A Song for Quebec

This short documentary profiles a community engaged in developing sustainable living methods, including food production and small-scale solar and wind technology, on a farm in Massachusetts in the 1970s. Well before sustainability was a mainstream concern, these prescient innovators attempted to create a vision of a greener, kinder world. "Think small," say the New Alchemists. "Look what thinking big has done."

This short film was an experiment in using video recordings and closed circuit television to stimulate social action in a poor Montreal neighbourhood. A citizen's committee filmed people's concerns and then played back the tapes for the community. Upon recognizing their common problems, people began to talk about joint solutions. It proved an important and effective method of promoting social change.

Filmmaker Bonnie Sherr Klein and former stripper Lindalee Tracy explore the pornography industry by visiting strip clubs, peep shows, and adult film sets while interviewing performers, sex workers, critics, and feminist writers. Through these encounters, the documentary examines the production, economics, and cultural debates surrounding pornography.

This documentary short introduces us to the Caravan Stage Company, the world's only horse-drawn open-air theater. Every summer it tours British Columbia and Alberta, bringing live entertainment to communities where television is often the main diversion. In a montage of short sketches, the film shows the troupe on the road and in performance. Hard work and laughter are basic ingredients of this unconventional lifestyle.

A documentary that offers an intimate glimpse of three respected yet controversial Québec writers. Now recognized at home and abroad, Louky Bersianik, Jovette Marchessault and Nicole Brossard have contributed greatly to the creation of a distinctive women's literature. Confirming that fresh approaches to literature are still possible, they have helped to heighten the awareness of the politics of language. Excerpts from their works vividly convey each woman's style, concerns and rhythms. They examine personal and global issues from a feminist perspective: human relationships, work, justice, poverty, loneliness, women's spirituality, and the future.