Children (42)

A One/Two/Many/World
Richard Swinden 1970 15 min
A film of mixed cinematic metaphors made with students from Queen’s University and local neighborhood children - a portrait of a young boy’s journey of self-discovery in a bewildering world of contradictions and imposed conditions. Many of the sequences are surrealistic in effect, creating a social commentary expressed in symbolic language.
Blood and Water

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Rohan Fernando 2007 1 h 17 min
When the 2004 tsunami hit the coast of Sri Lanka, 65-year-old Anton Ambrose's wife and daughter were killed. "In five minutes," he says, "I lost everything."

A year later, Anton returns to Sri Lanka. With him is his nephew, award-winning filmmaker Rohan Fernando.

A Tamil, Anton moved to California in the 1970s and became a very successful gynecologist. His daughter, Orlantha, made the opposite journey, returning to Sri Lanka where she ran a non-profit group that gave underprivileged children free violin lessons. Anton and his wife, Beulah, were visiting her when the tsunami hit.

Blood and Water is the story of one man's search for meaning in the face of overwhelming loss, but it is also filled with improbable characters, unintentional comedy and situational ironies.

To honour Orlantha's work, Anton is building a music centre and hosting a fundraising concert. Eccentric characters and oddball events immediately take centre stage. Exiled Iranian country singer Ann Claire is focused on media attention as much as on the concert. Shondale, an energetic African American computer analyst, is so moved by Orlantha's story that she drops everything to become the concert's chief organizer. The concert itself loses money, although - in a final irony - some of the underprivileged children it is designed to serve come from among the richest families in the country.

Meanwhile, Anton tours his old neighbourhood, spends time with his daughter's closest friends and seeks out advice from the archbishop of Sri Lanka. ("That's life!" the archbishop says, when Anton describes his loss.)

All this against the backdrop of Sri Lanka - a country coming apart as the decades-old civil war between Tamil Tigers and the government heats up.

Ultimately, Blood and Water is a film about the coming to terms with loss. As Anton Ambrose seeks meaning in tragedy, he must re-evaluate all he has taken for granted. In so doing, he comes to understand his daughter better than he ever did when she was alive.
Balakrishna

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Colin MacKenzie & Aparna Kapur 2019 15 min
When an extraordinary new resident – Balakrishna, an Indian elephant – arrived in the town of East River, Nova Scotia, in 1967, no one was more in awe of the creature than young Winton Cook, who became inseparable from his mammoth new friend. Using painterly animation, photographs and home-movie treasures, Balakrishna transmits the wistfulness of childhood memories, while evoking themes of friendship and loss, and issues of immigration and elephant conservation.
Bully Dance
Janet Perlman 2000 10 min
This short animated film examines the roles of peer pressure, accountability and power struggles in bullying – a pervasive phenomenon.

When a bully picks on a smaller member of his group, the whole community becomes involved. The bully, they learn, is himself a victim at home.
The Children of Fogo Island
Colin Low 1967 17 min
This short film from Colin Low presents the problems faced by the people of Fogo Island, Newfoundland and what keeps them committed to the land. Witness some of the magic of the island, as seen through the eyes of children, and understand why its inhabitants cling to its shores.
Child of the Andes (Spanish Version)
1985 58 min
This documentary presents the people of Andahuaylillas, Peru, a small village located high in the Andes. Ten-year-old Sébastiana recounts their history and legends and explains the local customs, which have persisted for over three centuries. Child of the Andes is a look at a simpler way of life still undisturbed by modern society's technology and materialism.
Cree Way
Tony Ianzelo 1977 26 min
This short documentary examines an innovative educational program developed by John and Gerti Murdoch to teach Cree children their language via Cree folklore, photographs, artifacts, and books that were written and printed in the community.

Made as part of the NFB’s groundbreaking Challenge for Change series, Cree Way shows that local control of the education curriculum has a place in Indigenous communities.
Child of the Andes
Marilú Mallet 1988 27 min
This documentary presents the people of Andahuaylillas, Peru, a small village located high in the Andes. Ten-year-old Sébastiana recounts their history and legends and explains the local customs, which have persisted for over three centuries. Child of the Andes is a look at a simpler way of life still undisturbed by modern society's technology and materialism.
Dans la vie...
Pierre Veilleux 1972 5 min
Here the film animator gives vivid expression to his own memories of a child's first encounter with elementary school--at that tender age when grown-ups seem ten feet tall, a monster lurks in every corridor, and the very walls have eyes. Feeling, but not understanding, the regimentation imposed on him, the child seeks, in spite of it all, to be himself. A film without words; titles in French.
From Far Away
Shira Avni & Serene El-haj Daoud 2000 6 min
This short animation tells the story of Saoussan, a young girl struggling to adjust to life in Canada after being uprooted from her wartorn homeland. She has come to seek a quieter and safer life, although memories of war and death linger, memories that are awakened when the children at her new school prepare for a scary Halloween. From Far Away speaks to the power within us all to adapt like Saoussan and to welcome a newcomer.

Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen.
Four Feet Up

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Nance Ackerman 2009 46 min
In this personal documentary, award-winning photographer and filmmaker Nance Ackerman invites us into the lives of a determined family for a profound experience of child poverty in one of the richest countries in the world. 20 years after the House of Commons promised to eliminate poverty among Canadian children, 8-year-old Isaiah is trying hard to grow up healthy, smart and well adjusted despite the odds stacked against him. Isaiah knows he's been categorized as "less fortunate," and his short life has seen more than his share of social workers, food banks and police interventions. His parents struggle to overcome a legacy of stereotypes, abuse and dysfunction. More than anything, they want Isaiah and his siblings to have access to opportunities they never had. Ackerman spent 2 years with Isaiah and his family. As her portrait of the family unfolds with the help of Isaiah's creative input, curiosity and zest for life, so do Ackerman's own feelings about the responsibilities of Canadians to raise all children as our best investment in the nation's future.
For Angela
Nancy Trites Botkin & Daniel Prouty 1993 21 min
This short film portrays the experiences of Rhonda Gordon and her daughter, Angela, when a simple bus ride changes their lives in an unforeseeable way. When they are harassed by three boys, Rhonda finds the courage to take a unique and powerful stance against ignorance and prejudice. What ensues is a dramatic story of racism and empowerment.
Foster Child
Gil Cardinal 1987 43 min
An important figure in the history of Canadian Indigenous filmmaking, Gil Cardinal was born to a Métis mother but raised by a non-Indigenous foster family, and with this auto-biographical documentary he charts his efforts to find his biological mother and to understand why he was removed from her. Considered a milestone in documentary cinema, it addressed the country’s internal colonialism in a profoundly personal manner, winning a Special Jury Prize at Banff and multiple international awards. “Foster Child is one of the great docs to come out of Canada, and nobody but Gil could have made it,” says Jesse Wente, director of Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office. “Gil made it possible for us to think about putting our own stories on the screen, and that was something new and important.”
Feeling Yes, Feeling No

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Moira Simpson 1984 43 min
Feeling Yes, Feeling No is a sexual-assault prevention program for young children. The purpose is to give children the skills to protect themselves from sexual assault--from strangers, from family members, from other trusted persons. Part 1 teaches children basic skills that build self-worth, self-confidence and good judgment. Part 2 reinforces the understanding of 'Yes' feelings and 'No' feelings and introduces skills to keep children assess potentially dangerous situations involving strangers. Part 3 introduces the issue of sexual assault by a trusted adult.
Hannah's Story
Juanita Peters 2007 29 min
At the age of 5, Hannah Taylor spotted her first homeless person in the back alleys of Winnipeg. This experience not only troubled her, but it drove her to do nothing less than change the world. The Ladybug Foundation, the charity Hannah helped establish, has raised over a million dollars to date. With her huge heart and can-do attitude, she preaches a simple message of "Share a little of what you have and always care about others." As this short documentary proves, we all have a lot to learn from Hannah's story.
Holding Our Ground
Anne Henderson 1988 50 min
Filmed in a squatter community of Labangon in Cebu, Philippines, Holding Our Ground is the inspiring story of a group of women who have organized collectively to pressure their government for land reform, to establish their own money-lending system and to create shelters for street kids. A story of grassroots organizing that can be a model in both hemispheres.
Si le temps le permet (version inuktitut)
2003 0 s
Documentaire personnel de l'artiste Élisapie Isaac. En pleine immensité boréale, au bord de la mer Arctique, un village : Kangirsujuaq, au Nunavik. Ici, traditions et modernité se croisent quotidiennement. Les rires des enfants habitent joyeusement les rues, les jeunes carburent à la culture « du Sud », alors que les vieux tentent encore de se faire à leur étrange sédentarité. Dans cette toundra à couper le souffle, la jeune cinéaste originaire de Salluit, maintenant installée à Montréal, décide de plonger au coeur de ses origines.
In Other Words
Jan Padgett 2001 27 min
This short documentary explores homophobic language and its consequences among teenagers. Name-calling and cruel language hurt, say the teens who speak in this video. Homophobic language is a common verbal put-down among young people, but many adults feel uncomfortable responding. This video is a tool for teachers, counsellors and youth groups to explore the origins of the words, how young people feel about them and how to overcome the pain they cause.
If the Weather Permits
Elisapie Isaac 2003 27 min
This short documentary studies life in the village of Kangirsujuaq, Nunavik. In this community on the edge of the Arctic Ocean, children’s laughter fills the streets while the old people ponder the passage of time. They are nomads of the wide-open spaces who are trying to get used to the strange feeling of staying put. While the teenagers lap up Southern culture and play golf on the tundra to kill time, the Elders are slowly dying, as their entire culture seems to fade away.

Elisapie Isaac, a filmmaker born in Nunavik, decides to return to her roots on this breathtaking land. To bridge the growing gap between the young and the old, she speaks to her grandfather, now deceased, and confides in him her hopes and fears. Grappling with isolation, family relationships, resource extraction, land-based knowledges, the influence of Southern culture and the ongoing impacts of colonialism on Inuit ways of life, Elisapie Isaac offers a nuanced portrait of the North.
Kwekànamad - The Wind Is Changing
Carlos Ferrand 1999 54 min
Annie Smith-St-Georges is an Algonquin mother and wife who led a largely uneventful life. Then tragedy struck in 1990, when her teenage son Yanik ended his life. Annie wanted to forget and yet to remember, to understand and yet to deny. Then one day she had a vision of a glass teepee ten storeys high, in Ottawa, to house a National Aboriginal Arts and Performance Centre. The building would be designed by the renowned architect Douglas Cardinal, in memory of her son and for all young Natives struggling to find meaning in life. We meet Annie and her husband eight years later, during the final year of their crusade for the glass teepee. A traditional habitat made from non-traditional material would successfully meld past and present. Annie wishes to give back to her people their ancestral pride and dignity. It's a time of hope. Annie now knows that, and she says it for anyone to hear: "Kwekànamad," the wind is changing. Some subtitles.
Locked

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Bhimsain 1997 5 min
On the way to school, a boy is confronted by an enormous man whose hand grabs hold of his school bag and tosses it into the air. The hand pushes him towards a huge padlock, then forces him to enter through the keyhole: the schoolboy is imprisoned in a hazardous lock factory. Like the other children inside, he finds himself forced to operate a high-speed punch press. Struggling to follow the movements of the machine, he cuts off a finger. He tries to run away, but is recaptured.

Back at the factory he starts to cough up blood after inhaling iron particles that will prove lethal: the child dies on the job. Coldly, the hand picks up his body and drops it in the box the padlocks are shipped in, symbol of his murdered innocence. How can we live with forced child labour? This India/Canada co-production is inspired by Article 32 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the child, which particularly upholds the child's right to be protected from economic exploitation. An animated film without words for 12- to 17-year olds.
Live TV
Annie O'Donoghue 1996 21 min
This short live-action comedy satirizing TV's violent ways tells the story of 4 children who go searching for their school’s 2 missing turtles. In this task, the children are assisted by a television set that morphs to life as a goofy action superhero. As the search progresses, the children discover that TV solutions and real-life solutions don't always mix. When the kids take charge and use their own wits, the turtle mystery is solved in a jiffy.
Learning Peace: A Big School with a Big Heart

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Teresa MacInnes 2002 57 min
Learning Peace: A Big School with a Big Heart chronicles a year at Annapolis East Elementary. A school where over 700 kids play, study, meet and--like kids everywhere--sometimes fight.

But thanks to an anti-violence program introduced in 1996 by principal Heather Harris, bullying and fighting have become a rarity.

Peace education has been fully integrated into the school curriculum. Meanwhile, a peer mediation program helps students settle disputes, good behaviour is rewarded at monthly assemblies, and a full-time counsellor devotes his days (lunch hours and breaks included) to helping kids address anger.

Over the course of a year, it becomes clear that peace is hard work--but well worth the effort.
Mela's Lunch
Sugith Varughese 1991 14 min
This short drama from the Playing Fair series recounts the shaky beginnings of a friendship between Allison and Mela, a girl who recently immigrated to Canada from India. Mela is trying hard to make friends and get used to her new surroundings, but Peter and other classmates make her feel unwelcome and out of place. Though Allison initially goes along with the group, the film shows that differences in skin color and country of origin need not be an obstacle to friendship or self-esteem.
Night Children
Bernard Devlin 1956 30 min
This short drama presents the story of a case worker with a Children's Aid Society and the children she helps. Working round the clock, the Society receives appeals of every sort. The film shows how the Society follows through in the case of a little girl found wandering alone on downtown streets at night and in other cases of children abandoned, uncared for, the victims of their environment.
The Nitinaht Chronicles - Part 3
Maurice Bulbulian 1998 47 min
The 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

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Maurice Bulbulian 1997 2 h 22 min
This 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 1
Maurice Bulbulian 1998 46 min
The 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 2
Maurice Bulbulian 1998 53 min
The 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 Orange
Diane Chartrand 1992 4 min
In this animated film for five- to eight-year-olds, a group of schoolchildren are amazed to discover that one of their classmates does not have enough to eat. With the help of their teacher, the children come to understand that his hardship affects them all and that the fight against poverty requires solidarity and sharing. Film without words.
Of Hopscotch and Little Girls...

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Marquise Lepage 1999 52 min
Hopscotch is universal. Girls around the world trace squares on the ground, then hop through them, trying hard to reach the end. Girls share other interests too; they all like to talk about school, what they want to be when they grow up, who they will marry, how many children they will have, their hopes for a better life for themselves and their family.

But all too often, through poverty, perversion, spite, ignorance or superstition, adults shatter these dreams by denying girls the right to an education, entering them into forced labour, subjecting them to mutilation, sexual abuse and other injustices.

Soni, Kamlesh, Mou, Yui, Dalal, Esmeralda, Fatou, Adiaratou, Safi and Maude range in age from 8 to 14. Some are frail, some strong; all are beautiful. Whether they live in India, Thailand, Yemen, Peru, Burkina Faso or Haiti, they all speak of having much of their childhood stolen from them. Because they are girls. With subtitles.
Richard Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Métis Child
Alanis Obomsawin 1986 29 min
Richard 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.
Sticks and Stones
Jan Padgett 2001 17 min
This short documentary features children aged 5 to 12 talking about their experiences with bullying and discrimination because they or their families do not fit into traditional gender and family roles. This film explores the contemporary diversity of families from kids' points of view, while featuring short animated sequences about the history of derogatory slang.
The Sniffing Bear
Co Hoedeman 1992 7 min
This animated film uses the Arctic landscape and the traditional Inuit characters of the Bear, the Seal and the Owl to raise young people's awareness about the harmful effects of substance abuse. A polar bear experiences hallucinations after inhaling fumes from an abandoned gas can. A nearby owl and seal help to show the bear the error of his ways, thus preventing him from falling further into addiction. This film was an initiative of the Natives of the Institution La Macaza to warn children of the dangers of inhaling toxic chemicals.
The Streets of Saigon
Michael Rubbo 1973 28 min
This is a "social study" in the true sense, filmed in the streets of Saigon while the Vietnamese war was still going strong. Life went on fairly normally except for the noticeable presence of the military, and the number of children, orphaned, homeless, thrown on their own resources to make a living in the streets. It is these children who are in the forefront of the film, along with some American volunteers who tried to help them.
Trade

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Kireet Khurana 1997 6 min
A young girl is taken away to a large city by train, but she knows nothing about the man her parents entrust her to. During the journey she recalls good times she spent with her family at a village fair, where she had a pretty flower tattooed on her hand. On their arrival, the child is dazzled by the lights of the city. She trustingly follows this stranger, who is leading her to a brothel. When she sees money passing from the hands of the madam to the pimp, she remembers that her father took a large sum of money from this same stranger. She realizes with horror that she has been sold.

A prisoner in the brothel, the young girl is dressed up in beautiful clothes before being shut in a filthy room. A wealthy customer appears. Through the blinds, she sees him hand a wad of bills to the madam. The man enters her room, drooling in his excitement. The child screams for help with all her might, but her cries mingle with the whistling of the train as it flies into the night... An animated film without words for 12- to 17-year olds.
To See the World

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Francine Desbiens 1992 9 min
A kindly old man sends his grandson off to see the world. From the window of the train, the child discovers the problems plaguing this planet and imagines solutions to promote the happiness of children everywhere. A synthesis of Volume 1 of the Rights from the Heart/Droits au c÷ur collection, this animated film for five- to eight-year-olds puts the issue of children's rights in an international context.
Teach Me to Dance
Anne Wheeler 1978 28 min
In this drama, Lesia convinces her English-Canadian friend Sarah to perform a Ukrainian dance with her as part of their school's Christmas pageant. Sarah's father, angry at the growing number of Ukrainian settlers, won't allow his daughter to participate. Despite the prejudices of their parents, the girls' friendship remains strong, and they meet in Sarah's barn to celebrate Christmas Day together. Part of the Adventures in History series.
Tomorrow's Citizens
Gordon Weisenborn 1947 11 min
This film examines contemporary educational methods and policies in the light of an age that has released new natural energies, to be used for or against mankind. It reiterates the question sociologists ask: is the development of social responsibility in today's children keeping pace with their technical knowledge?
Places to Gather and Learn
Darlene Naponse 2018 10 min
A day in the lives of Indigenous students at N’Swakamok Alternative School, Places to Gather and Learn emphasizes the value and necessity of Indigenous alternative and community spaces. This short follows students as they learn and share their stories, aspirations, obstacles and accomplishments. Run in partnership with the N’Swakamok Indigenous Friendship Centre, and as a satellite of Sudbury Secondary School, N’Swakamok Alternative School offers students a supportive and culturally activated space to gain life skills as they pursue their academic and personal goals.
Walker
Alanis Obomsawin 1991 13 min
Walker is a young Indigenous foster child whose only playmate is his dog. Jamie is a lonely young white boy who is afraid of dogs, and has some strange ideas about Indigenous people. Walker ignores the racist jeering and taunting of the bigger boys and reaches out to Jamie. Together, they find friendship and understanding. Walker challenges racist attitudes toward Indigenous people, and shows how children from different backgrounds can form friendships. This film is part of the Playing Fair series. Educators are encouraged to preview the series before use and choose the dramas most age-appropriate for their students.
WaaPaKe (Tomorrow)

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Jules Arita Koostachin 2023 1 h 20 min
For generations, the suffering of residential school Survivors has radiated outward, impacting Indigenous families and communities. Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin’s deeply personal documentary WaaPaKe (Tomorrow) moves beyond intergenerational trauma, with an invitation to unravel the tangled threads of silence and unite in collective freedom and power.

Children (42)

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