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Pollution (30)
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Adam's WorldDonna Read 1989 19 minIntercut with illustrative stock footage, Adam's World present a short lecture by Elizabeth Dodson Gray, a feminist theologian, environmentalist, and futurist. She speaks to us about the severity of our global environmental crisis, and analyzes the root cause of this crisis as lying in the perceptions, beliefs, and assumptions of the patriarchal system we have inherited.
Elizabeth Dodson Gray also offers a feminist perspective on language, and connects the vocabulary of feminized nature to the denigration of women in our culture. Citing such examples as "the exploitation of virgin resources" and "the rape of the earth," she analyzes the role of such language as well as that of male generic language in perpetuating our global crisis. Finally, she calls upon society to nurture the woman's point of view. For it is woman's care-giving capacities, affinity for the long-term future, and awareness of our interconnectedness with all species, that can help build a radically different ethic, and enable planet Earth to survive. -
Air!Paul Driessen 1972 2 minAlthough only 2 minutes long, this animated short makes the point that oxygen is the stuff of life whether on land, in the air or water, but that it is becoming scarcer as man-made pollutants crowd it out. This is a film without words in which plants, birds, fish and, finally, humans come to the same "breathless" end.
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Bacon, The FilmHugo Latulippe 2002 51 minSeveral years ago, large-scale hog producers and their political allies in Quebec decided to branch out into international markets. But bacon, like everything else, has its price. Bacon, the Film asks whether we have properly measured the social and environmental impacts of this proliferation of huge hog operations. The soil is already showing signs of sterility. Rivers are contaminated. Water, the very symbol of life, has itself become a hazard in some communities. The situation could be spinning out of control. Abandoned by the state, citizens groups are making their voices heard and taking back democracy. An unexpected grain of sand in a machine well oiled by neo-liberal dogma, they are fighting to keep society on a human scale.
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Crapshoot: The Gamble with Our WastesJeff McKay 2003 52 minA hazardous mix of waste is flushed into the sewer every day. The billions of litres of water - combined with unknown quantities of chemicals, solvents, heavy metals, human waste and food - where does it all go? And what does it do to us? Filmed in Italy, India, Sweden, the United States and Canada, this bold documentary questions our fundamental attitudes to waste. Does our need to dispose of waste take precedence over public safety? What are the alternatives?
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Deadly DepositsJay Falconer 1992 11 minThis short animation traces the coronary investigation by two doctors of a victim found dead in his department. Strangulation? Suffocation? Poisoning? A debate ensues as to whether or not the victim died of environmental causes due to his decades working in a rayon textile factory. The film takes a funny look at the very serious topic of airborne pollutants, and offers an entertaining opportunity to learn about their accumulation in our everyday environment.
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Deep ThreatZlatko Grgić 1977 7 minZlatko Grgic's short animated film depicts how humans evolved from the sea and the problems that ensued. Using humour, he shows how industry leads to waste and pollution, which in turn wreak havoc on the delicate balance of our ecosystems.
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EpilogueWilliam Pettigrew 1971 15 minThis film employs a multi-image technique to contrast scenes of natural grandeur--mountains, forests, and wildflowers filmed in Canada's national parks--with images of the polluted rivers and countryside that result from the heedless exploitation of the environment. Without words.
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Freshwater WorldGiles Walker 1974 24 minThis documentary explores a variety of projects undertaken by scientists at Environment Canada's Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg to study the processes that pollute or disrupt clean and balanced freshwater environments.
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The Great Clean-upJames Carney 1976 52 minThis documentary is about pollution in the Great Lakes. To tidy up the biggest body of fresh water in the world is a massive operation. The Great Clean-up documents changes to legislation affecting the emission of industrial pollutants into the environment on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border.
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Le Bleu perduPaul Driessen 1972 7 minAn animated cartoon envisaging the kind of world that children of the future may well inherit when the last vestige of blue is blotted from the sky by the spreading mantle of smog. In this story a little boy sets out, equipped with celestial wings, to discover whether what an old man has told him is actually true, that there is blue above the grey. When he finds it he concludes that blue is where paradise is; the grimy earth is the netherworld. A film without words; titles in French.
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Man: The PolluterDon Arioli , Hugh Foulds , … 1973 53 minThis feature-length animation is a richly illustrated cartoon film with an environmental message: how much longer can humans foul their own nest and ignore the consequences? Made by a joint team of Canadian and Yugoslav animation artists, the film transmits its warning with unflagging humour, imagination, movement and design. In between animated sequences, Dr. Fred H. Knelman, Professor of Science and Human Affairs at Montreal’s Concordia University, comments on the importance of what is shown and on what lies in store if more responsibility is not taken on a global scale to conserve what is left of our vital resources.
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Manufactured LandscapesJennifer Baichwal 2006 1 h 26 minFor almost three decades, internationally renowned Canadian artist Edward Burtynsky has been creating large scale photographs of landscapes transformed by industry: quarries, scrap heaps, factories, recycling yards, dams. Manufactured Landscapes follows Burtynsky to China as he travels the country capturing the evidence and effects of China's massive industrial revolution. Rarely witnessed sites such as the Three Gorges Dam (50% larger than any other dam in the world), the interior of a factory which produces 20 million irons a year, and the breathtaking scale of Shanghai's urban renewal are subjects for his lens and our motion picture camera. Shot in sumptuous super 16mm film, Manufactured Landscapes extends the narratives of Burtynsky's photographs, meditating on human impact on the planet without trying to reach simplistic judgements or reductive resolutions. In the process, the film shifts our consciousness about the world and the way we live in it.
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Modern GooseKarsten Wall 2022 22 minAble to navigate by reading the Earth’s magnetic field, at home on land, air and water, geese straddle the territory between ancient instincts and the contemporary world. Combining beauty, humour and profound empathy, director Karsten Wall’s exquisitely observed film essay embeds in the daily life of these iconic animals to reveal a deeper message of continuity and connection.
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Never Lose SightSarah McNair-Landry 2009 21 minThis short documentary presents the environmental challenges in Nunavut. Beneath the immaculate layer of snow, there are mountains of trash. Iqaluit's 2 dumps are filled beyond capacity and the municipality has no plan to solve the problem. Throughout the film, we discover the problems faced by this isolated region and learn just how serious they are. But above all, we hear a call to action from the residents, who don't want to see the North they love disappear. In French with English subtitles.
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One Hand ClappingJoan Henson 1972 9 minNoise pollution is a scourge of our time no less than are the visible forms that contaminate our environment. From the jangle of the alarm clock to the din of downtown, noise assails us throughout the day. The way the film depicts this aural enemy provides overpowering, at times amusing, evidence that here, too, the time has come to call a halt.
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One ManRobin Spry 1977 1 h 27 minThis feature film about corporate negligence sends reporter Jason Brady into battle against big business... and himself. Can he risk his marriage, his job and possibly his family's safety to save innocent children from the devastating effects of industrial pollution? Can one man buck the system and still survive?
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Paradise LostEvelyn Lambart 1970 3 minThis short animation by artist and animator Evelyn Lambart offers a wordless plea for the right of all living creatures to a clean, unpolluted environment. With rich colour and intricate animated motion, the film features birds, butterflies and other woodland creatures succumbing to air pollution caused by human inventions.
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The PirateMichel Murray 1991 19 minIn this short fiction film, Estelle, the scientist in charge of a research project on water, is getting ready for a conference with the help of her "intelligent" satellite Zenon. But a teenage hacker has found an illegal way to consult Zenon's files. Things look very bad when the hacker accidentally infects Zenon with a virulent computer virus.
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Persistent and FinaglingMichael Rubbo 1971 56 minThe growing resolve of a group of Montréal women, members of STOP (Society To Overcome Pollution), to do something about air pollution by factories in their city led to a campaign to focus public attention on the problem. Despite rebuffs of every kind, they persisted until they were able to bring newspapers, radio and television to bear on their fight. What they accomplished, and how they went about it, will interest urban audiences.
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The Quiet RacketGerald Potterton 1966 7 minThis short film tells the amusing tale of a man who feels the common urge to escape the city's noise for the weekend. Made without words, but with a wide range of other sounds, this film tracks our hero to a perfect haven of… pandemonium. The countryside, it turns out, is not as unspoiled and quiet as the poets proclaim.
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River with a ProblemGraham Parker 1961 28 minA film on water pollution, using the Ottawa River as an example of what happens when a river is used as a dumping place for municipal and industrial waste. Colour animation illustrates exactly what happens to river water as it becomes polluted. Engineers, health authorities and civic officials voice concern over this urgent problem.
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The Rise and Fall of the Great LakesBill Mason 1968 16 minIn this short documentary from conservationist Bill Mason, he illustrates that although the Great Lakes have had their ups and downs, nothing has been harder to take than what humans have done to them lately. In the film, a lone canoeist lives through the changes of geological history, through Ice Age and flood, only to find himself in the end trapped in a sea of scum.
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Something in the AirSylvie Dauphinais 2001 24 minA 2001 documentary about the dangers of pesticides used by potato farmers in Prince Edward Island. Filmmaker Sylvie Dauphinais made this documentary to issue a wake-up call about an environmental crisis that put the ill, the elderly and the young at great risk. Includes some subtitles.
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S.P.L.A.S.H.Michael Mills 1980 12 minThis fast-paced and entertaining animated film is about water and the demands placed on our waterways by agriculture, industry, and urban life. An army of droplets, led by The Chief, shows what happens to water from the time it falls as rain until it reaches its destination.
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ShipbreakersMichael Kot 2004 1 h 12 minThis feature documentary profiles a bustling Indian shantytown where 40,000 people live and work in the most primitive conditions. Dismantling the rusting hulks of the world’s largest ships, the workers have no protection from injury or death. On average, one worker dies every day, some from explosions or falls, but many from cancers caused by asbestos, PCBs and other toxic substances. This visually stunning film vividly captures the haunting shells of decaying industrial machinery as well as the deplorable conditions of workers in 21st century global economics.
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Toxic TrespassBarri Cohen 2007 52 minThis feature documentary is an investigation into the effects of the chemicals we are all exposed to in our daily lives. The film begins with the filmmaker Barri Cohen’s own 10-year-old daughter, whose blood carries carcinogens like benzene and the long-banned DDT. Then, it heads out to Windsor and Sarnia: Canadian toxic hotspots, with startling clusters of deadly diseases. The film presents passionate activists working for positive change, along with doctors and scientists who see evidence of links between environmental pollution and health problems. Carried by Cohen's passion for truth and her disarming openness, this moving documentary is essential viewing for anyone concerned about the effects of pollutants on our - and our children's - very DNA.
Toxic Trespass is accompanied by a comprehensive guidebook for educators, activists and concerned citizens, produced by the Women's Healthy Environment Network. -
Trouble in the ForestGary Toole 1988 46 minIn this compelling film, David Suzuki investigates the frightening phenomenon of forest dieback caused by acid rain and proposes some solutions.
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UraniumMagnus Isacsson 1990 47 minThis documentary looks at the hazards of uranium mining in Canada. Toxic and radioactive waste pose environmental threats while the traditional economic and spiritual lives of the Indigenous people who occupy this land have been violated. Given our limited knowledge of the associated risks, this film questions the validity of continuing the mining operations.
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"Water, Water, Everywhere ..."Gilles Blais 1971 4 minAn underwater close-up of the death of a trout in polluted water. A film for conservationists and for all audiences concerned about preserving the natural world and the creatures that inhabit it.
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What Rhymes with ToxicLynn Smith 2021 5 minChemical sludge is spilling into the lake. For the city councillor responsible, it’s just a big nuisance. For the wildlife, it’s a catastrophe. One turtle, in her desperate hour, summons up the courage to leave her home and speak truth to power. Turns out there’s more at stake than just the lake.
