Ron Alexander

On Canada's Pacific coast this film finds a young Haida artist, Robert Davidson, shaping miniature totems from argillite, a jet-like stone. The film follows the artist to the island where he finds the stone, and then shows how he carves it in the manner of his grandfather, who taught him the craft.

This short documentary records the celebration and ritual surrounding a snowshoe competition in Sherbrooke in the late 1950s. The film marked the beginning of a new approach to reality in documentary and prefigures the trademark style of the NFB's newly formed French Unit. Today, "Les raquetteurs" is considered a precursor to the birth of direct cinema.

On your marks. Follow cyclists from 13 countries as they cover 2.400 km of Gaspé countryside in 12 days-a course longer than those of Italy, Belgium or Spain. The long shots of curving landscape and open road are set to a mesmerizing soundtrack in this documentary, and the results are spellbinding.

A slow-motion study by Norman McLaren of the pas-de-deux adagio, one of the most exacting and difficult dances of classical ballet. A ballet originally choreographed by the Russian ballet master Asaf Messerer is performed for this film by the internationally known Canadian pair, David and Anna Marie Holmes, to the music of Albinoni’s Adagio. A film to heighten the aesthetic appreciation of classical ballet and to afford observation of the technique and mechanics of the adagio movements.

A man sets a ping-pong ball into motion and it becomes fruitful and multiplies.

The epic story of the opening of the Canadian West and the drought that brought the Depression in the thirties. This is the saga of a family who left eastern Canada to stake their future in the Prairies.

Three politically incorrect lesbians talk about being lesbian.

This short, silent film captures a Sunday afternoon at a community skating rink. Iconic Quebec director Gilles Carle has the camera follow toddlers learning to skate, young girls flashing their skates and boys decked out in the colours of their favourite hockey teams. A picture perfect moment on a bright winter's day.

A documentary about the self-taught painter William Kurelek, told through his paintings. There are scenes of village life in the Ukraine and the early days of struggle on a prairie homestead and the growing comfort of family life. In Ontario, Kurelek paints the present life of Canada with the same pleasure he painted the old.

In this experimental animated short, Ryan Larkin (Walking) creates a series of figures who move across the screen and disappear into a hole. Eventually, the hole metamorphoses into a bridge, on top of which stands the young man from whom the others figures originated.

A boy's carved boat travels through the Canadian wilderness until it reaches the ocean.

Set in a neighborhood laundromat, "Laundromat" is a Romantic drama-edy that follows a young gay couple, who after a chance encounter with an older man, realize that the little things mean nothing and everything when it comes to love.

One day in a kindergarten classroom at Van Horne Public School in Montreal. The teacher encourages children to turn their curiosity into questions and organizes group activities and play periods.

A teenage boy rebels against parental authority and must face a harsh reality when he tries to live on his own.

A young, unmarried teenager finds herself pregnant. The film mirrors the state of her mind as she worries about the possible positive and negative reactions of her parents, boyfriend, etc in a series of vignettes.

This short film is a humorous look at the tourist industry in Canada. In tongue-in-cheek fashion, it points out the importance of good public relations in the tourist industry - more specifically, what not to do to tourists. (Sourced from the National Film Board of Canada: https://www.nfb.ca/film/tourist_go_home)

Household effects and farm implements under the hammer. Here is the auctioneer's cajoling patter, the jostling crowd, pungent observations from one or two old-timers and, over all, the kindly curiosity of folks who gather to see the end of a neighbour's life on the farm.

Two ballet dancers perform a dance enhanced with surreal after-image visuals.

This film looks at the world of children with hearing loss and the importance of early diagnosis. With its straightforward, rigorous cinematic style and intimate approach to the subject, the film focuses on the human rather than the technical side of the problem of hearing impairment.

A woman's peculiar religious convictions lead her on a self-destructive path.

Ex-fisherman Billy Crane in Brampton, Ontario, at an industrial job with regular hours. Here he tells why he left Fogo Island and says he has no regrets. (See also Billy Crane Moves Away.)

A chain-smoking woman has an encounter with a vampire.

Troubled youth Eddie McGeer, on a whim, steals a motorcycle and takes it on a short joy ride with his girlfriend Marie before they ditch it when they hear police sirens. Indeed, the police do know he stole the bike. Eddie doesn't know what to do except hang low for for while and dream about getting away from his troubles by going someplace like Acapulco with Marie. He tells his friends that they haven't seen him if anyone asks. He doesn't tell his mother what trouble he's in this time. And his social worker, knowing something is the matter, tries to get him to at least open up to him. Eddie eventually does tell his social worker, who knows that Eddie is not a bad kid but a scared one who needed to grow up far too quickly. Only Eddie can decide to take his advice to turn himself in, or continue to run, especially as Marie seems to be distancing herself further and further from him

Pioneers struggle to establish a town in the harsh unsettled wilderness of northern Quebec during the depression.