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Arts, Culture and Traditions (15)
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Autobiographical by A.M. KleinRichard Notkin 1965 10 minA poet's view of Montréal, as revealed in the rich imagery of his verse. From Klein's poetry this film reveals what he saw and valued, and so presents a many-sided vignette of the old Montréal and the Jewish community he knew as a boy. The poems are read by Alexander Scourby. -
Canadians Can DanceJohn Howe 1966 22 minFrom a festival of folk dances at the 1966 Canadian National Exhibition, an exciting selection of Canada's best amateur groups. The dances range from the seductive Hawaiian to the familiar Cossack. From all the major language groups of Canada, here is evidence that traditional cultures are expressed and maintained through the art of the dance. A film without words.
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Come to your sensesAlicia Eisen & Sophie Jarvis 2020 4 minNine artists across the continent document their sensory experiences of lockdown, and the results broke our editing program. What emerges is an absurdist collage that playfully flips the format of a video conference on its head. Filmmakers Alicia Eisen and Sophie Jarvis pose the question: is the human need to make sense of chaos an inherently chaotic pursuit?
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EnigmaticoDavid Mortin & Patricia Fogliato 1995 51 minInterweaving poetry, painting, photography, music and sculpture, this feature documentary is an innovative look at the lives and work of Canadian men and women artists of Italian origin. Broaching issues of identity and culture, the film explores the relationship between the immigrant experience and the creative process.
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Eye Witness No. 331951 11 minThese vignettes from 1951 covered various aspects of life in Canada and were shown in theatres across the country. Subjects included here are the S.S. Lurcher, an anchored boat that serves as both lighthouse and weather station; a 3-day celebration in Windsor, Ontario, to commemorate the freeing of American slaves; and British Columbia’s fabulous Sullivan Mine, where vast quantities of lead and zinc are being blasted from the belly of a mountain.
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Lights for GitaMichel Vo 2001 7 minThis animated short, based on the book by Rachna Gilmore, is the story of Gita, an 8-year-old girl who can't wait to celebrate Divali - the Hindu festival of lights - in her new home in Canada. But it's nothing like New Delhi, where she comes from. The weather is cold and grey and a terrible ice storm cuts off the power, ruining her plans for a party. Obviously, a Divali celebration now is impossible. Or is it? As Gita experiences the glittering beauty of the icy streets outside, the traditional festival of lights comes alive in a sparkling new way.
Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen. -
My Floating World: Miyuki TanobeIan Rankin , Stephan Steinhouse , … 1979 26 minThis documentary short is a portrait of Miyuki Tanobe, a Japanese painter who has chosen to make Québec her home. She works in the Nihonga style, applying centuries-old techniques to scenes drawn directly from the working-class neighborhoods of Montréal. The film records the progression of one of her paintings from preliminary sketch to completion.
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My Son Shall Be ArmenianHagop Goudsouzian 2004 1 h 20 minExploring the question of Armenian identity, My Son Shall Be Armenian follows filmmaker Hagop Goudsouzian, who travels with five Montreal men and women of Armenian descent to the land of his ancestors in search of survivors of the 1915 genocide. Through interviews with elders and the touching accounts of his fellow travellers, Goudsouzian has crafted a dignified and poignant film on the need to make peace with the past in order to turn toward the future. In French with English subtitles.
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Oumar 9-1-1Stéphane Drolet 1998 53 minThis feature documentary paints an engaging portrait of Oumar, an auto mechanic from Burkina Faso. Always ready to lend a helping hand, Oumar has become a vital, central part of his community, in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood. People tend to gather round as he works, and talk often turns to weighty issues: feminism, polygamy, politics, religion. In eight months’ time, he is due to return for a visit with his family after six years away, so he is searching for hundreds of presents to take with him. Back home, when you leave the nest, it’s to look for wealth. Otherwise, failure awaits…
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Show GirlsMeilan Lam 1998 52 minShow Girls celebrates Montreal's swinging Black jazz scene from the 1920s to the 1960s, when the city was wide open. Three women who danced in the legendary Black clubs of the day - Rockhead's Paradise, The Terminal, Café St. Michel - share their unforgettable memories of life at the centre of one of the world's hottest jazz spots. From the Roaring Twenties, through the Second World War and on into the golden era of clubs in the fifties and sixities, Show Girls chronicles the lives of Bernice, Tina and Olga - mixing their memories with rarely seen footage of the era. Their stories are told against a backdrop of the fascinating social and political history that made Montreal a jazz and nightclub hotspot for decades. It is a story of song and dance, music and pride.
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Some Kind of ArrangementAli Kazimi 1997 45 minIn this documentary, the age-old tradition of arranged marriages takes a modern twist when 3 second-generation South Asian young people decide to marry. Engaging and refreshingly candid in their opinions, they make it clear that arranged marriages aren't what they used to be.
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Tales of Sand and SnowHyacinthe Combary 2004 48 minIn a quest to rediscover the spiritual values of his own people, an African filmmaker from the Gourmantche tribe of Burkina Faso visits the Atikamekw of Northern Quebec. The resulting documentary is a dialogue between those who divine the future in the sand with those who use snow-encased sweat lodges to reconnect with the spiritual world.
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Some StoriesClayton Windatt 2018 8 minSome Stories follows a group of Indigenous youth from the Nipissing (Nbisiing) region who come together through the North Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre and explore the importance and impact of stories in their lives.
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Full CircleKristi Lane Sinclair 2018 8 minSince its inception in 1976, Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre has been a place in which the urban Indigenous community could feel safe, learn and grow. Council Fire uses cultural teachings and creates space to restore Indigenous identity, especially for its youth. At the core of Council Fire’s history and teachings is the drum, which they refer to as “our mother.” In Full Circle, we get to know the members of the Toronto Council Fire Youth Program as they embark on new journeys. We meet a drum group that lays down tracks at a professional recording studio and a group of young dancers who showcase their moves at a dance studio.
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Ukrainian Winter HolidaysLaura Boulton 1942 22 minThis short documentary offers a glimpse into the Ukrainian communities of the Canadian prairies during the 1940s, specifically their rituals surrounding Christmas. Still following the Julian calendar, they celebrate Christmas on the seventh of January. On Christmas Eve, they eat traditional foods as soon as the first star appears in the sky. They sing carols and dance in costume. And the next day, they gather in Greek Orthodox churches to worship in a solemn service.
