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Journalism and News Reporting (18)
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Camera on Labour No. 4Alvin Goldman 1956 13 minNew Health Service for Garment Workers: Jointly operated by management and union, the Fashion Industries' Health Center in Montréal plays watchdog to the health of International Ladies' Garment Workers Union members through its free diagnostic service. Steelworkers Go to Press: An employee of the Stelco Steel plant in Hamilton, Cecil Lewis doubles as editor of a monthly union newspaper that keeps local members informed of union aims and activities. -
Eastern GraphicMichael McKennirey & Kent Martin 1975 19 minThis short film takes a look at Prince Edward Island through the eyes of Jim McNeil, editor and publisher of the Eastern Graphic, the Island's only weekly. Filmed during the 1974 provincial election, the film places particular emphasis on grass-roots politicking and the newspaper's role in reporting on it.
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Eye Witness No. 87.Walter A. Sutton & Alvin Goldman 1955 11 minWinter Dogs Days: The fourth annual dog derby at Maniwaki, Québec, brings racing teams from different parts of eastern Canada and the United States to compete for honours on the twenty-mile snow-bound course. Steelworkers Go To Press: One of Stelco Steel's ten thousand employees in Hamilton, Cecil Lewis doubles as editor of Steel Shots, a monthly paper reporting on union aims and off-work activities.
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Freelancer on the Front LinesSantiago Bertolino 2016 1 h 38 minThis fast-paced documentary follows Canadian freelance reporter Jesse Rosenfeld’s journey across the Middle East. Having made the region the focus of his work, he shows us the thorny geopolitical realities on the ground and explores how journalism practices have changed in the age of the Internet. From Egypt to Turkey and Iraq by way of Israel and Palestine, filmmaker Santiago Bertolino captures the ups and downs of a new kind of journalism in action.
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The HecklersIan McLaren 1975 58 minThis documentary offers a witty and engaging view of Canada's history through the unique perspectives of its political cartoonists. Duncan Macpherson, Robert LaPalme, Aislin, and others chime in on the most notable cartoons from more than 50 artists while we also enjoy the reactions of the targets. As one cartoonist proclaims, "A picture is worth a thousand words. A cartoon, well done, is worth a thousand pictures."
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Headline Hunters1945 11 minThis short film from 1945 demonstrates how broadcasters and journalists relayed war news back to Canada. It includes glimpses of the complex organization behind them - the military PR directors, the censors, dispatch riders, engineers and the Canadian Press and British United Press offices.
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History on the Run: The Media and the '79 ElectionPeter Raymont 1979 56 minThis documentary examines the media's coverage of the federal election of May 1979. Filmed over a 3-week period, it takes a fascinating look at journalists in action and the politicians who attempt to manipulate the media.
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The Home Town PaperMorten Parker 1948 23 minThis short film from 1948 takes an in-depth look at local newspapers and their relationship to the community they serve. Following the weekly editor of one such hometown paper for a day, the film tracks the local events that will be news tomorrow. In town, we meet the people whose names are scattered through the pages: the mayor and his hope of a new city hall, the local angler who breaks a record and even the lacrosse team, sharing spectators with the band concert in the park.
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Joseph Howe: The Tribune of Nova ScotiaJulian Biggs 1961 28 minThis short drama is a portrait of Nova Scotian journalist and politician Joseph Howe (1804-1873) and his battle for freedom of press. When, in 1835, Howe was accused of seditious libel, no lawyer dared defend him. Choosing to defend himself, he addressed the jury for over 6 hours, urging jurors to leave an unshackled press as a legacy to their children. Though the judge instructed the jury to find Howe guilty, jurors took only 10 minutes to acquit him - a landmark event in the evolution of press freedom in Canada.
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Le Devoir, Part 2: 1945-1973, The Quiet RevolutionHugues Poulin & Jean-V. Dufresne 1973 26 minThe Duplessis years, labour violence, the far-reaching policies of Jean Lesage, the B&B Commission, the emergence of the Parti Québécois, the FLQ and the October Crisis of 1970--these were tense times fraught with change. Commenting on their significance and on Le Devoir's involvement is a roster of eminent spokesmen: political leaders, historians, writers, journalists, and Le Devoir's renowned editor-publisher, Claude Ryan.
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Le Devoir, Part 1: 1910-1945, Do What You MustHugues Poulin & Jean-V. Dufresne 1973 27 min"Fais ce que dois" (Do what you must) was the motto Henri Bourassa gave to the newspaper he founded in 1910. An attitude of vigorous independence has characterized the Montréal daily ever since. This film and the following one examine Le Devoir's influence over the years, how it has interpreted and treated local, national and world issues--the wartime conscription question, for example. Interviewed in Part 1 is the founder's daughter, Anne Bourassa.
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Nothing SacredGarry Beitel 2003 51 minThis feature documentary is a portrait of Montreal political cartoonists Aislin and Serge Chapleau. In the pages of The Montreal Gazette and La Presse, respectively, they’ve been skewering politicians for 30 years. But who are these biting satirists? The film seeks to answer this question through interviews with the cartoonist's friends, families, colleagues, and even a few of their favourite victims, including Gilles Duceppe and Louise Beaudoin. Featuring many of their classic cartoons, Nothing Sacred pays tribute to gifted iconoclasts whose hilarious characters have seeped into our collective consciousness.
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People and Science: DeadlinesJefferson Lewis 1987 11 minWhile preparing a program on a proposed water-diversion project, a television journalist must come to terms with the fact that she must present an unbiased look at the positive and negative effects of damming a river.
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The Perfect StoryMichelle Shephard 2021 1 h 13 minThe Perfect Story offers a riveting, intimate look at the ethical and moral challenges sparked by the relationship between a foreign correspondent and a young Somali refugee. By revealing the boundaries of journalism and filmmaking, the film questions what stories are told, why, and who gets to tell them.
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Seeing Is BelievingGudrun Parker 1956 10 minHow three different newsreels treat the arrival in town of a political candidate demonstrates that the approach to an event can change its character--you can't always believe all you see.
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Sophie Wollock's NewspaperGilles Blais 1979 27 minThis short documentary profiles Sophie Wollock and the newspaper she founded for the western suburbs of Montreal in l963, The Suburban. A weekly paper distributed free to some 45,000 homes, most of them anglophone, The Suburban became famous for the strongly worded editorials written by Wollock, mainly on the subject of Québec nationalism. The film looks at the paper, then under the guidance of her son, and sums up some of Wollock's more impassioned editorials.
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Shock WavesPierre Mignault 2007 52 minIn the Democratic Republic of Congo, murder, rape, armed conflict and the looting of civilians by the military are daily facts of life. In this huge country where chaos and corruption reign, the journalists of Radio Okapi risk their lives every day to expose the abuses of power to which the Congolese people are subjected. This is one of the worst humanitarian crises in our world today.
Shooting in danger zones still in the grip of rebellion the filmmakers follow the work of several journalists from this free, UN-backed radio station. Taking us up the Congo River and deep into the equatorial jungle, they capture with a hidden camera a reporter's confrontation with unscrupulous soldiers who practise extortion and torture. Another reporter journeys east to cover a new outbreak of the rebellion and returns with harrowing testimony by victims of rape and destruction. Elsewhere, after denouncing the chief of police, another journalist barely escapes reprisal by a death squad. All across the country, Radio Okapi's national network of reporters takes enormous risks to put the truth on the air.
Shock Waves is a hard-hitting documentary that denounces the crimes committed by armed thugs in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It also paints an unforgettable picture of an independent radio and its courageous journalists, who are aware that they are making history.
Shot in a land where silence is imposed at gunpoint, Shock Waves provides riveting testimony to the difficult birth of freedom of expression and democracy in a country torn apart in the aftermath of war. -
UnheraldedAaron Hancox 2011 27 minThis short documentary is a portrait of a tiny town, Lakefield, Ontario, and its independent weekly, the Herald. Across North America, newspapers are dying, but in Lakefield, Terry McQuitty, the town paper’s publisher, carries on a rich, 150-year-old tradition. Set to the pace of small-town life, Unheralded is a testament to the vital role newspapers can still play, and the close bond between reporter and reader.
