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Cultural Diversity (34)
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24 DavidsCéline Baril 2017 2 h 12 minCéline 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. The 24 Davids in this film are of varying ages and professions, ranging from cosmologist to recycler; together, they construct a playful “ecosystem” of ideas that touches on every sphere of knowledge and carries within it the power to radically transform. 24 Davids offers a melting pot of heady thoughts and politics in a refreshingly freewheeling cinematic format, probing the mysteries of the universe and the challenges of living together. -
24 Days in BrooksDana Inkster 2007 42 minOver the course of a decade Brooks, Alberta, transformed from a socially conservative, primarily white town to one of the most diverse places in Canada as immigrants and refugees flocked to find jobs at the Lakeside Packers slaughterhouse. This film is a portrait of those people working together and adapting to change through the first-ever strike at Lakeside.
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3. Intergenerational ConflictsJean-Martin Gagnon & Nicolas Wadimoff 2023 26 minDifferent generations come together to discuss major issues, revealing wildly divergent points of view. How can we live together while respecting each other’s differences?
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2. Systemic ProblemsJean-Martin Gagnon 2023 26 minThe student association engages in critical self-assessment over diversity and considers the best way forward. Meanwhile, students question the association’s practices.
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Brother 2 BrotherRussell Wyse 2004 40 minA documentary that follows Corey Lucas, a 21-year-old African Canadian, as he tries to reconcile his urge to be a hustler with his need to be a responsible father and a supportive partner. Life in Jellybean Square, a housing project in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, was a world away from the things Corey grew up wanting: a fancy car, a big house, a great job and a bright future. With a head full of dreams and empty pockets he turned to selling drugs on the street. Central to the film is the transformative power of a weekend retreat for young Black males, organized by BROS (Brothers Reaching Out Society) together with the film's director, Russell Wyse. At the heart of the film lies Wyse's conviction that despite all the odds against them young Black men can succeed if they have the will, the opportunity, and the support of a community.
Brother 2 Brother was produced as part of the Reel Diversity Competition for emerging filmmakers of colour. Reel Diversity is a National Film Board of Canada initiative in partnership with CBC Newsworld. -
Between: Living in the HyphenAnne Marie Nakagawa 2005 43 minAnne Marie Nakagawa's documentary examines what it means to have a background of mixed ancestries that cannot be easily categorized. By focusing on 7 Canadians who have one parent from a European background and one of a visible minority, she attempts to get at the root of what it means to be multi-ethnic in a world that wants each person to fit into a single category.
Finding a satisfactory frame of reference in our 'multicultural utopia' turns out to be more complex than one might think. Between: Living in the Hyphen offers a provocative glimpse of what the future holds: a departure from hyphenated names towards a celebration of fluidity and being mixed. -
The Concert ManTony Ianzelo 1982 27 minThis documentary short is a portrait of violinist, composer and dreamer Maurice Zbriger, who shared his music with Montrealers for over half a century. He hired musicians and singers and conducted them in free concerts financed with income from his ownership of Schwartz's, the famous smoked meat restaurant. The Concert Man looks at Zbriger's life, his passion for music and the people who were a part of his dream.
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DominoShanti Thakur 1994 44 minDomino portrays the poignant and outspoken stories of six multiracial adults' struggles to transcend cultural boundaries and forge their own identities. By virtue of their experience, they explore how society categorizes "race". Domino reveals how these women and men have used their experience as a psychological, creative and cultural enrichment.
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The Downtown ProjectIsabelle Longtin 2011 52 minJust a stone’s throw from downtown Montreal is the largest social housing complex in Quebec. Built in 1959 where the red-light district used to be, Les Habitations Jeanne-Mance have retained something of the area’s seedy reputation for poverty, prostitution, drugs and violence. But who really knows the projects and the people who live there? Delving beneath the prejudices and stereotypes, director Isabelle Longtin ventured inside the buildings and met the residents. The result is The Downtown Project, a documentary that reveals a complex multi-ethnic reality made up of compelling personal stories and social movements.
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Flemingdon Park: The Global VillageAndrew Faiz 2002 47 minThis documentary examines the history and current reality of Toronto’s Flemingdon Park. Now a subsidized housing project, it was built in 1961 as a trendy urban utopia. A decade later it was sold, and Flemingdon became home to refugees and new immigrants. Once a model of urban planning, Flemingdon Park's flip side is a history of violence and racism that residents have fought to overcome. Yet despite challenges, the community succeeds in making people from around the world feel at home in a different kind of utopia–one where differences are celebrated and new visions are possible.
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The Faith Project - Focus and Distraction2015 4 minKashif Pasta is a recent university graduate and a filmmaker from Surrey, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver. As a young Muslim studying in downtown Vancouver, Kashif struggles to find time and space to perform his daily prayers. He manages to find a quiet spot in a secluded stairwell on campus, even though his focus is interrupted by the occasional passerby.
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Universe Within - TorontoKaterina Cizek 2015 3 minThe Patel family prays in their apartment morning and night, using their cell phones and their laptop computers to connect with live-streaming from Hindu temples around the world.
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The Hands That HealGordon Sparling 1958 21 minThis film presents a broad picture of nursing activities in various parts of the country, and shows the work of the many nurses from other parts of the world who have brought their skills to Canada and have made a place for themselves.
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Multiple ManGeorges Dufaux & Claude Godbout 1969 15 minA many-faced view of humanity, of global man in all his forms and interests. Produced originally in 70 mm (with stereophonic sound) for showing at Man and His World, the Montréal fair that succeeded Expo 67, this film employs the multi-image technique. People of all places, origins, cultures, secular and religious, are here united and seen side by side, creating an impressive, inspiring and challenging portrait. The film's title appears in seven languages. Film without words.
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The Magic QuiltBettina Maylone 1985 12 minIn this short film, which mixes live action with cutout and embroidery animation, a group of children finds a magic quilt that is their passport to a voyage of discovery. They step inside the quilt and as they travel through its velvet farmlands and satin cities, they experience the multiculturalism of Canada. The quilt is torn and the magic broken when a quarrel breaks out. Once the quilt is repaired and harmony restored, the children have learned that patience and goodwill are needed to mend and maintain quilts, friendships, and nations.
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Mosaic VillageLucie Lachapelle 1996 50 minThis feature documentary zooms in on Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges borough, where over 75 ethnic groups live side by side in a dizzying swirl of sound and colour. One day, filmmaker Lucie Lachapelle began knocking on the doors that isolated her from her neighbours. The result is a vibrant film about freedom and uprootedness set to urban music composed by Montreal jazz artist Harold Faustin.
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Not So DifferentDon Arioli 1985 6 minA fable set in the Land of Same, where the law of the land is SAMENESS. Everyone has to behave the same, wear the same clothes, live in the same houses. Everything runs smoothly until some Different people arrive.
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The NewcomersDavid Bennett 1953 27 minAll across Canada, at every level, national life is being enriched and strengthened by the talents and skills, as diverse as the countries from which they come, which are being poured into their adopted land by immigrants from the British Isles and Europe. This film travels to many places from coast to coast to present a visual inventory of the many ways in which Canada's expansion is being helped by the newcomers, who see fresh opportunities to develop existing resources--both economically and culturally--and who also arrive as the purveyors of specialized knowledge from abroad.
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Our Street Was Paved with GoldAlbert Kish 1973 28 minFilmmaker Albert Kish revisits Montreal's St Lawrence Boulevard in the '70s. The street, also known as "The Main," is a little Europe with many languages, foods and small courtesies that make a stranger feel at home.
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Opre Roma: Gypsies in CanadaTony Papa 1999 52 minThis documentary celebrates the vibrant culture and tenacious struggle of the Canadian Gypsy and introduces a new generation of Roma who claim their roots with pride. They call themselves by their rightful name, the Roma. Almost 80,000 call Canada home. Meet Julia Lovell, a passionate defender of Roma human rights, whose father is slowly gaining the confidence to reveal his heritage; and Karen Gray Boothroyd, a flamenco dancer just beginning to reclaim her Gypsy roots.
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Passport to CanadaRoger Blais 1949 11 minIn the 1940s thousands of immigrants are coming from Europe to Canada offering strength and skills in exchange for hope and a new life. 'The long night is ended, the morning draws nigh,' sums up the feelings of those who are sped through immigration formalities on their way to a fresh existence. Though the language may be different, these new Canadians soon find things in Canada that remind them of Holland, Poland or Belgium. Some immigrants carry on with their old trades--sewing, farming, diamond cutting. Others, on huge projects such as Des Joachims, use their muscles to help build their adopted homeland, while their love of culture and their skilled professions will make valuable contributions to Canada in the future.
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Question PeriodAnn Marie Fleming 2019 4 min
A group of Syrian women, refugees recently resettled in Canada, are negotiating life in their new home. They have some questions. Directed by Anne Marie Fleming, one of the original FFM filmmakers.
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Race Is a Four-Letter WordSobaz Benjamin 2006 55 minIn this personal documentary, director Sobaz Benjamin introduces us to an interesting group of people: a black woman who wants to be considered iconically Canadian, a white man who is culturally and psychologically black, and a black woman who decides to leave “Canada’s racial cold war.” He also exposes himself, a black man who grew up trying to bleach his skin. In the end, Race Is a Four-Letter Word teaches us that the soul has no colour. Yet, we also learn that race is a marathon we are all forced to run.
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Reviving The RoostVivek Shraya 2019 6 minFilmmaker and bestselling author Vivek Shraya’s ode to a popular Edmonton gay bar that closed in 2007. With pulsating neon-light animation, Reviving the Roost is a story about community complexity and longing, and an elegy to a lost space.
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St-Henri, the 26th of AugustShannon Walsh , Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette , … 2011 1 h 25 minA collaborative work made in the spirit of cinéma-vérité, St-Henri, the 26th of August was directed by Shannon Walsh and16 fellow documentary filmmakers. Chronicling life in a former working-class Montreal neighbourhood over a 24-hour period, St-Henri, the 26th of August follows several compelling stories and characters. The film is an homage to the 1962 Hubert Aquin classic À Saint-Henri le cinq septembre.
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Speak It! From the Heart of Black Nova ScotiaSylvia Hamilton 1992 28 minIn their predominantly white high school in Halifax, a group of black students face daily reminders of racism, ranging from abuse (racist graffiti on washroom walls), to exclusion (the omission of black history from textbooks). They work to establish a Cultural Awareness Youth Group, a vehicle for building pride and self-esteem through educational and cultural programs. With help from mentors, they discover the richness of their heritage and learn some of the ways they can begin to effect change.
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Trudeau's Other ChildrenRohan Fernando 2005 1 h 7 minMusicians Vineet Vyas, Mei Han and Asif Illyas are part of one of the greatest social experiments the world has seen: multiculturalism. Nearly 40 years ago, under the eye of visionary prime minister Pierre Trudeau, Canada began turning itself into the world's first truly multicultural state--a place where people from all nations could be at home. But the genesis for Trudeau's idea came decades earlier, when he was a young man travelling through the chaos of the post-war Middle East and Asia.
Vineet Vyas is a renowned tabla player who splits his time between Canada and India. An accomplished traditional musician, zheng player Mei Han is also an audacious innovator and improviser. And Asif Illyas--born in Sri Lanka, raised in England, and living in Halifax--is frontman for boundary-breaking contemporary pop band Mir.
In Trudeau's Other Children, award-winning filmmaker Rohan Fernando places the stories of Mei, Vineet and Asif in juxtaposition with archival footage and excerpts from Trudeau's journals. The result offers unique insights into the origins and practice of Canada's multicultural policy--and a film as powerful, layered and subtle as the best of their music. -
Boxed InShane Belcourt 2009 4 minIn this short film, a young woman of mixed ancestry struggles with an Equal Opportunity Form that requires her to respond to the dilemma: Ethnicity - Choose One.
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Where I BelongArinze Eze 2007 45 minThis documentary tells the story of a young man’s struggle to balance his African traditions and new Canadian home. Arinze Eze was born in Canada and raised in Nigeria. An engineer by trade, he returned to his birthplace after 20 years. There, he starts a new career in the arts and falls in love with Canadian woman. All is well until his parents come for a visit. How will they react to this new life?
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Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 2 - LanguageDan Moscrip 1999 27 minThrough interviews with new Canadians and supporting dramatizations, episode 2 looks at the trials and successes of newcomers struggling to learn one or both of Canada's official languages. Language, immigrants stress, is of major importance since the ability to communicate in English and/or French affects employment, social integration and acceptance. Without the necessary language skills, immigrants with academic or professional credentials often find themselves doing menial jobs. In some cases, newcomers are exploited by members of their own ethnic community. Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada is a 4-part series that reveals the challenges faced by immigrants who leave all they know to make a new home in Canada. The aim of this series, as the title suggests, is for viewers to walk that symbolic mile in the others' shoes and to more readily show understanding and tolerance of the immigrant experience in Canada.
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Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 3 - DiscriminationDan Moscrip 1999 27 minCanada espouses the concept of a cultural mosaic, where ethnic and cultural diversity is respected. In episode 3, immigrant Canadians share their experience of this mosaic, presenting realities that do not always coincide with official policy. Many newcomers, especially visible minorities, encounter discrimination in imployment, housing and social acceptance. This film also addresses the experiences of refugees seeking asylum in Canada. Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada is a 4-part series that reveals the challenges faced by immigrants who leave all they know to make a new home in Canada. The aim of this series, as the title suggests, is for viewers to walk that symbolic mile in the others' shoes and to more readily show understanding and tolerance of the immigrant experience in Canada.
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Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 1 - IdentityDan Moscrip 1999 26 minThis episode puts a human face on the immigrant experience. Newcomers tell us why they have come to Canada and talk about how this move has affected their sense of identity. Families also discuss the conflicts between generations that immigration can cause. Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada is a 4-part series that reveals the challenges faced by immigrants who leave all they know to make a new home in Canada. The aim of this series, as the title suggests, is for viewers to walk that symbolic mile in the others' shoes and to more readily show understanding and tolerance of the immigrant experience in Canada.
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Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 4 - EmploymentDan Moscrip 1999 27 minThis final segment looks at the challenges newcomers face finding employment. The problem of having credentials recognized in a new country is explored. Immigrants with job training and skills cannot always work in their field of expertise since Canadian professional associations may not recognize their qualifications. An added difficulty surrounding employment arises from traditional gender roles where the man is expected to be the bread winner. Newcomers may have to adjust to new roles that disrupt family life. The problem posed by lack of job experience in Canada is also addressed. Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada is a 4-part series that reveals the challenges faced by immigrants who leave all they know to make a new home in Canada. The aim of this series, as the title suggests, is for viewers to walk that symbolic mile in the others' shoes and to more readily show understanding and tolerance of the immigrant experience in Canada.
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Your Country, My CountryMarquise Lepage 1993 6 minEnglish version of a film about a friendship between two ten-year-old Montréal schoolkids. She is black and serious, he is white and rather nonchalant, and they look at life in different ways!
