Acting Blind

Acting Blind

2006 · 52 min · Documentary

This touching documentary follows a cast of blind and visually impaired actors as they prepare Dancing to Beethoven, a play about blindness. The film takes us deep into the lives of the actors. We hear stories of their shock and disbelief at first losing sight and of their struggles coping with a life without it. We hear them talk about grieving and pining for the visual world. They tell the moving story of how this play is itself a victory, a type of salvation, for each of them. By opening night, at the renowned Place des Arts in Montreal, they are a close-knit cast, well-honed and ready to step out of the wings and into the light.

Directed by Martin Duckworth

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Imperial Sunset

Imperial Sunset · 1967

Imperial Sunset

MovieDocumentaryHistory

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 Search for Learning

A Search for Learning · 1967

A Search for Learning

MovieDocumentary

A film for teachers, describing the use of the "discovery method" in teaching. All it needs is a teacher whose encouragement is natural and unobtrusive. The film shows a free environment where even the furniture can be arranged to meet the needs of a particular enquiry. Film loops and other visual media are shown being used to advantage in this method of teaching.

Trawler Fishermen

Trawler Fishermen · 1966

Trawler Fishermen

MovieDocumentary

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

The New Alchemists

The New Alchemists · 1974

The New Alchemists

MovieDocumentary

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."

Half-Half-Three-quarters-Full

Half-Half-Three-quarters-Full · 1970

Half-Half-Three-quarters-Full

MovieDocumentary

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.

A Wives' Tale

A Wives' Tale · 1980

MovieDocumentary

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...

Falling from Ladders

Falling from Ladders · 1969

Falling from Ladders

Simply by putting about twenty Swedish men, women and young people in front of his camera and having them read aloud from the Statistical Year Book, filmmaker Mort Ransen has recorded a wide range of impressions of Sweden's economic and social existence. Quotations vary from the whole gamut of exports and imports, marriages formed or dissolved, to the number of people who fall from ladders annually.

1948: Creation & Catastrophe

1948: Creation & Catastrophe · 2017

1948: Creation & Catastrophe

MovieDocumentaryHistory

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.

Pandora

Pandora · 1971

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.

Satan's Choice

Satan's Choice · 1965

MovieDocumentary

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

Magic in the Sky · 1981

Magic in the Sky

MovieDocumentary

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.

Christopher's Movie Matinee

Christopher's Movie Matinee · 1968

Christopher's Movie Matinee

MovieDocumentary

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.

The Ernie Game

The Ernie Game · 1968

MovieDramaCrime

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.

Data for Decision

Data for Decision · 1968

Data for Decision

MovieDocumentary

Portrait of the early era of computing which examines the workings of a new and mysterious machine: the Canada Land Inventory Geo-information System. This "instant library" was created to help assess and document the geographical landscape, including sampling and analysis of soil, forestry, timber, wildlife, resources, industrial sites, and many other aspects.

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls · 1967

MovieDocumentary

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

A Score for Women's Voices

A Score for Women's Voices · 2001

A Score for Women's Voices

MovieDocumentary

Between March and October 2000, millions of people around the world took to the streets to denounce poverty and violence against women. The historic World March of Women was a bold initiative of the Québec Federation of Women and represented a turning point in global solidarity. Director Sophie Bissonnette invited five filmmakers from around the world to cover the march. She also asked each one to film an innovative project. Set against the backdrop of a song, 'A Score for Women's Voices' ends at the UN, where women deliver 5 million cards signed during the marches. Their goal? To change the world.

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