Darlene has made a momentous decision about her lengthy illness. Just as she and a very unusual in-home service converge, a frantic call from her strong-willed daughter threatens to derail her plans.
Voice over spoken work and a simple piano score combine to create a contemplative essay on everyday existence.
This documentary focuses on Tibetan monk Gyalten Rinpoche, who, after establishing a Buddhist centre in the West, returns to Nepal for an emotional reunion with his Master.
Designed as a companion piece to Canadian Pacific II, this film was shot near the artist's studio, from a window two storeys below on the second floor of a next-door building, between December, 1974, and February, 1975. It can be projected alone or in double-screen format with Canadian Pacific II.
Designed as a companion piece to Canadian Pacific I, this film was shot near the artist's studio, from a window two storeys higher on the fourth floor of a next-door building, between December, 1974, and February, 1975. It can be projected alone or in double-screen format with Canadian Pacific I.
This documentary, released for distribution in November 2000, delves into the history of the Chinese workers without whom Canada's national railway could never have been realized.
The Canneries is a historical exploration of the salmon canning industry along the coast of British Columbia.
Introducing Cree vocabulary to young children, featuring words related to canoeing.
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.
Just as the practice of footbinding was followed for centuries in China, the practice of wearing high heels has been promoted in the western world as a symbol of feminine beauty and desirability. But what happens to the body when they are worn?
In 2014, actiivists of all ages, ranging from First Nations people to long-time Vancouver residents and new Canadians, ascended Burnaby Mountain in Canada's third largest city. There they made camp on the proposed route of a future pipeline. Their determination to do whatever it takes to keep the project from going forward springs from a firm belief in the need to protect this area of unceded Coastal Salish people for future generations.
This tribute to Métis leader Raoul McKay (1934-2014) pays tribute to a prolific storyteller, filmmaker, educator and leader who advocated tirelessly for the rights of Indigenous people both in his home province of Manitoba and across Canada.
Influenced and influential, April Churchill and Gladys Vandal stand out as highly gifted and talented Haida artists, both of whom have worked to preserve the Haida weaving tradition.
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.
This episode of Ghost Towns of Canada explores Cassiar, British Columbia, where in 1952 one of the world's best known asbestos mine was opened. By the 1970s, with a new awareness of the health risks associated with asbestos the future of the Cassiar did not look bright.
This beautifully animated film sensitively portrays an experience of alcoholism in the family from a child's perspective. A stimulating and serious film for discussions on alcoholism and the children affected by substance abuse.
Four people of mixed Chinese and First Nations heritage talk about their heritage and identity.
A weaver from Skidegate, British Columbia, Vicki Moody uses cedar bark in the creation of a new style of art that brings together bold designs with her political views.
This third documentary from Series 1 of La Voix des Mechif, explores the history of Canada's Métis people, dispossessed from land allocated to them in Manitoba as they moved across the prairies into Saskatchewan and later Alberta. The contrast between how the Alberta Government handled the situation from that of Saskatchewan and Manitoba provincial governments reverberates today in the treatment of the Métis people.
The Certainty of Shadow is a video work filmed in Sicily, with the participation one of the world’s great Arab poets and Nobel nominee, Adonis. Inspired by Plato's Allegory of The Cave, the video proposes a voyage/dialogue between three artists: Canadian painter and videographer Kali Jones, Italian photographer and installation artist Maurizio Ruggiano, and Ali Ahmad Said Esber, also known by the pen name Adonis or Adunis, a Syrian poet, essayist and translator. Adonis has written more than 20 books and volumes of poetry in the Arabic language and in this work, he figures as a contemporary Odysseus, exploring varying notions of perception.
La certitude de l'ombre est une vidéo installation tournée en Sicile, avec la participation d'Adonis. La vidéo, inspirée par le mythe de la caverne de Platon sur l’illusion de la perception, ce projet raconte un voyage / dialogue entre les artistes Kali Jones (Canada), Maurizio Ruggiano (l'Italie), et Ali Ahmad Said Esber (Adonis) qui figure ici comme un Ulysse contemporain.
Members of the Musqueam First Nation reflect on the 24-hour, 200-day occupation in Vancouver, British Columbia to protect their 4,000-year-old ancestral village from destruction by a condo development.
Set in modern-day Montréal, C'est Moi explores the collision of the past as it meets the present. Performance by Montréal native Jenny Brizard evokes the return of a ghostly figure, Marie-Josèph Angélique, a runaway slave in 18th century New France (Québec). She was accused of setting a fire in Vieux Montréal and subsequently tortured and hanged. As it prepared to celebrate its 375th anniversary, the City of Montréal removed a plaque that stated a declaration against racial discrimination, thus posing the question, "How much of our past is erased in the restoration of history?"
Chanterelle Rain is an evocative, animated love song to the summer rains that give us the treasured culinary gift of chanterelle mushrooms.
AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY
AVAILABLE ON DVD
CLOSED CAPTIONED
FILMMAKERS
(directors & producers)