Acting Blind

This short satirical film, created entirely from archival footage, is about the British Empire—on which the sun never sets. The majority of the humour and wit is found in the interplay between image and sound: what we see during the formative days of the Empire, and what famous servants had to say about it. Edited by Oscar®-nominated experimental filmmaker Arthur Lipsett (Very Nice, Very Nice).

A close-up view of crew racing from the seat that counts the most--the place of the man at the oars. Filmed at St. Catharines, Ontario, on the occasion of a North American rowing competition, this film follows a University of British Columbia team through practice, trials and competition, and to the telling race when well-schooled movement, hard rhythm and finely tuned muscles sweep the light shells ever faster down the course to the finish line.

This feature documentary is a profile of Canadian press tycoon Roy Thomson, whose single-minded attention to business brought him riches, power, and even a baronetcy in England. A native of Timmins, Ontario, Thomson had a tremendous career as publisher, television magnate, financier, and owner of many newspapers, including leading London dailies. The film is a frank study of an equally frank man.

A film about the women who supported the 1978 miners strike against Inco, the multinational which owned the nickel mines in Sudbury, Ontario. As the women became increasingly involved in the strike, they questioned more and more their traditional supportive role. This provoked many heated discussions among the women and obviously not without upsetting husband, family, union - and company...

This short film was shot on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and shows off the new technology employed on modern fishing boats in the mid-1960s. The featured trawler is open-stern style, allowing full nets to be dragged easily from the sea then lifted to release the silvery catch into the cleaning troughs. -NFB

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."

The shocking story of the establishment of the state of Israel told from the perspective of those who lived through the end of the British Mandate for Palestine in 1948.

The story of a young boy forced to spend all five years of his short life in hospital while the federal and provincial governments argued over which was responsible for his care, as well as the long struggle of Indigenous activists to force the Canadian government to enforce “Jordan’s Principle” — the promise that no First Nations children would experience inequitable access to government-funded services again.

Experimental filmmaker and color cameraman here collaborate in a surrealistic retelling of the old myth. But this is a dream fantasy with no real parallel to Pandora, replete with striking symbols where everything is larger than life--the silhouetted image of a mother and an infant, the profiled view of two sculptured heads spouting smoke and fire.

Newfoundlanders share their food, culture, and homes with a group of Tamil refugees found off the coast.

A rare "inside" view of a motorcycle club in Toronto, one of the network of such fraternal groups in the large centers across North America. The names they adopt (Satan's Choice is only one) are as individual as their special ethics and views of life, all freely expressed in this film.

Magic in the Sky investigates the impact of television on the Inuit people of the Canadian Arctic. The film also documents the establishment of the first Inuit-language television network, called Inukshuk, which began broadcasting to six Inuit communities in December 1980. The Inuit's efforts to create an indigenous television network mirrors the struggle of any culture trying to preserve its unique identity.

When a camera crew are sent to document hippie protests in Yorkville, Canada's counter-culture capital, they are charmed by a group of misunderstood kids with their own ideas about what kind of movie to make.

This fictional feature follows a twenty-something man who is struggling to define his position in the world in early adulthood. He has left their parents' home but still has not made an home of his own. Our protagonist’s alienation is palpable; for him life is a game, not because he chooses to make it so, but because he is unable to make anything more of it. But for those who befriend him and eventually turn him loose again, his game is not enough.

Michael J. Pollard stars in Derek May's short film exploring the touristic landscape of Niagara Falls.

This feature documentary takes us back to April 20, 2001, as Quebec City prepares to host the 3-day Summit of the Americas. A 4-kilometre fence has been erected, cutting off the Upper Town from the rest of the city. Thirty-four heads of state from the Americas will meet behind closed doors to discuss agreements for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Those opposed to the FTAA are mobilizing and gathering in Quebec City, too. Several thousand delegates have come to participate in the People's Summit, and tens of thousands will march in protest. Six thousand police officers fill the streets and it looks as if the historic Quebec capital is under siege. The local population fears the worst. Will the Quebec capital become a battleground? Shot in cinéma vérité style by 7 of Quebec's best documentary filmmakers, View from the Summit vividly portrays what happens when passionate and creative protesters clash with the ideologies of those in power.