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Technology and Society (29)
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The Age of InventionAlbert Kish 1984 10 minThis short film serves as a poem-on-film about the coming of the machine age on the eve of World War I. Images and sounds combine to recreate a bygone era of scratchy phonograph records, faded photographs, hand-cranked movie cameras, staccato Morse telegraph messages, and rhythmic steam pumps. Machines of every description were shaping peoples' lives and changing them more rapidly than at any other time in history. -
Almost Real: Connecting in a Wired WorldAnn Shin 2002 47 minThis documentary presents a few individuals for whom the Internet has become a way to connect with like-minded souls in surprising ways: a cyber punk based on an anti-aircraft rig in the English Channel who operates a rogue Web server, a monk developing "wireless prayer technology," a "gamer" who re-creates himself in an online game, a retired couple living in an Internet-controlled seniors' complex and a divorcée who exchanges vows online with a man she's never met.
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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.
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Discussions in Bioethics: Happy BirthdayJefferson Lewis 1985 12 minOne of a series of short, open-ended dramas designed to stimulate discussion of values and ethics in relation to modern medical technology. A young couple's marriage is threatened over a decision as to whether the husband should accept a job researching poison gas for military purposes. The wife is adamantly opposed. Regardless of their decision, someone will take the job. Should one morally accept responsibility for the consequences?
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Drux FluxTheodore Ushev 2008 4 minPart figurative, part abstract, Drux Flux is an animated short comprised of fast-flowing images showing modern people crushed by industry. Inspired by One-Dimensional Man, by philosopher Herbert Marcuse, the filmmaker deconstructs industrial scenes and their terrifying geometry to show the inhumanity of progress.
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Future BlockKevin McCracken 1987 10 minAn animated film about the appropriateness of new technology and its effects on people. The case in point revolves around a bank whose human tellers find themselves unemployed when they are replaced by electronic tellers. A mild-mannered client of the bank is overwhelmed and humiliated by his first encounter with the dispassionate computer. Conventional cel animation is contrasted with computer-generated images to heighten the satire in this look at the problems that can arise when technology ignores human needs.
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The LightbulbIris Boudreau & Francis Papillon 2019 2 minIris believes that every time you turn the lights on or off in a room, it costs 25 cents. Cathon sets her straight, and then explains where the light in lightbulbs comes from.
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The Hasty Man Drinks His Tea with a ForkSylvie Groulx 2003 1 h 23 minA blend of drama and documentary, this film follows several people caught up in the turmoil of the modern world. The drama centres on a woman who has burned out and who holds up her own despair – and her attempts to rebuild her life – as a mirror to the rest of us. With a blend of gravity and humour, Sylvie Groulx's film shows the absurdity of a society dedicated to the cult of speed at all costs.
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JuggernautEugene Boyko 1968 27 minThis documentary follows a convoy carrying a calandria, the 70-ton heart of a Canadian nuclear reactor, to Rajasthan, in India, in 1968. Even the biggest traditional juggernauts could not match this one, passing over roads specially strengthened and through city walls torn down to make way.
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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. -
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 - 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. -
Monsieur PugJanet Perlman 2014 9 minWho is Monsieur Pug? Why, a dog with bad cholesterol and high blood pressure! And a dog who loves his pie and ice cream. Who relaxes by making origami. In other words, definitely not your ordinary pooch! For he’s also a paranoiac, convinced he’s the target in a vast conspiracy, and pretending to be a pet, the better to hide from his pursuers. Schizoid, perhaps? Hmm… but is Monsieur Pug even a real dog to begin with?
A delirious fable about a particular brand of modern madness—that brought on by the omnipresence of smartphones in our lives—Monsieur Pug is directed with verve by Janet Perlman, whose The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Animated Short in 1982.
Monsieur Pug is one strange film about the life of one strange dog! -
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. -
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 - 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 - 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. -
A Matter of SurvivalBernard Devlin 1969 25 minThis short film looks at how the introduction of computers into the workplace in 1969 served as a threat to the white-collar workers whose jobs they might replace. Aiming to offer a balanced view, the film looks at the situation from both the perspective of the employees concerned and that of management.
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The New AlchemistsDorothy Todd Henaut 1974 28 minThis short documentary profiles a community engaged in developing sustainable living methods, including food production and small-scale solar and wind technology, on a farm in Massachusetts in the 1970s. Well before sustainability was a mainstream concern, these prescient innovators attempted to create a vision of a greener, kinder world. "Think small," say the New Alchemists. "Look what thinking big has done."
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Simulated LifeMalcolm Sutherland 2017 37 sREALITY IS A CHOICE. An unapologetic poke at the burgeoning age of virtual reality.
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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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Quiet ZoneDavid Bryant & Karl Lemieux 2015 14 minCombining elements of documentary, film essay and experimental film, filmmakers Karl Lemieux and David Bryant (Godspeed You Black Emperor!) take us deep into the world of those who suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity. Stubbornly defying traditional genres, Quiet Zone weaves together an unusual story in which sound and image distort reality to make the distress of these “wave refugees” palpable.
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RiP! A Remix ManifestoBrett Gaylor 2008 1 h 26 minJoin filmmaker Brett Gaylor and mashup artist Girl Talk as they explore copyright and content creation in the digital age. In the process they dissect the media landscape of the 21st century and shatter the wall between users and producers. Creative Commons founder, Lawrence Lessig, Brazil's Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, and pop culture critic Cory Doctorow also come along for the ride.
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Shift ChangeJefferson Lewis 1986 56 minThis documentary looks at the microchip, an American invention exploited by the Japanese that caused a second industrial revolution. The devastating effect on millions of human lives is related through interviews with some of the newly jobless in Hamilton, Ontario. Using the example of Japan for contrast, host James Laxer demonstrates that the cost of technological advances need not be so high if their effects are foreseen and planned for. Part 2 of the series Reckoning: The Political Economy of Canada.
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Surviving ProgressMathieu Roy & Harold Crooks 2011 1 h 26 minThis feature documentary connects the financial collapse, growing inequity and the Wall Street oligarchy with future technology, sustainability, and the fate of civilization itself. Inspired by Ronald Wright's bestseller A Short History of Progress, Surviving Progress digs deep into human nature and patterns of history to challenge and redefine the very idea of progress.
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Series 4Normand Grégoire 1972 7 minThis experimental short documents the clash, sometimes obsessive, sometimes glorifying, between humans and their mechanized environment. Using photographs, the animator creates varying perspectives through optical manipulation and changing colour, achieving bold and provocative effects.
Warning: This film contains flashing images and stroboscopic sequences -
Small Is Beautiful: Impressions of Fritz SchumacherDouglas Kiefer , Barrie Howells , … 1978 29 minThis film is a short documentary portrait of economist, technologist and lecturer Fritz Schumacher. Up to age 45, Schumacher was dedicated to economic growth. Then he came to believe that the modern technological explosion had grown out of all proportion to human need. Author of Small Is Beautiful - A Study of Economics as if People Mattered and founder of the London-based Intermediate Technology Development Group, he championed the cause of "appropriate" technology. The film introduces us to this gentle revolutionary a few months before his death.
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TurbineAlex Boya 2018 8 minA war pilot crash-lands through his apartment window. When his wife returns from work, she discovers that her husband’s face has been replaced by an airplane turbine. He’s also fallen in love with their kitchen ceiling fan. To save their faltering marriage, his wife decides she will no longer let her humanity get in the way of love.
