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Catalogue

Social Issues

19 Days

19 Days

This short documentary follows several refugee families during their first 19 days in Canada, as they navigate an unfamiliar terrain that has suddenly become their home. Located in the quiet …

Asha Siad & Roda Siad
2016 | 26 min
1999

1999

When death haunts a high school in a small town in the late 1990s, everyone is forever transformed. In this gentle, prismatic film, Samara returns to the town she fled …

Samara Grace Chadwick
2018 | 1 h 33 min
24 Davids

24 Davids

Céline Baril’s latest film takes us across three continents on a quest driven by a simple yet original idea: to shine a spotlight on the inimitable Davids of this world. …

Céline Baril
2017 | 2 h 12 min
Afterwards

Afterwards

Inside a shelter, participants in a talking circle share their experiences of intimate partner violence as a way to regain their dignity and strength to act. Powerfully empathetic, Afterwards creates …

Romane Garant Chartrand
2023 | 24 min
The Amina Profile

The Amina Profile

Part love story, part international thriller, and a gripping chronicle of an unprecedented media and sociological hoax, this feature documentary travels from San Francisco and Washington to Istanbul, Tel Aviv …

Sophie Deraspe
2015 | 1 h 26 min
Assholes - A Theory

Assholes - A Theory

Some grapple with the challenge of treating other human beings decently. Others are just… assholes, claims Professor Aaron James in his New York Times bestselling book, Assholes: A Theory. This …

John Walker
2019 | 1 h 20 min
Balakrishna

Balakrishna

When an extraordinary new resident – Balakrishna, an Indian elephant – arrived in the town of East River, Nova Scotia, in 1967, no one was more in awe of the …

Colin MacKenzie & Aparna Kapur
2019 | 15 min
Because We Are Girls

Because We Are Girls

A conservative Indo-Canadian family in small-town British Columbia must come to terms with a devastating secret: three sisters were sexually abused by an older relative beginning in their childhood years. …

Baljit Sangra
2019 | 1 h 22 min
Beyond Paper

Beyond Paper

At a critical moment in the history of the written word, as humanity’s archives migrate to the cloud, one filmmaker goes on a journey around the globe to better understand …

Oana Suteu Khintirian
2022 | 2 h 11 min
Conviction

Conviction

Conviction envisions alternatives to prison through the eyes of women behind bars and those fighting on the front lines of the decarceration movement. Not another ‘broken prison’ film, this collaboration …

Nance Ackerman, Ariella Pahlke & Teresa MacInnes
2019 | 1 h 17 min
The Dispossessed

The Dispossessed

The Dispossessed examines the global food crisis from the viewpoint of farmers in various countries, exploring how their situation relates to the economic crisis, rural exodus, and dwindling natural resources.

Mathieu Roy
2017 | 3 h 2 min
The End of Certainties

The End of Certainties

More than a decade after the worldwide financial crisis of 2007–08, what does globalization mean today? Filmmaker-philosopher Jean-Daniel Lafond takes us behind the scenes of the International Economic Forum of …

Jean-Daniel Lafond
2020 | 45 min
Everything Will Be

Everything Will Be

Julia Kwan’s feature-length documentary Everything Will Be captures a significant moment of time in Vancouver’s Chinatown, with the influx of condos and new, non-Chinese businesses. The film follows a year …

Julia Kwan
2014 | 1 h 26 min
Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives

Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives

This feature documentary delves into the rich history of Canadian queer women’s experiences in the mid-20th century. Compelling, often hilarious and always rebellious, the women interviewed in this film recount …

Aerlyn Weissman & Lynne Fernie
1992 | 1 h 24 min
The Fruit Hunters

The Fruit Hunters

From award-winning director Yung Chang (Up the Yangtze, China Heavyweight) comes a story of adventure, desire and obsession.

Yung Chang
2012 | 1 h 35 min
The Girls of Meru

The Girls of Meru

Over five years, acclaimed filmmaker Andrea Dorfman follows the heartbreaking yet uplifting story of the girls of Meru and their brave steps toward meaningful equality for girls worldwide.

In Kenya, …

Andrea Dorfman
2018 | 1 h 27 min
Grassroots in Dry Lands

Grassroots in Dry Lands

Grassroots in Dry Lands tells the story of three unconventional social workers united by a common vision that transcends the antagonisms between their countries. Nuha, from Nablus (Occupied Palestinian Territories), …

Helene Klodawsky
2015 | 1 h 29 min
Hell Runs on Gasoline!

Hell Runs on Gasoline!

This short documentary transports us to the Saint-Félicien racetrack, where engines are running hot and excitement has reached a fever pitch. With its thunderous soundtrack, jarring backfires and choking clouds …

Martin Bureau
2015 | 7 min
Into the Light

Into the Light

Into the Light features the liberating life stories and powerful words of inspiring Quebec women of African origin who’ve regained control over their lives after suffering from domestic violence. The …

Gentille M. Assih
2020 | 1 h 19 min
KOROMOUSSO: Big Sister

KOROMOUSSO: Big Sister

With candor, humour and courage, a group of African-Canadian women challenge cultural taboos surrounding female sexuality and fight to take back ownership of their bodies. Combining her own journey with …

Habibata Ouarme & Jim Donovan
2023 | 1 h 16 min
Kenbe la, Until We Win

Kenbe la, Until We Win

Some dreamers have the power to inspire us, bring us together, and help us reconnect with our humanity. Alain Philoctète, a Haitian artist and activist who settled in Quebec, returns …

Will Prosper
2019 | 1 h 23 min
Last Chance

Last Chance

This feature documentary tells the stories of 5 asylum seekers who flee their native countries to escape homophobic violence. They face hurdles integrating into Canada, fear deportation and anxiously await …

Paul Émile d'Entremont
2012 | 1 h 24 min
Living Together

Living Together

In a series of captivating encounters, several young people try to find the ideal roommate, that rare gem with whom they can share their space—and their values. A complex and …

Halima Elkhatabi
2024 | 1 h 15 min
Love, Scott

Love, Scott

Following the journey of a young gay musician who is attacked and paralyzed from the waist down, Love, Scott is an intimate and visually evocative window into queer experience, set …

Laura Marie Wayne
2018 | 1 h 16 min
Moments of Life

Moments of Life

The phenomenon of perinatal grief has largely gone unrecognized; parents who live through the experience frequently find themselves isolated, with no resources to support them. Co-directed by Samuel-A. Caron and …

Samuel-A. Caron & France Gallant
2020 | 20 min
Our People Will Be Healed

Our People Will Be Healed

Our People Will Be Healed, Alanis Obomsawin’s 50th film, reveals how a Cree community in Manitoba has been enriched through the power of education. The Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education …

Alanis Obomsawin
2017 | 1 h 36 min
The Perfect Story

The Perfect Story

The Perfect Story offers a riveting, intimate look at the ethical and moral challenges sparked by the relationship between a foreign correspondent and a young Somali refugee. By revealing the …

Michelle Shephard
2021 | 1 h 13 min
Picture This

Picture This

What does it mean to be disabled and desirable?

In Picture This, a new documentary by Jari Osborne, we meet Andrew Gurza, a self-described “queer cripple” who has made …

Jari Osborne
2017 | 33 min
A Place that Matters

A Place that Matters

In Sainte-Anne-du-Bocage in Caraquet, New Brunswick, Acadian artists Renée Blanchar, France Daigle, René Cormier and Allain Roy launch several community projects to bring back the former Youth Club built by …

Renée Blanchar
2015 | 1 h 29 min
A Quiet Girl

A Quiet Girl

In A Quiet Girl, adopted Montreal filmmaker Adrian Wills discovers, on camera and in real time, the startling truths of his complex beginnings in Newfoundland. Shocking details drive Wills …

Adrian Wills
2023 | 1 h 26 min
A Short History of the Highrise

A Short History of the Highrise

Produced by the National Film Board of Canada and the New York Times, A Short History of the Highrise is an interactive documentary that explores the 2,500-year global history of …

2013 | 20 min
A Short History of the Highrise, Part Four: Home

A Short History of the Highrise, Part Four: Home

In the final installment, "Home" consists of images from New York Times readers, who submitted personal pictures of their lives in high-rises from around the world. Montreal musician Patrick Watson …

Katerina Cizek
2013 | 4 min
A Short History of the Highrise, Part One: Mud

A Short History of the Highrise, Part One: Mud

In the first installment, "Mud" traces the historical roots of the residential highrise, from the biblical Tower of Babel to the tenement buildings of New York. The film is narrated …

Katerina Cizek
2013 | 3 min
A Short History of the Highrise, Part Three: Glass

A Short History of the Highrise, Part Three: Glass

In the third installment, "Glass" examines the recent proliferation of luxury condos and the growing segregation between the rich and poor. The film is narrated by the singer-songwriter of Cold …

Katerina Cizek
2013 | 3 min
A Short History of the Highrise, Part Two: Concrete

A Short History of the Highrise, Part Two: Concrete

In the second installment, "Concrete" explores how, in New York City and globally, residential high-rises and public housing attempted to foster social equality in the 20th century. The film is …

Katerina Cizek
2013 | 6 min
The Silence

The Silence

Why be silent about the most serious matters? Doesn’t silence perpetuate suffering? From the 1950s to the 1980s, Catholic priests sexually abused many young boys in the francophone towns of …

Renée Blanchar
2021 | 1 h 48 min
Star Wars Kid: The Rise of the Digital Shadows

Star Wars Kid: The Rise of the Digital Shadows

In this Mathieu Fournier documentary on the first viral phenomenon of the digital age, Ghyslain Raza (the “Star Wars Kid”) breaks his silence and reflects on his story for the …

Mathieu Fournier
2022 | 1 h 19 min
Stateless

Stateless

n 1937, tens of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent were exterminated by the Dominican army on the basis of anti-black racism. Fast-forward to 2013: the Dominican Republic’s …

Michèle Stephenson
2020 | 1 h 35 min
Stolen Time

Stolen Time

A compelling call for justice, Stolen Time follows charismatic elder rights lawyer Melissa Miller as she takes on the corporate for-profit nursing-home industry—an industry notorious for its lack of transparency …

Helene Klodawsky
2023 | 1 h 25 min
Tales of Ordinary Fatphobia

Tales of Ordinary Fatphobia

What is fatphobia and what can be done to overcome it? With poetic illustrations and painful, compelling testimony, Tales of Ordinary Fatphobia offers multiple examples of the psychological effects of …

Josiane Blanc
2019 | 24 min
Theater of Life

Theater of Life

Theater of Life captures the remarkable story of how renowned chef Massimo Bottura, joined by 60 of the world’s top chefs, transformed food destined for the dumpster into delicious and …

Peter Svatek
2016 | 1 h 33 min
Waban-Aki: People from Where the Sun Rises

Waban-Aki: People from Where the Sun Rises

In this feature-length documentary from Alanis Obomsawin, the filmmaker returns to the village where she was raised to craft a lyrical account of her own people. After decades of tirelessly …

Alanis Obomsawin
2006 | 1 h 44 min
What is Democracy?

What is Democracy?

Featuring a diverse cast—including celebrated philosophers, trauma surgeons, factory workers, refugees, and politicians—What Is Democracy? connects past and present, emotion and the intellect, the personal and the political, to …

Astra Taylor
2018 | 1 h 47 min
Why? Sexual Violence and Teens

Why? Sexual Violence and Teens

Danielle Sturk tackles the thorny issue of sexual violence against teens by boldly asking: Why? Young men, witnesses to the prevailing culture, and young women survivors of sexual assault share …

Danielle Sturk
2022 | 39 min
nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up

nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up

On August 9, 2016, a young Cree man named Colten Boushie died from a gunshot to the back of his head after entering Gerald Stanley’s rural property with his friends. …

Tasha Hubbard
2019 | 1 h 38 min
this river

this river

This short documentary offers an Indigenous perspective on the devastating experience of searching for a loved one who has disappeared. Volunteer activist Kyle Kematch and award-winning writer Katherena Vermette have …

Erika MacPherson & Katherena Vermette
2016 | 19 min