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Rivers and Streams (6)
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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. -
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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Paddle to the SeaBill Mason 1966 27 minBased on Holling C. Holling's book of the same name, Paddle to the Sea is Bill Mason's film adaptation of the classic tale of an Indigenous boy who sets out to carve a man and a canoe. Calling the man "Paddle to the Sea," he sets his carving down on a frozen stream to await spring’s arrival. The film follows the adventures that befall the canoe on its long odyssey from Lake Superior to the sea.
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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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St. Lawrence: Stairway to the SeaJacques Gagné & Jacques-Yves Cousteau 1982 1 h 36 minIn this spectacular feature-length documentary, oceanographer Jacques Cousteau and an NFB crew sail up the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes on board the specially equipped vessel, the Calypso. They explore the countryside from their helicopter and plumb the depths of the waters in their diving saucer. They encounter shipwrecks, the Manicouagan power dam, Niagara Falls, the locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway and an underwater chase with caribou.
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Water - Reserves and NetworksMichel Barbeau 2000 20 minCanada possesses the greatest supply of fresh and salt water on the planet. This video examines the country's waterways, reserves and networks, and looks at the important role water has played in the past and present. Water shows how this precious resource has been both a boon and a challenge. Early explorers trying to locate the Northwest Passage to Asia ended up marooned and shipwrecked on the treacherous ice floes of the Canadian Arctic. Yet coastal waters have been treasured the world over for their bountiful fish stocks. And inland, the country's intricate systems of rivers and lakes have served as navigational arteries, sources of energy and playgrounds for leisure.
TRANSIT features five videos that examine Canada's rich and diverse geography. Each film in the series combines spectacular cinematography and lively animation, using the Earth's basic elements as themes: Air explores climate; Water showcases the country's network of rivers, lakes and oceans; Land looks at the vast territory that makes Canada the second largest country in the world; Fire documents old and new sources of energy; plus Life, which develops the themes of people, fauna and flora.
