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Eastern Europe and Balkans (15)
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Almost GiantsGary Toole 1984 24 minIn recent years, Canada has risen from virtual obscurity in women's gymnastics to become one of the top ten countries in the world, directly behind the United States and Eastern Europe. Almost Giants takes a behind-the-scenes look at the training process--from young hopefuls in individual clubs to the selection of competitors for a berth on the national team. Highlights include the team's training and preparation for, as well as participation in, the 1983 World Championships in Budapest, where the Canadian National Women's Gymnastic Team finished in the top twelve. -
AsylumGarry Beitel 1998 1 h 18 minThis feature documentary follows three newly arrived people in Canada and their experiences with the Canadian Refugee process. As claims are assessed and paperwork is double checked, we begin to examine exactly who can be considered a refugee.
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Caught in the CrossfireGarth Pritchard 1995 47 minCaught in the Crossfire is an in-depth and moving look at how Canadian soldiers keep peace in wartorn former Yugoslavia. Seen through the soldiers' eyes, it pays tribute to a community of men and women who have earned the respect of all sides in a bloody dispute. Throughout the film, we gain an awareness of the difficult work of our peacekeepers and of the successes that have resulted from our Canadian policy of refusing to take sides in the conflict.
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Is My Story Hurting You?David Homel 2007 52 minThis documentary by David Homel journeys across the ravaged landscape of the Balkans after the forgotten wars of the nineties that destroyed Yugoslavia. Vladimir Jovic is a Bosnian Serb psychiatrist who saw the break-up of his country and the end of Slobodan Milosevic's dictatorship. Today he treats his many compatriots who have been traumatized by their country's past. This story of an exemplary man delves into the aftermath of a barbarity that has marked people for life. From the battlefields to the psychiatrist's couch, Is My Story Hurting You? provides a disturbing look behind the scenes of history, where truth and lies overlap and evil terrifies but also fascinates. By piecing together memories, the film becomes a kind of therapy itself and a liberating force. In the end, resiliency wins out and life carries on.
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In God's CommandGarth Pritchard 1995 47 minThis documentary introduces us to Captain Mark Sargent, chaplain to the Canadian peacekeepers (soldiers of the First Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry) stationed in former Yugoslavia. It offers an intimate look at the work of this remarkable man as he travels from bunker to bunker and from village to village, ministering to soldiers and civilians caught in the bloody conflict that has torn apart the Balkans.
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The Knights of OrlandoJelena Popovic 2007 50 minIn this documentary, old comrades in arms exorcise the demons of war with a rousing bout of paintball in the ruins of the hotel Orlando in beautiful Dubrovnik, Croatia. The former soldiers try simultaneously to remember and forget the terrible conflict that plunged Dubrovnik into chaos in 1991 and 1992. Frenetic footage of the bizarre paintball warriors is mixed with real footage of the conflict, offering a troubling look at the insanity of war.
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Kosovo: Fragile PeaceMoira Simpson 2002 53 minThis feature documentary offers a rare glimpse into the frontlines of democracy building through the eyes of a Canadian mother and her daughter. In the heart of Kosovo, an international mission struggles to bring democracy to a land torn apart by bloodshed. There, Canadian lawyer Carolyn McCool works to build bridges between Kosovo Albanians and Serbs, while her 20-year-old daughter Kate travels with a musical roadshow to generate grassroots support for the election among the youth.
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King of BladesStanley Clish 1965 17 minThis short film presents Canadian world figure-skating champion Don Jackson as he makes skating history at Prague's World Championships, and in Canada appearing as a star in the Ice Follies.
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Letters from KareliaKelly Saxberg 2005 48 minThis feature-length documentary sheds light on "Karelia Fever," a phenomenon of the 1930s that led many Finnish Canadians to a tragic fate in the Soviet Union. Taimi Pitkanen last saw her brother Aate in Leningrad in 1931. She was returning to Canada from Moscow while her brother was heading to Soviet Karelia, where his skills as an English-Finnish electrician were in demand.
He wrote letters home until 1941, when Hitler attacked the USSR. After that, no one in Canada heard from him. Some 60 years later, letters (written but unmailed) were discovered that revealed his fate and brought together Taimi and Alfred, the son Aate never had a chance to meet. Alfred follows his father's journey from Thunder Bay to Karelia. With him, we learn about Aate and one of the great dreams of the 20th century. -
Out of the RuinsNicholas Read 1946 32 minGreece was ravaged first by World War II, and then by civil war. This film looks at the economic and social problems which resulted, and at the need for peace in this war-torn land. The efforts of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration to provide effective aid are highlighted.
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The Price of DutyGarth Pritchard 1995 47 minA tribute to Canadian peacekeeper Mark Isfeld, or "Issy" as he was known to his fellow soldiers. In the first 3 years of UN peacekeeping activity in former Yugoslavia, 10 Canadian soldiers died. Many others were seriously injured, a number of whom were "engineers" – soldiers assigned the dangerous task of clearing land mines to create a safer environment for the local people. As we see in dramatic close-up, this is a painstaking job requiring great personal risk, nerves of steel and unwavering trust among soldiers. It's a job that cost Canadian peacekeeper Mark Isfeld his life.
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The Physics of SorrowTheodore Ushev 2019 27 minThe Physics of Sorrow tracks an unknown man’s life as he sifts through memories of his youth in Bulgaria through to his increasingly rootless and melancholic adulthood in Canada.
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Spotlight on the Balkans1945 11 minFrom the World in Action series, this documentary looks at the history of the Balkan countries and their post-World War II problems and concerns.
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Twenty-four Hours in CzechoslovakiaDavid Bairstow 1968 57 minChicago Black Hawks hockey star Stan Mikita visits his native Czechoslovakia for a family reunion in this 1968 documentary. The cameras follow him over the course of a day and evening as he and his wife and daughter travel to Prague and the small village of Sokolce, where he was born. We get a good glimpse of Czech life, and the enthusiasm that exists for the sport of hockey.
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Theodore Ushev: Unseen ConnectionsBorislav Kolev 2022 1 h 17 minTheodore Ushev, the auteur behind a number of renowned animated shorts, reveals his inner universe, formed by a half-century of personal experience acquired in a constantly changing world.
