Skip to content
Accessibility
Problems in the Family (17)
-
BorderlineFergus McDonell 1957 28 minThis short film is a portrait of Nora Fenton, a 15-year-old girl who is sent to a home for problem teens because of her persistent defiance of parental authority and self-injurious behavior. Typifying the problems of emotional adjustment experienced by many adolescents, this story of conflict and rebellion shows how understanding, affection and firm parental guidance are the factors most needed in helping teens weather their most turbulent years. -
Baby BluesAnnie O'Donoghue 1990 24 minThis dramatic short is intended to be a conversation starter on the topic of sex, responsibility and contraception. When young, popular Kristen suspects that she's pregnant, she and her boyfriend Jason are forced to answer some difficult questions: Will they keep the baby? What are their thoughts on abortion? Adoption? How will their actions affect their futures? Baby Blues reflects the teenage point of view without moralizing or sugar-coating the issue and dramatizes the consequences of ignoring birth control in a way that breaks through the "it can't happen to me" barrier. Appropriate for classroom use.
-
Children of AlcoholGil Cardinal 1984 18 minThis short documentary focuses on the children of alcoholics. In the relaxed environment of a mountain campsite, a group of young people discuss their anger and frustration, and talk about their struggle to cope with the problems created by their parents' drinking. By sharing their experiences, they open a door for others like them. Aimed primarily at an audience of elementary school children and older, this film provides an excellent vehicle for generating discussion about alcohol abuse and the family.
-
Don't Let the Angels FallGeorge Kaczender 1968 1 h 39 minThe film reflects the dilemma of an urban family whose private world is no longer proof against strains from outside. The head of the family, a Montréal businessman tormented by a sense of failure, seeks a new self-image in an out-of-town affair. His college son is drawn to student causes and a night-club singer. The youngest boy, confused and insecure, wants to run away from it all; and the mother, caught in the middle, no longer feels adequate as everyone's guide and protector. It is a familiar theme portrayed in moving, human terms.
-
Dark IntentMireille Dansereau 2000 51 minA poetic meditation by a man and a woman whose teenage son has threatened to end his lifee. What drives someone to that terrible extreme? In an effort to understand and demystify the phenomenon of suicide, the two parents search for answers within themselves. Their personal reflection is intercut with dramatic sequences, archival footage, animation, interviews and first-person accounts that look at suicide from an emotional, rational, cultural, social or medical perspective. Mireille Dansereau has made a sobering film that nevertheless expresses an abiding faith in life. In French with English subtitles.
-
HopeThomas Buchan & Stuart Reaugh 2008 58 minHope, from first time documentary filmmakers Stuart Reaugh and Thomas Buchan, follows artist Ken Paquette, his partner Winnie Peters and their five boys (ages four through fifteen) as they struggle to cope during a year of wrenching change.
The family lives on the Schkam Native Reserve, across the river from the town of Hope. The town is a transitory place at the junction of three highways. After 18 years together, Ken and Winnie's troubled relationship dissolves when Rick, a tattooed ex-con, moves in and assumes the role of stepfather. Winnie's eldest son Kenny leaves the home. Ken settles in town, where he sells his paintings outside the local pub, earning enough for rent and the occasional trip to McDonalds with his kids. Over the course of four seasons, the family cycles through poverty, addiction, violence and love, but when winter bleeds into spring, a final confrontation sparks irrevocable change.
With painterly attention to the ordinary details of life in an interior town - dark mountains shrouded in mist, rotting abandoned cars amidst the vaulted green spaces of the forest - the film captures two very different senses of time. The permanence of the land set against an explosive human drama that exists for fragile moments, before life and circumstances move on.
The directors lived alongside the family over the course of a year, becoming an intimate part of events. This style of on-the-ground filmmaking provides a startling level of immediacy. The film imposes no external narrative; each family member offers a unique voice, describing their frustration and anger with each other, as well as their love and dreams for a better life. Raw honesty and a deep humanism explode stereotypes, capturing the joy and laughter, as well as the pain of this complex family, in a fully realized portrait of people and place. -
Jonas and LisaZabelle Côté & Daniel Schorr 1994 9 minA woman does laundry to support her husband and three children. The children are obliged to work at a very young age and are terrorized and robbed by their stepfather. Unable to take it any more, the little boy runs away from home. Based on article 27 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, this film illustrates children's right to an adequate standard of living. A film without words.
-
Kid StuffPierre M. Trudeau 1990 5 minHow conflict between parents is reflected in the anguished drawing of a child. An animated film combining puppets and drawings on paper. Film without words.
-
Let the Daylight into the SwampJeffrey St. Jules 2012 36 minIn this experimental short, filmmaker Jeffrey St. Jules reconstructs the story of his grandparents and their rugged frontier existence in the logging towns of Northern Ontario. A blend of fiction and documentary, the film stitches together a fractured family history that is filled with both the joie de vivre and hardships reflective of Franco-Ontarian life.
-
The Nitinaht ChroniclesMaurice Bulbulian 1997 2 h 22 minThis feature documentary profiles an Indigenous community coming to terms with a legacy of sexual abuse, incest and family violence. The film follows the Ditidaht First Nation over a seven-year period, after a respected elder is found guilty of sexual assault. Award-winning filmmaker Maurice Bulbulian records the community's stories, becoming a part of their healing process. With the hope and courage of participants, the powerful interviews in this film play a key role in helping the community overcome the cycle of abuse. The continuing, devastating effects of the residential school system are also revealed; in this system, physical, emotional and sexual abuse were all too often routine. The Nitinaht Chronicles contains strong language, including graphic sexual detail. Please preview before showing to an audience.
-
The Nitinaht Chronicles - Part 2Maurice Bulbulian 1998 53 minThe Nitinaht Chronicles is a searing portrait of a small Indigenous community on Canada's west coast struggling to come to terms with a legacy of sexual abuse, incest and family violence. Seven years in the making, the film is a first-hand look at the extraordinary efforts of the people of Nitinaht to overcone the cycle of physical abuse that touched the lives of nearly all the members of the community.
-
The Nitinaht Chronicles - Part 1Maurice Bulbulian 1998 46 minThe Nitinaht Chronicles is a searing portrait of a small Indigenous community on Canada's west coast struggling to come to terms with a legacy of sexual abuse, incest and family violence. Seven years in the making, the film is a first-hand look at the extraordinary efforts of the people of Nitinaht to overcome the cycle of physical and sexual abuse that touched the lives of nearly all the members of the community.
-
The Nitinaht Chronicles - Part 3Maurice Bulbulian 1998 47 minThe Nitinaht Chronicles is a searing portrait of a small Indigenous community on Canada's west coast struggling to come to terms with a legacy of sexual abuse, incest and family violence. Seven years in the making, the film is a first-hand look at the extraordinary efforts of the people of Nitinaht to overcome the cycle of physical and sexual abuse that touched the lives of nearly all the members of the community.
-
PhoebeGeorge Kaczender 1964 27 minA film story exploring the state of mind of a teenage girl when she learns she is pregnant. The film slips in and out of the present, past and future in a way that communicates her feelings in an almost subjective way. Her need to tell her parents, her boyfriend, her school principal, and to find some help in her predicament is the heart of the film.
-
Places Not Our OwnDerek Mazur 1986 57 minPart of the Daughters of the Country series, this dramatic film set in 1929 depicts how Canada's West, home to generations of Métis, was taken over by the railroads and new settlers. As a result, the Métis became a forgotten people, forced to eke out a living as best they could. At the forefront is Rose, a woman determined to provide her children with a normal life and an education despite the odds. But due to their harsh circumstances, a devastating and traumatic event transpires instead.
-
Richard Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Métis ChildAlanis Obomsawin 1986 29 minRichard Cardinal died by his own hand at the age of 17, having spent most of his life in a string of foster homes and shelters across Alberta. In this short documentary, Abenaki director Alanis Obomsawin weaves excerpts from Richard’s diary into a powerful tribute to his short life. Released in 1984—decades before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission—the film exposed the systemic neglect and mistreatment of Indigenous children in Canada’s child welfare system. Winner of the Best Documentary Award at the 1986 American Indian Film Festival, the film screened at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 2008 as part of an Obomsawin retrospective, and continues to be shown around the world.
-
"There Are Others Worse Off than Us ...."Yves Dion 1972 57 minThis is a look at the daily life of a young couple. Both wife and husband suffer from cerebral palsy. Although every movement is made with effort, and every day is a struggle, they choose, instead of dependence on others, to marry, to have a child and to derive strength and courage from each other. By showing their problems, their needs and their hopes, this film reaches out for greater public understanding and acceptance of the physically disabled in our midst.
