Daniel Cross

Follows four women of the estimated 40,000 displaced people moved from the banks of the Xingu River in the Amazon Basin to make space for construction of one of the world's largest dams, the Belo Monte.

Wet’suwet’en leaders unite in a battle against the Canadian government, corporations, and militarized law enforcement to safeguard their territory from gas and oil pipelines.

With "sealfies" and social media, a new tech-savvy generation of Inuit is wading into the world of activism, using humour and reason to confront aggressive animal rights vitriol and defend their traditional hunting practices. Director Alethea Arnaquq-Baril joins her fellow Inuit activists as they challenge outdated perceptions of Inuit and present themselves to the world as a modern people in dire need of a sustainable economy.

Renowned Inuit lawyer Aaju Peter has long fought for the rights of her people. When her son suddenly dies, Aaju embarks on a journey to reclaim her language and culture after a lifetime of whitewashing and forced assimilation. But can she both change the world and mend her own wounds?

This exploration of Japan's fascination with girl bands and their music follows an aspiring pop singer and her fans, delving into the cultural obsession with young female sexuality and the growing disconnect between men and women in hypermodern societies.

Based on a true story, Mokhtar recounts the tale of a young boy who lives with his family of goatherds in a remote, Moroccan village. One day, the boy finds a fallen owl and decides to keep it, despite the fact that the owl is considered a bad omen. Mokhtar's new pet becomes a symbol of rebellion against his family and an icon of his fledgling independence. Kinship, religion and spirituality are all confronted in this astounding piece that celebrates inner and outer strength.

Dotted along an elevated train line in Richmond, BC, a sea of Asian-themed plaza malls and shopping centre signposts a massive demographic shift. The Golden Village takes us inside these vibrant spaces where every shop has a story, and everyday activities become moments of connection and belonging. A celebration of the mall as a “third place,” The Golden Village is a wondrous portrait of the places where culture, commerce and community converge to form a sense of home in an ever-changing landscape.

Struggling to make sense of the mental illness wreaking havoc on her siblings lives, filmmaker Kalina Bertin sets out to find the truth about their father, a man known alternately as a cult leader, a scam artist, a prophet, and a father of 15 children around the world.

IDFA and Canadian filmmaker Peter Wintonick had a close relationship for decades. He was a hard worker and often far from home, visiting festivals around the world. In 2013, he died after a short illness. His daughter Mira was left behind with a whole lot of questions, and a box full of videotapes that Wintonick shot for his Utopia project. She resolved to investigate what sort of film he envisaged, and to complete it for him.

Boniface Mwangi is daring and audacious, and recognized as Kenya’s most provocative photojournalist. But as a father of three young children, these qualities create tremendous turmoil between him and his wife Njeri. When he wants to run for political office, he is forced to choose: country or family?

How does a nation survive being swallowed by the sea? Kiribati, on a low-lying Pacific atoll, will disappear within decades due to rising sea levels, population growth, and climate change. This exploration of how to migrate an entire nation with dignity interweaves personal stories of survival and resilience.

All across the globe, Chinatowns are under threat of disappearing – and along with them, the rich history of a community who fought from the margins for a place to belong. Big Fight in Little Chinatown documents the collective fight to save Chinatowns across North America.

From the shadows of the majestic Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan comes a story of Azam, a shepherd and Buzkashi champion, who faces the pressures of modernization in the sport and in his own personal life. Azam plays as an individual for honor and integrity, but his success is increasingly thwarted by organized alliances, or "mafias", encouraged by his rival Khurshed, a member of Tajikistan's nouveau riche. Khurshed believes that team play is the future of the sport. Between challenges on the field and within his own family, Azam tries to find a place for himself in the new Tajikistan. Written by Najeeb Mirza

RiP!: A Remix Manifesto is a 2008 open source documentary film about the "the changing concept of copyright" directed by Brett Gaylor.

A family embarks on an annual tormenting journey along with 130 million other peasant workers to reunite with their distant family, and to revive their love and dignity as China soars as the world's next super power.

In Canada, George is a statistician. But in China, George is Elvis... CHAIRMAN GEORGE is a documentary feature about a Greek-Canadian troubadour who refuses to live anything but an extraordinary life. ln Ottawa, George is a statistician who lives with his mother. But every few months, he takes an extended leave from his job and heads to China where he metamorphoses into an international man of culture. Armed only with his bouzouki, guitar and cell phone, he becomes a star in China (with both the critics and the ladies). He concludes that since he is "the only Greek in the world who can sing in Chinese," it is his duty to perform at the Closing Ceremonies of the Athens Olympic Games, as the torch is passed from Athens to Beijing.

A musical journey through the swamps of the Louisiana Bayou, the juke joints of the Mississippi Delta and Moonshine soaked BBQs in the North Mississippi Hill Country. Visiting the last original blues devils, many in their 80's, still living in the deep south, working without management and touring the Chitlin' Circuit. Let Bobby Rush, Barbara Lynn, Henry Gray, Carol Fran, Lazy Lester, Bilbo Walker, RL Boyce, Jimmy 'Duck' Holmes, Lil Buck Sinegal, LC Ulmer and their friends awaken the blues in all of us.

At the edge of the Yangtze River, not far from the Three Gorges Dam, young men and women take up employment on a cruise ship, where they confront rising waters and a radically changing China.

Ted "Black Lightning" Patrick's practice of "deprogramming," also known as "reverse brainwashing," started in the early 1970s and quickly snowballed into a vast underground movement composed of concerned parents, ex-cultists-turned-deprogrammers and some sympathetic law-enforcers whose mission was to physically and mentally remove individuals from cults.

The story of the lone inventor who fought all his life to be recognized as the originator of one of mankind’s most significant inventions. John Atanasoff, a physics professor at Iowa State College, needed a better calculator that could quickly solve advanced equations and when he tried to find such a machine, realized none existed. So Atanasoff decided he must build his own calculator. Through archive material, reenactments, interviews with experts and first hand witnesses this documentary shines a light to controversy over who was the actual inventor of the computer and an unknown part of our history.

We follow Roach, a 17-year-old ex-junkie and squeegee punk living on the streets of Toronto and Montreal. As part of the filmmaking process, he's been given a camera to document his world. The footage he gets is urgent, because there's a war against squeegee kids. This documentary is from the point of view of the kids themselves, in order to provide alternative voices. Roach's camera is positioned behind "enemy" lines: living in derelict buildings, squeegeeing for money, being hunted by police.

Three years in the making, this feature documentary follows the progression of the Muslim Punk scene: from its imaginary inception in a novel written by a white-convert named Michael Muhammad Knight to a full-blown, real-life scene of Muslim punk bands and their fans.

With Antoine, filmmaker Laura Bari treats us to a sensitive portrait of a six-year-old boy, one like any other, except that he’s blind. We follow Antoine in his classes, playing with friends, skating, and visiting family. We accompany him on imaginary excursions as a detective, listen to him as a radio host, and sit shotgun as he drives his parents’ car. Antoine allows us access back into childhood since this isn’t a film about the struggles of a blind child but rather one about the real and imaginary world of childhood.

Every day, on the streets of Canada's cities, we pass them on our way to work or school. Bums, beggars, winos, bag people we call them. But who is the person at the end of that outstretched arm? What is life on the street really like? Is there a way off the street? For six years, director Daniel Cross followed the lives of three homeless men who spent much of their time in and around a Montreal subway station. Filmed in a cinema verité style, the film is unique: it humanizes the homeless, breaking down the barrier between us and them, neither moralizing nor offering easy answers. This is a gritty, compelling look at life on the streets that moves beyond the media stereotypes to show both the humanity of the homeless and the street-toughened aspects of their existence.