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Catholic Church (16)
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Behind the Veil: NunsMargaret Wescott 1984 2 h 10 minThis feature documentary records the turbulent history and remarkable achievements of women in religion, from pre-Christian Celtic communities to the radical sisters of the 1980s. The history of nuns mirrors that of all women - in what we are taught about the past, women are almost invisible. Although today's one million nuns outnumber priests two to one, they still struggle to be heard by the all-male Roman Catholic hierarchy from which they are excluded. In Behind the Veil: Nuns, contemporary nuns speak candidly of their lives, their challenges, and their predecessors. -
Challenge for the ChurchWilliam Weintraub 1972 27 minIn Québec, as elsewhere, some venerable old church buildings fell to the wreckers' hammer to make way for urban development. What is said about the role of the Roman Catholic church and the priesthood is recorded in frank, perceptive interviews, including one with a young working priest who laid aside the robes of the past to don the garb of the modern generation.
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St. Laurent PilgrimageDan J. McCrimmon 1985 2 minThis very short film from the Canada Vignettes series documents the annual pilgrimage that members of Saskatchewan’s Métis Catholic community make to St. Laurent, a village in the Duck Lake area that became the Métis nation’s spiritual centre at the time of the 1885 Northwest Rebellion.
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Eye Witness No. 65Hector Lemieux & Ronald Weyman 1954 11 minOld Glory Weather Station: Life on top of the world is a year-round experience for meteorologists who work at the highest observatory in the Canadian Rockieson on Old Glory Mountain in British Columbia. Easter in Jerusalem: Roman Catholic priests from many Canadian communities join in a pilgrimage to the Holy City during Easter week.
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Eye Witness No. 301951 10 minThese vignettes from 1951 covered various aspects of life in Canada and were shown in theatres across the country. Subjects included here are British Columbia's Cariboo Trail, once the scene of a great gold rush and which still pays off for the placer miner and occasional prospector; Canada's new state residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa, a redesigned old stone mansion destined to become Canada's No. 10 Downing Street; a unique ceremony in remote Chesterfield Inlet as the first Inuit girl in history receives the veil of the Grey Nuns; Great Lakes conservationists outsmart the eel-like bloodsucker that preys on fish; and the new blue model uniforms designed for the Women's Division of the Air Force.
Please note that this is an archival film that makes use of the word “Eskimo,” an outdated and offensive term. While the origin of the word is a matter of some contention, it is no longer used in Canada. The term was formally rejected by the Inuit Circumpolar Council in 1980 and has subsequently not been in use at the NFB for decades. This film is therefore a time-capsule of a bygone era, presented in its original version. The NFB apologizes for the offence caused. -
God's Dominion - In the Name of the FatherTed Remerowski 1993 50 minAloysius Ambrozic, the staunchly conservative Archbishop of Toronto, has become a lightning rod for protest and debate, exposing a tremendous rift within the Catholic Church which is divided, in the name of the Father, into those who see a pressing need for change and those who are content with the status quo.
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Hand of God, Hand of the DevilYvan Patry , Sam Grana , … 1996 50 minIn April 1994, the international community sat by and watched while a million Tutsi men, women and children were massacred in the central African nation of Rwanda. Hand of God, Hand of the Devil, the second volume in the three-part Rwanda series, explores Canada's role in the development of the genocidal ideology that took root in Rwanda, which was considered the "jewel" of Canadian aid in Africa. This video focuses on the murder of two Canadian missionaries, killed for having protested against corruption and human rights violations. Brother François Cardinal, who worked at the controversial Rwandan college, funded by Canadian aid money to the Rwandan president's advisors. Like countless others in Rwanda, his killers were never found. Father Claude Simard, the only Canadian to have stayed in Rwanda during the 100 days of genocide, was murdered in 1994--after the regime responsible for the massacre of Tutsis had been overthrown. Since Simard had risked his life to rescue Tutsis, the Canadian government concluded that his killers must have been Hutus who feared being identified for their crimes. However, the video uncovers evidence that Simard died at the hands of the new government, upset by the Canadian priest's objections to its reprisal killings of innocent Hutus. Hand of God, Hand of the Devil raises disturbing questions about Canada's role in Rwanda. Having assisted the former regime, will Canadian aid now sow the seeds for a new crop of killers? Volume 1 of the series.
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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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Le Patro Le Prévost 80 Years LaterAlanis Obomsawin 1991 29 minAlanis Obomsawin turns her lens to Le Patro Le Prévost, a recreational centre in the Villeray quarter of Montreal. On the eve of its 80th anniversary in 1989, Le Patro is a vital focal point in the predominantly working-class neighbourhood. Beloved by the many generations who use the facilities and partake in activities daily, Le Patro encourages a strong sense of togetherness through principles of cooperation, respect and sharing. Obomsawin presents a tender portrait of a neighbourhood of diverse residents and the community centre many of them consider a second home.
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The Little SistersPierre Patry 1959 29 minThis short documentary offers a privileged view of convent life at Les Servantes de Jesus-Mariet, in Hull, Quebec. The film focuses on Micheline Robert, who, while all her friends were thinking about marriage, turned her back on that world for a life of obedience, chastity, and poverty. We follow her progress, right up to her final vows.
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Mission of FearFernand Dansereau 1965 1 h 19 minThe story of the Jesuit martyrs who lived with the Wendat converts in the region near what is now Midland, Ontario. The film is of wide interest since it reconstructs a period of Canadian history, especially of Indigenous life, at the very beginning of European settlement. The village and the Jesuits' buildings are exact models from archeologists' reconstructions. The story is based on the Jesuit Relations, the actual journals of mission life that still make for thrilling reading.
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PilgrimageTerence Macartney-Filgate 1958 30 minThis short documentary by Terence Macartney-Filgate focuses on the never-ending pilgrimage to Montreal's St. Joseph's Oratory. A beautiful shrine set against Mount Royal, the Oratory draws pilgrims by the thousands every year – by plane, by bus, and on foot. What's the draw? Watch this film, and listen to Brother Placide Vermandère tell you all about it.
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PassifloraFernand Bélanger & Dagmar Gueissaz-Teufel 1985 1 h 24 minMontreal, September 1984. Within a span of five days, Montreal’s Olympic Stadium hosts Pope John Paul II and Michael Jackson. A perfect opportunity to explore the impact of the media on the masses. With caustic irony, this film gives voice to people excluded by Church doctrine: the gay and lesbian community, and women who’ve had abortions or been abused. Beyond documentary, fiction or news report, Passiflora is above all a film that packs a punch, leaves a mark and makes an impression, happily blending analysis, animation, acting, humour and song.
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The SilenceRenée Blanchar 2021 1 h 48 minWARNING: This film discusses the topic of childhood sexual assault. Viewer discretion is advised.
Why be silent about the most serious matters? Doesn’t silence perpetuate suffering? From the 1950s to the 1980s, Catholic priests sexually abused many young boys in the francophone towns of New Brunswick. These scandals only came to light when the victims were in their fifties, provoking shock and outrage in the media and the public. Why did the affected communities keep silent so long, preferring secrecy to justice and truth? Profiting from their positions of influence to impose a “pious silence” on their parishioners, authority figures built an abusive system that tells us as much about the type of oppression specific to the Acadian population as it does about the blanket denials issued by the Catholic Church. Called to confront the power of this collective silence, veteran filmmaker Renée Blanchar meets with survivors in an attempt to untangle the deeply rooted reasons for this secrecy. With The Silence, she takes us as close as she can to the humanity of these broken men, revealing the forces that, today as in the past, have the power to unite or divide Acadian communities. -
Ville-MarieDenys Arcand 1965 27 minToday it is the city of Montreal, but 3 centuries ago the tiny band of missionary founders called it Ville-Marie, the holy city of Mary. This film goes back to its beginning and those who felt called to plant an oasis of Christianity in the North American wilderness. In an imaginative, at times almost surrealistic, way the film recalls the highborn company from France, and shows what survives of Ville-Marie in the Montreal of today.
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Walls of MemoryLéonard Forest 1964 27 minA wealth of archival images offers a glimpse into Québec City’s social history in this tribute to French Canada’s first classical college, the Seminary of Québec.
