Skip to content
Accessibility
Young Adults (33)
-
Beyond KicksGary Toole 1972 28 minIn the early 1970s, a group of young volunteers, the Free Youth Clinic of Winnipeg, operated a "crisis bus" to rescue young people experiencing bad drug trips, usually from LSD. This film documents the activities of the volunteers: responding to and treating emergencies, whatever the hour, and obtaining further medical aid for their patients, if required. -
Bombay CallingBen Addelman & Samir Mallal 2006 1 h 10 minThis feature documentary chronicles the lives of young call-centre workers in Bombay (Mumbai), India. The film profiles several characters who attempt to sell phone services to clients in the UK, showing both sides of globalization’s impact on India – the economic benefits as well as the break with tradition and loss of innocence. A compelling insider’s look at youth culture in India and the growing number of young people who choose to follow the American dream, Indian-style.
-
Bravery in the FieldGiles Walker 1979 28 minThis dramatic film introduces us to Tommy, a World War II veteran who rooms alone, waiting for his pension cheque to arrive, passing the time in the evenings with his cronies in the Legion Hall. Lennie can claim only a third of Tommy's years, but he prowls the same area of town, and the two have more in common than either of them realizes. Both their lives lack a sense of place and purpose. The story occurs early in November and leads up to an event that provides one of Tommy's few remaining moments of glory, the annual veterans' Remembrance Day parade.
-
Christopher's Movie MatineeMort Ransen 1968 1 h 27 minWhen movie cameras were put in the hands of a few young people, they made this film about themselves and their world. The footage they gathered is presented in feature film with very little editing. There are sit-ins, love-ins, animated discussions among themselves about almost everything, and encounters with adults on a bus and on the street. The film is a revealing portrait of a dissenting generation and its rationale.
-
The Cat in the BagGilles Groulx 1964 1 h 13 minThrough the coming of age of a twenty-year-old man, this film symbolizes the political coming of age of the people of Québec. In French with English subtitles.
Soundtrack album, John's Coltrane's Blue World, available from Impulse! / Universal Music Enterprises. -
The Day OffSidney Goldsmith 1980 10 minThis short animated film is a reflection on the work world and the solace we seek from it on our days off. Here, people enjoying a day off are constantly being reminded of tragic events happening elsewhere while they play and relax on the beach.
-
DiscordiaSamir Mallal & Ben Addelman 2004 1 h 8 minOn September 9, 2002, a scheduled appearance by former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked heated debate at Montreal's Concordia University. By the end of the day, the "Concordia riot" had made international news, from CNN to Al-Jazeera. This film documents the fallout from that eventful day, following three young campus activists as they negotiate the most formative year of their lives. Filmmakers Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal jump into the fray with street-smart bravado and a handheld camera. Buoyed by the songs of hip-hop artist Buck 65, this film offers a tonic reflection on the current state of Canadian student activism and the enduring value of tolerance.
-
The Ernie GameDon Owen 1967 1 h 28 minThis fictional feature follows a twenty-something man who is struggling to define his position in the world in early adulthood. He has left their parents' home but still has not made an home of his own. Our protagonist’s alienation is palpable; for him life is a game, not because he chooses to make it so, but because he is unable to make anything more of it. But for those who befriend him and eventually turn him loose again, his game is not enough. Filmed in Montreal, this classic by Don Owen (Nobody Waved Good-bye) explores the time-worn rite of passage of finding oneself in a world not built for rakish playfulness.
-
French Man, Native SonMonika Ille 1997 26 minWhen 16-year-old Jean-Luc Battuz met Lonnie and Theresa Selam's family on the Yakima Reservation in Washington State, he immediately felt he was where he belonged. Over a decade later they would adopt him as their son, and he would move to British Columbia in order to live near them. Though he is white and European, Jean-Luc's affinity with the spiritual values of North American Native cultures drew him into a relationship with the Selam family. French Man, Native Son recounts the unique exchange between Jean-Luc, now 28, and his adoptive parents. He will always retain his original heritage, even while actively participating in the life, responsibilities, and traditions of the family who have welcomed him into their lives.
-
FightErvin Chartrand 2012 44 minThis short documentary introduces us to Randy Baleski, a Winnipeg high school teacher and former boxer who has a unique approach to helping students at risk of not graduating: get them in the ring. We watch him work with two Indigenous teens from troubled backgrounds as they slowly come to understand that boxing is more than just a sport… it's a way of life.
-
Joe Kinsella on EducationColin Low 1967 7 minJoe Kinsella talks about the problem of young people leaving Fogo Island after they finish their education.
-
Jules' Impossible SummerMarie-Julie Dallaire 2020 13 minShot in Montreal over a four-month period, from May to September 2020, Jules’ Impossible Summer charts the evolving relationship between the filmmaker and her 19-year-old son through 15 redundant conversations about the importance—or the impossibility, depending on the point of view—of following the health restrictions imposed during the pandemic.
-
My Tribe Is My Life - Pierre-Luc, The Dark SoulMyriam Verreault 2011 5 minHe's a longtime metal fan who expresses his dark impulses online without worrying about how he offends. As a future language teacher, he's never at a loss for words.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities. -
Multiple Choices - Picture PerfectAlison Burns 1995 12 minIt's never easy reconciling fairy tales to reality, especially when the reality is, to say the least, complicated. You know things are tough when young people don't expect a good relationship, let alone a perfect one, because as one young woman puts it, "all good things must come to an end." Participants discuss their expectations of marriage, homosexual relationships, and how the changing roles (and role models) of men and women have affected marital responsibilities.
-
My Tribe Is My Life - Patrick, The Solitary GothMyriam Verreault 2011 6 minPatrick comes alive at night, when he can interview other vampires.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities. -
My Tribe Is My Life - Janis, The Colourful DJMyriam Verreault 2011 6 minA bank counselor by day, Janis goes for electro music and neon colours by night.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities. -
My Tribe Is My Life - Jimmy, The Abitibi MCMyriam Verreault 2011 6 minWhen he's not fishing for northern pike, Jimmy prepares for his next MC Battle.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities. -
My Tribe Is My Life - Sébastien, The Japanese-Inspired Gothic LolitaMyriam Verreault 2011 7 minHe seems to be the only boy in Quebec to flaunt this particular style. And from the comments he gets, he seems to pull it off fabulously.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities. -
My Tribe Is My Life - Laurianne, Goth in the GaspéMyriam Verreault 2011 5 minLaurianne knew she was likely to shock people who live in her neck of the woods with the way she dresses. She also knows that there are idiots everywhere, including among goths.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities.s. -
My Tribe Is My Life - Shana, The Emo KidMyriam Verreault 2011 6 minFrom her home on Quebec's North Shore, Shana speaks "emoticon" like a second language.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities. -
My Tribe Is My Life - Heythem, The Reggae ManMyriam Verreault 2011 6 minReggae. Just reggae. Heythem, aka The Reggae Man, organizes at least 40 concerts a year.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities. -
No Quick FixAndrée Cazabon 2000 51 minA revealing portrait of two young addicts, their life on the street and their despairing parents who find themselves powerless to save their children from the habit that is consuming them. As filmmaker Andrée Cazabon follows Cathy and Laurent for many months, recording their desperate drug-fuelled existence, she remembers her own life on the street. "My parents and I relived that horror," she says of her creative journey. But it was for all parents that she made this film. Cathy's and Laurent's parents live in a permanent state of bewildered anxiety and guilt. How can they avoid being totally destroyed by grief? How do they manage to carry on with their lives, in spite of everything? And how do they deal with a system that views them with suspicion? By grimly showing two children in the grip of a brutal addiction, No Quick Fix hopes to alleviate and identify some of the enormous pain endured by parents coping with an addicted child. In French with English subtitles.
-
No AddressAlanis Obomsawin 1988 55 minFar from home and cut off from family and friends, Montreal’s Indigenous homeless population is the focus of No Address. Dreams of a better life in the big city can be met with harsh realities, as the individuals in this documentary recount. Often trying to flee circumstances created by colonialism and the effects of assimilation, the First Nations and Inuit people in this work share frank stories about their lives and the paths that took them to the streets of Montreal. Alanis Obomsawin presents an honest, stark portrayal of endemic homelessness while giving voice to those so often overlooked or made invisible on the streets of every city in Canada.
-
No Way! Not MeAriadna Ochrymovych 1987 29 minIn this short documentary, social activist and educator Rosemary Brown speaks to the high school students about the incidence of poverty among women. The film outlines the role of women in the work force and in society, as well as the causes of and possible solutions to the 'feminization of poverty.'
-
OccupationBill Reid 1970 46 minIn this documentary, striking political science students concerned with the democratization of their university occupy the offices of the Political Science Department at McGill University. The issue: greater student control over the hiring of faculty. The film crew lives with the students and follows their action through confusion, argument, dissent, and negotiations with faculty. The result is an intimate view of a student political action.
-
PrologueRobin Spry 1969 1 h 27 minDirected by acclaimed filmmaker Robin Spry, Prologue was the first Canadian film to screen at the Venice Film Festival. Set and filmed during the sixties, this fiction feature tells the story of a young Montrealer who edits an underground newspaper with help from his female friend and a draft dodger from the United States. Two rival philosophies of dissenting youth become evident in the choices they make: militant protest vs. communal retreat. The film includes some seminal archival footage of a speech by legendary anti-war activist Abbie Hoffman and bloody rioting during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.
-
Reema, There and BackPaul Émile d'Entremont 2006 52 minFilmmaker Paul Émile d'Entremont's documentary presents Reema, a lively and sensitive young girl confronted with difficult questions about her identity. After spending the first 16 years of her life with her Canadian mother, Reema re-connects with her Iraqi father by spending 2 months with him in Jordan. On returning home to Nova Scotia, she realizes she will always have a double identity, and that it is both a burden and a treasure.
-
Reflections on Practice: EntrenchmentNettie Wild 2007 1 minStreet nurse Elaine Jones reflects on the lure of the streets and why youth use drugs.
*Watch the complete documentary.
*View all 10 educational playlists.
*Explore the Teacher's Guide for this chapter. -
Still LongshotsDavid Finch & Maureen Marovitch 2007 52 minThis documentary demonstrates the transformative power of video through the stories of four at-risk youths. These young people have issues ranging from addiction to a life spent on the street, or in foster homes. In learning to make videos about their lives, they've discovered a creative outlet that allows them to heal. The group completes their experience by spending a weekend with a group of former street kids who did a similar workshop a decade earlier. Now in their 30s, they share their stories with their younger counterparts. Surprising, and often disturbing, parallels emerge between the two groups, along with glimmers of hope for the youth.
-
So, Where Do We Fit In?Andréanne Germain 2008 24 minWhat would happen if three huge Franco-Ontarian flags wandered over the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City during the St. Jean Baptiste celebrations? A young Ontario francophone, Andréanne Germain, goes in search of an answer. Her idea isn’t to provoke Quebecers but to sensitize them to an overlooked reality. The setting she chooses is St. Jean Baptiste, formerly a celebration for French Canadians in general, but since 1967 the Quebec national holiday.
Andréanne’s set-up: She recruits two guinea pigs, both Quebecers, via the Internet, without telling them their mission, gives them each an immense Franco-Ontarian flag and gleefully tells them to walk around Quebec City.
So, where do we fit in? is what Andréanne asks of the Quebec nationalists, playfully but implying the existence of a third Canadian solitude. -
Toe Heel Toe HeelGabrielle Cornellier 2018 3 minThirty people from different generations come together in a community hall to learn line dancing with the dynamic instructor Lorraine Camirand.
-
WowClaude Jutra 1969 1 h 34 minPrompted by the filmmaker, nine teenagers individually act out their secret dreams and, between times, talk about their world as they see it. Babette conceives of herself as an abbess defending her fortress, a convent; Michelle is transported in a dream of love where all time ceases; Philippe is the revolutionary, defeating all the institutions that plague him, and so on, through all their fantasies. All the actual preoccupations of youth are raised: authority, drugs, social conflict, sex. With English subtitles.
-
You're No GoodGeorge Kaczender 1965 28 minThis short fiction tells the story of Eddie, a young man who "borrows" a motorbike parked in front of a store and takes his girl for a spin—a brash decision with disastrous and alienating consequences. The film, a commentary on a society that often offers youth little purpose or sense of accomplishment, is a play-by-play exploration of the clash between young people's impulsiveness and society's need for law and order.
