Parade
Directed and produced by Gillian Cole
2:30 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
Dinner Parade is an animated narrative that takes the viewer through fluid metaphors portraying consumption, both as the theme and protagonist. Although consumption is an abstract concept, the characters embody this concept by devouring or consuming through different scenarios, spanning from Darwinism and survival of the fittest to inter-relationships and corporate hierarchies.
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Dissolve
Michelle Porter/Meghan Gardiner
48:00 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
A little liquid or powder is slipped into a drink. Women are being drugged into unconscious or semi-conscious states and being raped. They often have little or no memory of the attack/attacker; often just the aftermath feeling that something horrible has happened. Due to the lack of awareness about these drugs, women are unaware of how vulnerable they are, and rapists are getting away with their crimes. Women need to know what they can do to protect themselves, heal, and potentially send their attackers to prison. Dissolve is a documentary on drug-facilitated sexual assault that will inform, provoke and engage both men and women.
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E.J. Hughes Restoration: Triumph Over Hard Times
Directed by Jeremiah Patton
Produced by Jeffrey Patton
Cinnabar Vista Alef Productions
58:00 •
2009 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
While tearing down the grand old Malaspina Hotel in Nanaimo, British Columbia, workers discovered a spectacular wall mural hidden behind a false wall. Like buried treasure, they had uncovered a lost masterpiece, featuring work by one of Canada’s greatest landscape artists, E.J. Hughes—a 1938 wall mural entitled “Lieutenant Malaspina Sketching the Gabriola Galleries.” Hughes, along with west coast artists Paul Goranson and Orville Fisher, was hired in the 1930s to paint murals depicting the maritime explorations around Vancouver Island. Now valued at $3 million, the mural contains all the elements of E.J. Hughes’s mature artistic style.
Conservator Cheryle A. Harrison reveals some of the work that took place over the 13-year period required for the restoration of this mural. Ian Thom (Senior Curator, Vancouver Art Gallery), Charles C. Hill, (Curator of Canadian Art, National Gallery of Canada), and Dr. Laura Brandon, (Historian for the Canadian War Museum) comment on the mural, its place in Hughes’s body of work, and his place as one of Canada’s greatest painters. Anecdotes about Hughes’s life and struggles as an artist from two nieces and his confidante, Pat Salmon, round out the portrait of this shy genius of Canadian landscape art.
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Ferron: girl on a road
Directed and produced by Gerry Rodgers
Augusta Productions
Two versions: 48:00 & 73:00 •
2009 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
“I did my best to follow the calling of my soul…” So sings lesbian singer/songwriter pioneer Ferron, from the song Girl on a Road. The road is that ubiquitous metaphor, the chronicler of journeys. In this dynamic film from director Gerry Rogers, the road serves as both the metaphor for the direction of a life, and the literal narrative thread, tracing Ferron’s reunion with her band and their first concert trek together in over a decade.
Part performance film, part bio-pic, Ferron: girl on a road traces the life, the songs, the loves, the heartbreaks, and the pioneering path carved by a true folk legend. At once intimate and sweeping, the film moves beyond chronicle and captures in word and deed the essence of a visionary artist and the soul of an icon.
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Firebear Called Them Faith Healers
Directed and produced by Kelvin Redvers
17:00 •
2009 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
What is a story? What power is in our experiences? Firebear Called Them Faith Healers presents vignettes of oral storytelling, from the life experience of Métis author Richard Van Camp. Seven people, of different ages and race, stand over a white background to tell a story in three vignettes: The Dream, The Fight and The Faith Healers. Lines from the vignettes are passed from one storyteller to the next to form one over- arching story of a mysterious man, “The Quiet One”, who haunts their dreams and their lives.
Told from the foundation of Aboriginal storytelling, Firebear Called Them Faith Healers questions the forces that exists above what we can see touch or hear and will stimulate discussion on storytelling, filmmaking and spirituality.
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First Steps
Formerly titled When I Walk
Jason DaSilva
InFace Films
12:00 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
Vancouver filmmaker Jason DaSilva made his first film at the age of 20. Just two years later, his second short film played at the Sundance Film Festival and received an Oscar qualification. Four years after that, at the age of 26, Jason was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
First Steps is a short personal diary on film, documenting how Jason’s world has changed over the past four years as he learns about the nature of this neurological disorder and struggles to carry on his work as a filmmaker.
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From Under the Bushy Trees
Jan Padgett/Moira Simpson
Bear Productions
72:00 •
2008 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
Chad is a vibrant, poverty-stricken country in the middle of sub-Saharan Africa. It is here that the filmmakers ask a central question concerning North America’s involvement in Africa: how can aid be delivered with justice and dignity?
From Under the Bushy Trees follows Gerri Graber of Powell River, BC to Chad. There she teams up with a young education student, Bartholomew Mokuh, and they work together with the villagers of Manda to build a school. The project captures the imagination of the people of Powell River. As well as the money raised for the school, they also help support a family of seven AIDS orphans. Despite everyone’s best intentions, problems arise.
At the heart of the film are the women of Chad, living in a society of ongoing oppression. During the course of filming, these women meet collectively for the first time and begin taking control over the uses of the new school. They understand, along with the outspoken Lynn Whitehouse, Canada’s Honourary Consul for Chad and resident of the country for thirty years, that education is key to building sustainable social change and a better life for themselves and their children.
From Under the Bushy Trees takes us on an intimate and challenging journey into the complexities of offering aid to Africa.
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Growth Rings
Directed and produced by C. Mairin Deery
Deer Tracks
12:00 •
2009 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
People who live in the seemingly pastoral setting of Canada’s west coast and the First Nations people of the area reflect on the pressures from outside for change that will impact their ways of life and the fragile eco-system, specifically the liquid natural gas terminal proposed by Enbridge Gas for Texada Island.
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Johnny Tootall
Directed by Shirley Cheechood
Produced by Danielle Prohom Olson
93:00 •
2006 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
In this film, directed by Shirley Cheechoo, Adam Beach plays Johnny Tootall, a soldier discharged from the Bosnian War. He returns home, haunted by a dark secret—the murder of a young boy. He also carries other demons, including the death of his father, his departure from destiny as Chief of his Band, and leaving the love of his life.
Upon his return, Johnny finds a new war. His estranged brother is leading a revolt to save their sacred land. Johnny faces a new dilemma—does he fight to save his people, or does he save himself? His journey will guide him to realizing that they are the same. In an instant, his world changes; and in death, his brother guides him on a spirit walk to meet his destiny as leader of his people.
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The Life & Work of Daphne Odjig
Dr. Raoul McKay
First Voice Multimedia
48:00 •
2008 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
One of Canada’s greatest Canadian artists, Daphne Odjig, is a Potowatomi from Manitoulin Island. Her work, based on Indigenous traditions and way of life, spans over four decades. This epic goes beyond her paintings and drawings and looks at the forces that molded her spirit and her keen interest in art. Duke Redbird calls her a “national treasure” for her unique style and her often spectacular painting, much of which is shown in this film. Her work reflects a wide range of topics such as spirituality, tradition, education, politics and humour. This heartwarming story of her life and her art will appeal to her many admirers around the world and garner new enthusiasts for her work.
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Mr. H and his Unruly Puppets
Directed and produced by Annie O'Donoghue
30:00 •
2009 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
Robert Heidbreder—“Mr. H.” to his Grade One students—is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for teaching excellence. Throughout his 30-year tenure with the Vancouver School Board, he has developed a classroom where learning is challenging and fun. A cast of over 50 puppets, led by the wise wizard Alphaterwa and the unruly Stanley C. Crow, transforms the Grade One curriculum into a year-long interactive drama. Children learn to read because each puppet has a poem that is used to activate that puppet’s power.
Mr. H.’s passions as a poet and an award-winning children’s author are evident in the letters, clues and riddles written by Mr. H. and sent to the children by the puppets each morning. The children’s responses to the letters create the content, climax and resolution for their daily adventures under the watchful eye of the puppet master and teacher, Mr. H. In a climate of standardizing educational ideologies, Mr. H and his Unruly Puppets shows a refreshing counter balance, celebrating a style of collaboration with young children that truly exemplifies the art of teaching.
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Muskeg Special
Directed and produced by Gregory Zbitnew
Dream Logic Corporation
110:00 •
2008
Educational Edition
Available on DVD and VHS
Embark on an extraordinary journey by train from The Pas to Churchill through Northern Manitoba and learn about the fascinating people who lived in communities along the Hudson Bay Rail Line. Taking footage shot on 16mm film in 1979 by a group of independent filmmakers from Winnipeg, Gregory Zbitnew has created an educational edition of digitally restored footage. The DVD includes a location map and scene selections.
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My Son the Pornographer
Peter Campbell/Art Holbrook
Gumboot Productions/Arthur Holbrook Productions
45:00•
2008 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
This love story between a father and son explores the consequences of life choices and how they can tear families apart. Art, a man raised with conservative moral values, visits his son Kole, who works as a writer and actor in the pornography business in Prague. Art is concerned that Kole's choice of career is linked to the sexual abuse he experienced in Canada as a child. He hopes to open up lines of communication and get Kole out of a life that he believes is negative and soul destroying. As they inch their way to common ground despite a clash of values, Art persuades Kole to return to Canada to confront his past so that he can begin healing his troubled life. This moving and surprisingly humorous documentary examines the complexities of parenting and the long-lasting impact of sexual abuse on victims and their families.
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Nature on its Course
Directed and produced by Su-An Ng
2:30 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
Nature on its Course is a short mixed-media animation about a careless hunter who takes more than he needs. It’s a reminder to viewers to respect their environment and not to underestimate the forces of nature.
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Nehiyawetan: Let's Speak Cree (Series 1 – 6 parts)
Loretta Todd/Kamala Todd/Jason Krowe
Mama-oo Pictures Ltd
24:00 each part •
2008 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
Nehiyawetan means “Let’s speak Cree”. This dynamic sixpart series combines live action and animation in an innovative approach to making the Cree language accessible to young children. It follows a group of Aboriginal children, ages 5 to 7, as they learn to speak Cree in the city. The approach taken reinforces learning through play, music, adventure and storytelling. Nehiyawetan promotes language retention, offers a Cree perspective of the world and encourages smart choices about living in the city.
Greetings
Join Grace, Kai, and Kiyano as their teacher
Josephine teaches them the Cree words for
“hello” and “how are you”, while musical guest
Jason Burnstick joins them in a fun singalong.
Then, it’s time for an exciting game of “Go, Go,
Stop”–Cree style before the children gather for
the animated story “The Shy Village” about a boy
who lives in a village where no one says “hello”.
Numbers
Grace, Kai, Kiyano, and their teacher Josephine
are off to the farmer’s market to shop for fruit
and test their new Cree counting words. As
gametime arrives, they have fun seeing how
many times they can hop on one foot, and Ray
Thunderchild rallies them for a fun round–dance. A short animation features a mouse
climbing stairs to get into the house before it
rains and counting the steps as he goes.
Action
Grace, Kai, and Kiyano get the chance to exercise
their bodies and their Cree with action words for
running, dancing, jumping and stopping. Musical guest Sandy Scofield joins in on the fun while
Grace shares a story about how much she likes to
dance.
Family
Grace, Kai, and Kiyano learn family titles in Cree,
and fun ensues as they play charades, trying to
guess who Josephine is pretending to be. Cheryl
L’Hirondelle appears as a musical guest, and
Grace shares a story about her family.
Animals
Grace, Kai, Kiyano and their teacher Josephine
are off to Stanley Park in search of different
animals and practice the Cree words for their
various furry friends. Kai shares a story about his
Atim (“dog” in Cree), and Cheryl L’Hirondelle
drums and sings about animals with the children.
Fun
Musical guest Jason Burnstick joins Grace, Kai,
and Kiyano on a journey to Jericho Beach in
Vancouver to have a picnic, play some games
and enjoy berry picking. In other words, they’re
out to have “fun”!! Kai shares a story about how
much he likes to climb... even wallclimb!
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Nehiyawetan: Let's Speak Cree (Series 2 – 6 parts)
Loretta Todd/Kamala Todd/Jason Krowe
Nehiyawetan Productions
24:00 each part •
2009 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
Nehiyawetan means “Let’s speak Cree”. This second sixpart series combines live action and animation in an innovative approach to making the Cree language accessible to young children. It follows a group of Aboriginal children, ages 5 to 7, as they learn to speak Cree in the city. The approach taken reinforces learning through play, music, adventure and storytelling. Nehiyawetan promotes language retention, offers a Cree perspective of the world and encourages smart choices about living in the city.
In the Garden
Tansi! Kai and Auntie Josephine are back, and
joined by new student, Kayla, for another fun year
of Cree. What better way to start the new year
than In the Garden, learning about all the things
that grow right in their own backyard! Guest
performer Jason Burnstick joins in on the fun with
a song about the nature that surrounds us.
Colours
The world is a colourful place, and Kai and
Kayla are learning about the four colours of the
medicine wheel–white, yellow, black and red–with
their Auntie Josephine and guest performer, Art
Napoleon. Artist Jerry Whitehead stops by to
teach Kai and Kayla about mixing colours for their
beautiful painting.
Seasons
The harvest is here–it’s time to celebrate the
arrival of a new season and the perfect time to
learn about the four seasons of the year! Children
are welcomed at the Aboriginal Garden at the
University of British Columbia, where Kai and Kayla
help serve the elders and eat the delicious harvest
meal. Guest performer Renae Morriseau drops in
to sing a song about the seasons.
Clothing
You are cordially invited to Kai and Kayla’s dress up
party! They are on a costume adventure with their
Auntie Josephine, as they learn the Cree words for
the clothes they wear and play an exciting game
with funny clothes. To add to the fun, musical
guest Joseph Naytowhow is scheduled to perform
at the party.
Weather
It is sunny, it is windy, it is rainy, it is snowy.
Josephine and guest performer, Skeena Reece,
teach Kai and Kayla the Cree words for various
weather and they go to Science World to see how
weather can help make energy. This episode is sure
to bring sunshine to your house!
Feast
Let’s eat, feast, and give thanks with Josephine,
Kai, and Kayla, as they celebrate the end of
another great year! All are welcomed in the feast
at the Kla-how-eya Centre in Surrey, BC filled with
laughing and singing with the Children of the
Rainbow. Guest performer Art Napoleon shares all
the fun of feasting and of course, giving thanks for
feast. Hai hai everyone!
[top]
No Numbers: identity beyond measure
Sonja Ruebsaat/Dena Ashbaugh
beatroute productions
91:00 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
Living in a society that is heavily dominated by capitalist narratives and media values makes many feel like they don’t quite measure up. As a model and actor, Dena Ashbaugh has battled eating disorders for many years and is particularly media savvy. She and other individuals share their stories in this examination of the general sense of “dis-ease” in a society where dissatisfaction with self-image is increasingly becoming the norm.
Three women use film to move away from the self-destructive practices of disordered eating toward those that are self creating. They rediscover values in life that move beyond inches, weight, and other measures that society too often champions as benchmarks for success. Treatment for eating disorders often fails to break out of this numbers game, resulting in frustratingly low recovery rates and unacceptably high mortality. The stories of recovery by the three women in No Numbers, although personal, are inescapably connected to society and thus to the community as a whole.
[top]
Oh Me 2: a case of BiPolar disOrder
Jonathan Amitay
20:00•
2008
Available on DVD and VHS
In this personal and endearing film, a prolific and brilliant animator reveals his battles with bipolar disorder to lay the path for a new understanding of this condition. His son, a psychiatrist, adds his own comments, from the perspective of a family member.
[top]
Ohanashi: The Story of Our Elders (a 10-part series)
Directed by Susanne Tabata
Produced by Suanne Tabata and the National Nikkei Museum & Heritage Centre
2008
Available on DVD and VHS
Tak Miyazaki
Born August 1, 1929 (35 min)
Tak Miyazaki was born at the Japanese Hospital in Steveston, BC in 1929. Although he was a fisherman’s son Mr. Miyazaki would always get sea sick while on the water and never thought he would be a commercial fisherman. During relocation Mr. Miyazaki travelled with his family through British Columbia by boat and train before arriving in Bridge River, eventually moving on to Minto City, both self-supporting internment communities.
After internment, Mr. Miyazaki’s father wanted to come back to the West Coast, to fish – the only profession he knew. To do this he needed a permit so he had to temporarily stay in the interior working in a sawmill. Eventually moving back to the West Coast, both son and father bought commercial fishing boats and continued to work in the industry for many years. When Mr. Miyazaki was no longer able to work in the fishing industry, his son took over his business. Mr. Miyazaki was a representative of the Steveston community during the redress settlement and is also an active member of the local Buddhist community.
Kazue Oye
Born November 19th, 1912 (30 min)
Kazue Oye was born in Steveston, BC in 1912. Since her family lived in a house provided by a fishing company, they did not pay taxes. To attend public school at this time a family had to pay taxes. Mrs. Oye attended a school provided by the Japanese Canadian community. This school did not provide education past grade 8 and Mrs. Oye wanted to pursue her education further so she travelled to Japan to complete her schooling. While in Japan she and her classmates sang in front of the Emperor.
After finishing school and returning to Canada, she met and married her husband with whom she had two children, Elsie and Robert. Shortly after Robert was born, her husband passed away and she raised her children alone.
Relocation for Mrs. Oye brought her to the self-supporting community at Christina Lake with her in-laws. Shipments of food were brought in once a week and they lived in a local lodge. After the war Mrs. Oye supported her family by working on farms but her brother and father wanted to return to the coast to fish again. The entire family did return to the coast and Mrs. Oye worked for BC Packers for many years, earning enough to send both of her children to the University of British Columbia.
Shirley Omatsu
Born August 30th, 1929 (44 min)
Shirley Omatsu was born in Vancouver, BC. In Japan, her grandfather believed the West was where the future lay and her father was encouraged to go to Canada. Mrs. Omatsu has fond memories of growing up on the 300 block of Powell Street in Vancouver, including watching the Asahi baseball team and her school life.
Mrs. Omatsu remembers coming home on Sunday December 7th, 1941, the day of the Pearl Harbor attack. Her father was clinging to the radio. She did not understand at the time why the adults were acting so serious. Almost immediately the Japanese School was closed and her Buddhist minister was sent to a holding cell.
During relocation her father told the authorities that he not only wanted to keep his family together but did not want to burden taxpayers any more, so the family decided to become self-sustaining. They moved to Notch Hill in the Okanagan and the RCMP found them an abandoned blacksmith shack that her father fixed up. They found the local people treated them very well and were not discriminated against. She stayed temporarily at New Denver internment camp hospital when she became sick.
After internment she decided to go into hairdressing and moved back to Vancouver where she met her husband. Eventually she managed a high-end salon.
Tom Sando Kuwabara
Born March 29, 1922
Shig Kuwabara
Born Feb 6, 1924 (47 min)
These two brothers were born in Skeena River, BC to a fisherman father. Their mother died when they were very young and the boys were sent to live with relatives in Japan for eight years. When given the choice, they decided to come back to Canada. When their father came to Japan to collect them he also decided to interview potential wives and remarry to help raise his family.
The new family returned to Skeena River where their father continued to fish with two boats. The family then moved to Steveston where father and sons lived in a company home while their mother lived in a rooming house.
One day after arriving in their new home, Pearl Harbor was attacked. During relocation, both Shig and Tom were old enough to be separated from their family. They expressed feelings of disagreement with their situation and were sent to a prisoner of war camp where they were monitored with machine guns in barbed wire fences. At this camp they were considered to be equivalent to Japanese soldiers and were made to wear red circles on their backs so they could always be seen, especially during an escape. The camp did provide some opportunities such as Judo, Haiku clubs and lifelong friendships. Tom also kept a diary that he started while in Hastings Park which was later published into a book.
After the war ended they were offered jobs in Northern Manitoba. The brothers parted ways to pursue their careers and begin families.
Susumu Tabata
Born December 9th, 1925 (44 min)
Susumu Tabata was born in Steveston, BC to a father who was an engineer on a fish packing boat. During the Depression his parents worked for eight to ten cents per hour. He remembers that although they were never rich, they never suffered either.
After Pearl Harbor was attacked, Mr. Tabata remembers listening to a radio at a neighbour’s house and seeing others being taken away. His father was sent to a road camp and was separated from the family. The rest of the Tabata family went to Kaslo where they lived in a hotel. The conditions were very hard particularly in the beginning when there were not even enough mattresses for everyone. He recalls some winters being so cold that his shoes would be frozen when he tried to put them on in the morning.
In Kaslo students were given the opportunity to go to high school. After internment he worked in a sawmill for a year. In 1947 he was able to obtain a RCMP permit to attend the University of British Columbia. At university he earned a Masters degree in Oceanography, and then worked in Nanaimo for 15 years. He later attended the University of Tokyo, completing his PhD. He married a Caucasian woman in 1959, a rare inter-racial marriage at this time.
Alfie Kamitakahara
Born January 29, 1929 (43 min)
Both of Alfie Kamitakahara’s parents were from a small village in Japan. Growing up in a large family in Steveston, Mr. Kamitakahara describes his childhood as a ‘Huckleberry Finn’ lifestyle; afternoons spent rafting down the river and getting caught with a slingshot. His father was one of the few issei (first generation immigrants) who spoke English well and often was the community representative. Their family had the only telephone in the village and Mr. Kamitakahara would often listen in to hear what was going on.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, all fishing boats in Steveston were confiscated; Mr. Kamitakahara remembers being part of a convoy headed up the river. When sent to Hastings Park he was old enough to be separated from his younger siblings and had to obtain a pass to see his mother. After Hastings Park the family travelled to Slocan. Upon arrival they discovered their housing had not been built, so they had to stay in tents that night which collapsed under the snow. He has many memories of life in Slocan including local talent shows, fighting forest fires and the arrival of Japanese food sent by the Japanese government courtesy of the Red Cross.
After internment, Mr. Kamitakahara moved to Alberta to work on a farm which was very hard work, having to cope with ice, snow and mud, all using a horse-drawn tractor. He later married an accomplished hairdresser and started his own insurance agency.
Marie Katsuno
Born November 8, 1923 (35 min)
Marie Katsuno was born the daughter of a fisherman. She grew up in East Burnaby and would often take the inter-urban tram to Powell Street, a community of which her mother was a part. Her family eventually moved to West Vancouver and was part of a small Japanese Canadian fishing village.
After Pearl Harbor was attacked and they were told to relocate, her father thought they would return to their home as Japan had never lost a war before. While packing they tried to hide some belongings under floorboards and by burying them in the yard. By the time they got to the internment camp at Tashme there was already a lot of snow. Being a family of only three people they had to share their house with another couple. Mrs. Katsuno had finished high school and was sent to New Denver camp to learn how to teach. At the school in Tashme there were very few supplies at first, which made teaching difficult. On weekends the school would become a community centre so the young people could dance with missionary teachers overseeing as chaperones.
After the war her family moved to Japan and she lived in Yokohama with an aunt. She met her husband while working for the American government. They raised two children in Japan until she and her American-born husband eventually moved back to Canada in 1994.
Midge Ayukawa
Born June 26, 1930 (33 min)
Midge Ayukawa grew up in a mixed-background neighbourhood in Vancouver, BC as the only girl in a family of boys. Her father was self educated and both parents were from Hiroshima. She was sent to Japanese school but felt out of place with her classmates there.
After Pearl Harbor her father was sent away to a labour camp and she and the rest of her family went to Lemon Creek. While packing for relocation her mother insisted on bringing the kitchen stove.
After internment, Mrs. Ayukawa stayed in camp an extra year, lived in a German POW camp for a short time and eventually moved to Hamilton to attend university. She found this time to be a very difficult adjustment. At Lemon Creek everyone had spoken a mix of Japanese and English, and she had to transition her language use. She financed her way through university and obtained her Masters degree before going on to work in Ottawa. After her children were born, her husband passed away and she decided to move back to BC. She earned her PhD at the University of Victoria studying Japanese Canadian history.
May Komiyama
Born May 19th, 1922 (34 min)
May Komiyama was born in Vancouver, BC and grew up in a non-Japanese neighbourhood of Marine Drive because of her father’s career. Her father was one of the few people who had been baptized as a Christian in Japan, but her grandfather disowned him so he came to live in Canada. Her father wanted his children to be good Canadians and good Christians.
After school she began her training to become a nurse but was forced to stop after Pearl Harbor was attacked. She had to leave the school so quickly that her fellow students did not know where she went for many years. One of her sisters was also a nurse and helped at Hastings Park. The family was moved to Kaslo, where they lived in a house outside the centre of town but were very involved in the community. Another sister helped in the school.
After internment she moved to Guelph to complete her nursing school. At first she was housed separately from other students. One patient told her he was frightened at first of having a Japanese nurse, which she found amusing. She married a man who she had known all her life. He was a minister who had been ordained in Vancouver during curfew and had to get special permission to go to his evening ordination service.
Irene Tsuyuki
Born December 3, 1925 (45 min)
Irene Tsuyuki was born on Powell Street, the heart of the Japanese Canadian community, in Vancouver, BC. Her mother passed away in childbirth so relatives adopted Mrs. Tsuyuki and her brother. Her father owned a shoe store and she enjoyed helping there during the busy Christmas season. She attended public school and Japanese school.
When Pearl Harbor was bombed, her father was in the hospital due to diabetes complications so her family was one of the last to be relocated. Because of this, she was able to complete grade 8. When they arrived in Tashme her father stayed in a temporary hospital. She remembers many things from Tashme including the lack of privacy, school life, many concerts, and watching Japanese movies.
After internment the family moved to Japan due to her father’s poor health. Her father become very healthy in Japan and even stopped taking insulin. Mrs. Tsuyuki never felt welcome at her job in Japan and eventually applied to go back to Canada. A family friend sponsored her to return to Canada and she eventually married one of their sons.
[top]
On a Moving Path
Directed by Myriam Fougère
Produced by Pauline Voisard
Vidéo Femmes
25:00 •
2007
French with English subtitles
Available on DVD and VHS
With an approach that is both poetic and personal, this documentary portrays the variety of emotions experienced by women diagnosed with breast cancer as they attempt to cope with their new reality and what awaits them in the future.
[top]
Over Land
Directed by Steve Suderman
Produced by Steve Suderman and Robin Schlaht
Orangeville Road Pictures
60:00 •
2008 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
This farm story, from the inside out, paints an intimate portrait of a Canadian family facing a crisis in agriculture. Between 1996 and 2006, amidst warnings of an impending food shortage, prices for farm goods dropped to their lowest point in Canadian history, driving many farmers off the land. With a family history of farming spanning generations, the Sudermans face a challenged that threatens to pull the family apart. As Suderman films his family, the fight for economic survival becomes a touching story of hope, determination, and the search for purpose.
An electronic resource guide is available at www.orangevilleroad.com
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Painted on the Spot: On the Road with Ernie Luthi...
Directed and produced by Fiji Robinson
Rudecat Pictures
14:00 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
Between his drawings and paintings, it’s estimated that Dr. Ernest Luthi created some 10,000 artistic works, many of which he painted “on the spot” in rural Saskatchewan. Ernie claimed it was his love of nature and the changing times that fuelled his passion for painting the Saskatchewan landscape.
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The Peace Tree
Mitra Sen
Sandalwood Productions
45:00 •
2005 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
When a little Muslim girl and a Christian girl dream of celebrating each other’s festivals, Christmas and Eid, they run into problems at home trying to convince their parents that it’s really all about peace. Through their struggles, they create a unique symbol, The Peace Tree, a tree that highlights the symbols from all our cultures and faiths to reflect on the beauty of diversity in unity.
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Polio Hunters
Directed and produced by Jack Silberman
Homeward Bound Productions
45:30 •
2008
Available on DVD and VHS
The highly contagious polio virus that crippled thousands in Canada in the 1950s has been eradicated in many western countries but still thrives in a few places around the world. One of its last strongholds is in northern India, in the state of Uttar Pradesh and in the city of Muzaffarnagar. Polio Hunters follows a two-week immunization campaign there in 2005 assisted by Toronto’s Dr. Yakub Vaid for the World Health Organization.
This trip takes Dr. Vaid away from his family and the comforts of his home in Toronto. He returns to the home of his ancestors; and with a tight timeline, he has to employ all the resources he can to find and vaccinate those at risk in a region where many aren’t even aware that the polio vaccine can protect their children. Dr. Vaid is able to mobilize the volunteer resources of street criers and performers, school teachers and students, local midwives and the Muslim leaders to vaccinate as many children as possible to halt the spread of this crippling disease.
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Reclaiming Rights
Directed and produced by Brishkay Ahmed
52:30 •
2009
Farsi (Pashtun) with English subtitles
Available on DVD and VHS
Hokouk is the word for “rights” in the language spoken by Afghan women. Reclaiming Rights follows a team of sassy Afghan lawyers and their clients, the young girls under the turquoise blue burqas, in and out of meetings and court appointments.
For the uneducated girls, words like “Section 183 of the Constitution” or “Item Number 12 of the Civil Rights” mean little. But from their lawyer’s perspective, a window has opened. The opportunity to reclaim lost legal rights through courage and education has arrived. Sex, marriage, love and the law are explored as the girls share their stories to seek freedom with fellow Afghan and filmmaker, Brishkay Ahmed. The DVD includes both a play through and chaptered version and provides insight into the fight within Afghanistan to preserve human rights and the rule of law in a constitution that fell under pressure from the Taliban.
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The Red Jacket
Directed and produced by Angela Bianchi
White Angel Productions
24:00 •
2008
Available on DVD and VHS
A chance encounter in Esquimalt, BC led to life-altering consequences for Nicholas Chow Johnson, a visitor to this Victoria suburb. Nicolas was walking on a street late at night. He had no gang affiliations; but he was wearing a red jacket, and red is the colour of the Bloods street gang. He didn’t realize the significance of this until confronted by a group of youths who were members of a rival gang, the Crips.
The beating that followed left Nick incapacitated for life, in a wheelchair and with a brain injury.
This victimization of an innocent youth illustrates the problems with gang violence that now crosses all sectors of society in Canadian cities. The Red Jacket is a powerful discussion starter for teens on how bad decision making carries lifelong consequences.
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regeneration
Julie Lee
arthousegallery
26:00 •
2007
Available on DVD and VHS
Eleven children from a remote First Nations village in British Columbia collaborate with a group of internationally acclaimed artists on an art project. The result builds confidence for the children and inspires both the artists and the students. This video documents the art initiative that gave the students disposable black and white cameras to document the beauty of their secluded village. The powerful images they created inspired a group of artists to mount these works of art in a fair trade exhibition in Vancouver.
The documentary regeneration portrays art and collaboration as social tools that inspire imagination, and the strength that comes with anything being possible.
“Sustaining dignity and confidence is taxing when students are faced with entering a daunting system outside of the community, yet it can be done. It is this generation and the next that are reviving the beauty of the past, merging it with positive elements of the present to sustain a healthy future.” - Crystal Clark lax kw’alaams school teacher[top]
Revolving Doors
Directed and produced by Kristen Korns
12:30 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
Evanna Brennan and Susan Giles are public health nurses who have developed innovative strategies in their work with the unique population in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Over the last 15 years, they have become pioneers in providing street-level home care nursing to an essentially homeless population surviving the effects of drug addiction, mental illness and now HIV. Revolving Doors follows the nurses through the harsh streets of Canada’s poorest postal code and provides a special glimpse of the extraordinary approach and amazing dedication they’ve developed to reach out to this fragile population.
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Rising from the Ashes
Directed and produced by Steven Hunt
Sound Development Communications Media
27:30 •
2009 • Spanish with English subtitles and narration
Available on DVD and VHS
French and Spanish versions also available
Peru’s civil war killed more than 70,000 people. Hidden from view, primarily high in the Andes, the brutality of the armed conflict with the Shining Path shocked Peruvians. Indigenous people were the primary victims where rape was used as a weapon of war. This documentary, produced with Inter Pares, a Canadian NGO working for social justice around the world, tells a powerful story of women who are taking on new roles in Peru and seeking justice in a post-conflict society.
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Seducing the Guard
Directed and produced by Daniel Conrad
Rhodopsin Productions
54:00 •
1999
Available on DVD and VHS
Every human culture makes art. Something so universal must have a purpose—what biologists call survival value. Yet our culture has marginalized art as a luxury and commercialized it as entertainment. Are we losing something vital for our survival?
Seducing the Guard investigates the purpose of art and finds deep connections between art and science. The film includes art works filmed on location in some of the world’s great museums in France, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, and North America, along with comments from interviews with some of the 21st century’s greatest thinkers—from authors, musicians, film directors, choreographers and curators to neuroscientists, and Nobel-laureate physicists. Newly released on DVD in 2009, this film is especially relevant as world leaders slowly become aware of the increasing importance of culture in the new world economy.
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Sheol
Directed and produced by Rubén Möller
Rue Productions
10:30 •
2004
Available on DVD and VHS
“Sheol” is the Hebrew word for the place under the earth where departed spirits are believed to go. Inspired by the debate between different religious beliefs on afterlife, Vancouver animator Rubén Möller combines computer graphics with elaborate time-lapse motion control movement in this unique film experience. Characters exist within a textured world of filmic space illuminated by a constantly shifting light to create a beautifully surrealistic animation.
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Shi-shi-etko
Directed by Kate Kroll
Produced by Marilyn Thomas
Monkey Ink Media
12:00 •
2009
Halq'emalem with English subtitles
Available on DVD and VHS
Based on the children's book Shi-shi-etko by Nicola Campbell, this beautiful story follows a young Aboriginal girl on the last four days before she is taken to residential school.
Each day of these days she spends with a different family member–her mother, her father and her Yayah (grandmother). Knowing what's in store, each of them reminds her of the beauty of her culture, who she is and, most importantly, to never forget.
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Shipyards Lament: The Yukon's Lost Frontier
Directed by Andrew Connors
Produced by Dianne Carruthers
40:00 •
2001
Available on DVD and VHS
The Shipyards was a riverside squatters community in downtown Whitehorse that symbolized the Old Yukon lifestyle. Shipyards Lament follows the forced eviction of the residents of this neighbourhood, the last of its kind in urban Canada. John Hatch, photographer and free spirit, was a resident of the Shipyards. The documentary follows him as he is forced to give up his home to make way for southern style development: condos, strip malls and fast food joints. John serves as a guide into the homes and hearts of this vanishing community in a powerful lament that illustrates the changing character of Canada’s last frontier.
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So Far and Soar
Directed and produced by Jocelyne Chaput
10:30 •
2009 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
A researcher is emotionally drained as she searches for connections, both in her lab work and relationships. So lost is she in the depth of her studies, it takes an unexpected event to change shift her perspective to a new direction.
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Standing Tall
Directed by Raoul McKay, Monique McKay and Dino Schiavone
Produced by Raoul McKay
First Voice Multimedia
24:00 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
English and French Mechief versions available
This 24-minute documentary is set in Winnipeg, Manitoba’s North End, an area where many of the city’s poorer people live, and an area where many Indigenous people make their homes. It profiles a program introduced into two schools, at the Grade 5-8 levels, William Whyte Community School and Niji-Mahkwa School. Standing Tall is a project organized by the Manitoba Métis Federation to counter-act poor test results produced by the existing education system and to encourage Métis parental and community input into the schools.
The story highlights the participation of trained Métis staff who carried out the program, providing encouragement, positive feedback, and personal interaction for the students, the comfort of “the nest” provides an atmosphere of security and well-being. Community involvement and parental support are the key to the program’s success.
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Tending Toward Silence
Directed and produced by Arlin McFarlin
Ten Thousand Doors
10:30 •
2007
Available on DVD and VHS
Set in the Yukon, Tending Toward Silence weaves a story of three different moments: time in the hospital, a summer spent collecting rocks and another reality, both mysterious and sustaining. The film bridges the world between life and death and suggests that our last journey has possibilities that we may not have considered.
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Through True Eyes: the process of recovery from eating disorders
Directed and produced by Daphne Curtis
Atlantic Mediaworks
23:00 •
2009
Includes discussion guide
Available on DVD and VHS
This documentary is based on research by Kate Weaver, R.N., PhD., University of New Brunswick. Three women share experiences of their battle with eating disorders, through onset, hospitalization and recovery. The issue of control in their lives was paramount for all, whether it was for body image or to counter complex childhood traumas including sexual abuse or the loss of family members. Frank and intimate recollections inform the reality of those who embark on the long process of overcoming anorexia nervosa.
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Time Apart: A History of Hope
Directed by Rachel Bower and Warren Brown
Produced by Rachel Bower
Willow Productions
43:00 •
2009 • closed captioned
Available on DVD and VHS
Seventy-seven-year old Holocaust survivor Alice Zuckerman never gave up hope she would find her family, lost after the Second World War. When scribbled notes on torn paper reveal clues to her past, Alice and her family reunite. Alice takes us on a moving journey through old Eastern Europe, a world that seemingly disappeared through Nazism and Communism. Yet the world of Alice’s childhood remains vital in the hearts of the people she meets along the way. Time Apart: A History of Hope is a story that proves, as Alice Zuckerman says, “Hope is the last thing to die”.
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Travelling Medicine Show
Directed and produced by Amnon Buchbinder
Fishing Trip Productions
28:00 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
Travelling Medicine Show is a half-hour film based on the Creation story. Its poetic, ambiguous narrative is expressed wordlessly through vivid imagery. Set entirely on an isolated beach, it weaves together two enigmatic lines of action that converge: in one, an adolescent boy rows across the water to the beach to conduct a private ritual. In the second, a performance by Dr. Theo’s Travelling Medicine Show, on the same beach, depicts the creation of the world, showcasing Dr. Theo’s medicine.
The film uses theatrical techniques developed by Shadowland Theatre, including large scale props, masks and hand-made puppets in outdoor settings. Travelling Medicine Show provides a starting point to explore, in a deeply imaginative and experiential framework, themes of creation, environment, rites of passage, imagination and storytelling. The DVD includes a discussion guide and has a menu with additional materials including an interview with the director that can be used to provide further avenues of study and creative exploration.
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Trolls
Directed and produced by Brianne Nord-Stewart
7:00 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
There comes a time in every kid’s life when they realize their parents are up to more than just “cleaning their room”. For nine-year-old Billy, this discovery only comes with the help of his know-it-all younger cousin, Genevieve. When she explains the rules and point system of the “adults only” game, Billy and Genevieve start counting up their own points. Soon playground gossip turns anatomical, and Billy, with Genevieve close behind, tries to get to the bottom of what “doing it” actually means. Trolls is a hilarious reminder of those childhood moments which made growing up exciting, embarrassing and downright confusing.
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Under One Sky
Christine McDowell/Moira Simpson
20:00 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
This film is a testament to every women who has been attacked and fought back. At a women’s martial arts camp on the BC coast, women from all over North America explore an extraordinary range of martial arts. They fight collaboratively; and through their discipline, strength, joyfulness and sheer determination, it becomes evident they are on a journey of self-discovery. Under One Sky turns the whole genre of martial arts films on its head as it explores the physical and spiritual nature of the arts as practised by women.
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Vintage Plumbing and Wiring
Directed and produced by MJ Sakurai
6:00 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
As we are sensual beings, sexuality is part of vital healthy ageing. Our plumbing for intimate connection may be functional for longer than generally recognized, and poignant couplings are possible through our wiring. Surely, as life force, sensual energy conducted by our wiring continues to manifest after we expire. This is a 6-minute video of selected images of antique plumbing, wiring and vintage electrical equipment for woodworking, blacksmithing and metal shop, interlaid with body images. The voiceover addresses some basic nuts and bolts issues of sensuality in our third age.
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Where Credit Is Due
Directed and produced by Hans Olson
Sahakarini Inter-World Education & Development Association
24:00 •
2008
Available on DVD and VHS
Against a backdrop of oppression and civil war in Guatemala, three women’s groups of the Kaqchikel Presbytery are using micro-credit loans for businesses that include agricultural projects and textiles. The documentary follows the community’s development and is a good illustration of how beneficial micro-credit can be for sustainable human development.
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Who Killed the Goldfish?
Directed and produced by Jin Hong
11:00 •
2009
English and Korean with English subtitles
Available on DVD and VHS
This short drama explores the power dynamic between a mother and the eldest daughter in a Korean immigrant family whose members vote to speak only English at home. The daughter takes advantage of her fluency in English to overpower her mother’s authority. With the father remaining in Korea to work, the geographical and psychological separation of the family become amplified by the obstacles of communication. Cracks caused by individual transition provide a powerful glimpse of the domestic struggles of an immigrant family.
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Who the Jew Are You?
Directed and produced by Alan Goldman
Blue Plate Productions
48:00 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
Alan Goldman is a man with a mission. As a disconnected Jew who marries a non-Jewish woman, he becomes a new father—only to learn that his new son is not technically a Jew. If Alan could just figure out what relevance Judaism has in his own life, he’d be able to help his son find his place in the Jewish world.
This film documents a journey that brings Goldman face to face with a variety of eclectic Jews who have reconnected to their faith. The journey is as important as the answers he seeks; and along the way, he uncovers a progressive, modern re-invigorated Judaism.
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Yabai
Directed and produced by Matthew Johnson
11:00 •
2009
Available on DVD and VHS
From jazzy scratch turntablism and ear-deafening electro breakdowns to contemporary fashion and articulate androids, Yabai features four of the most influential Asian North American artists in the scene today. They include Canadian marsupial turntablist Kid Koala (aka Eric San), born and raised in Vancouver and now based in Montreal as well as Vancouver fashion designer Natalie Purschwitz (Hunt & Gather). They join California artists Eric Nakamura, publisher of Giant Robot magazine, and Dim Mak DJ Steve Aoki to share their stories of becoming definitive figures in Asian North American art and culture.
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