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Health and Illness (16)
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A Drop in the OceanLise Éthier 2002 48 minWhen Doctors without Borders, the humanitarian medical aid agency, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, Dr. Claudette Picard was in Liberia. Her first mission with the agency had begun in this small country of West Africa six years before. In the meantime, she had practised medicine in other wartorn countries such as Zaire and Afghanistan, always in extremely hazardous conditions.
What impels women and men like Dr. Picard to leave their easy lives behind and go off to do what little they can to alleviate human suffering? Whatever the motivation, the doctors are in the field, providing medical care and helping to draw attention to distant places often forgotten by the world's media. Places like Harper, a small town in Liberia devastated by a decade of civil war. This is where we follow Dr. Picard on her rounds. With her halting English, her comforting presence and a few scarce drugs, she sometimes manages to do the impossible. But not always...
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Doctor Woman: The Life and Times of Dr. Elizabeth BagshawMark McCurdy 1978 28 minElizabeth Bagshaw was a forerunner of the women's movement. As one of the first women to practise medicine in Canada, she had to overcome society's bias against women in medicine. During her seventy-year career she helped to instigate change in public opinion on that issue, as well as the issue of birth control. The film captures the personality of this remarkable woman through a contemporary interview and re-enactments of episodes from her youth. The sepia tones of the re-enactments are in keeping with the film techniques of the time, giving the viewer a strong sense of the period. The film is of special interest to persons interested in the evolution of women's roles in Canadian society.
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Dear AudreyJeremiah Hayes 2021 1 h 29 minAcclaimed activist-filmmaker Martin Duckworth has devoted his life to peace and justice. But now he’s put down his camera to fight for the most important cause he’s ever faced. While caring for his wife through the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease, Martin’s love deepens as he looks back on an epic life and career.
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Emergency! A Critical SituationTahani Rached 1999 52 minShot at the Pierre Boucher Hospital in Montreal, this film takes us into the emergency room to see how our healthcare system is holding up. What it reveals is a powerful indictment of management that sees only the bottom line while human lives are at stake.
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In This Dark WorldJean Lenauer 1955 30 minThis film introduces a remarkable blind woman, Louise Cowan, who, as supervisor of home teaching services in Ontario for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, helps others adjust to their disabilities. The film accompanies Miss Cowan on several visits to blind pupils in an Ontario community and shows how, through sympathy, encouragement, scolding and cajolery, she lifts them out of their despair to a more self-reliant acceptance of their sightless state.
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The Impossible Takes a Little LongerAnne Henderson 1986 45 minThe Impossible Takes a Little Longer documents the work and personal lives of five physically disabled women. It shows how they are coping with the problems they share with all women, the problems they share with other disabled women and those unique to their particular circumstances. The film affirms that disabled women can lead full and productive lives as workers, as mothers and as valued community members. It informs both disabled women and the able-bodied about the possibilities of adaptations in the workplace, the use of technological aids and the need for support systems if disabled women are to have satisfying and productive lives. The Impossible Takes a Little Longer undermines the stereotypes and prejudices that further hinder a large segment of our population.
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If You Love This PlanetTerre Nash 1982 25 minThe NFB’s 7th Academy-Award winning film. This short film is comprised of a lecture given to students by outspoken nuclear critic Dr. Helen Caldicott, president of Physicians for Social Responsibility in the USA. Her message is clear: disarmament cannot be postponed. Archival footage of the bombing of Hiroshima and images of its survivors seven months after the attack heighten the urgency of her message.
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The Measure of Your PassageEsther Valiquette 1993 29 minThis short film tells of two rugged journeys: that, autobiographical, of a young woman who learns she is harboring the AIDS virus; and that of the ancient Minoan civilization, wiped out by the greatest cataclysm in history. Today, the world is held hostage by a killer disease that is stealthier than a volcano, but it exacts the same price. Now, as then, some profound questions exist: How does humanity define itself? How do we measure our passage on this planet?
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One of Many—Dr. NhanJan-Marie Martell 1983 16 minThis short documentary profiles acupuncturist Dr. Nhan, an ethnic Chinese refugee from Vietnam who emigrated to Canada in the late 1970s. Although Dr. Nhan practiced acupuncture in Saigon for many years, British Columbia law would not recognize her profession. This film documents Dr. Nhan's efforts to overcome the obstacles that prevent her from using her knowledge. The film leaves no doubt about Dr. Nhan's commitment to people and medicine, and her determination to one day practice acupuncture in her new country.
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Poison IvyRichard James Martin 1979 12 minSixty-six-year-old Ivy Granstrom jogs, skis, bowls, gardens and does carpentry work. Sometimes she walks into a wall. Due to insufficient care at birth, she enjoys only 4.5% vision, but she doesn't let blindness interfere with her life. She practises the art of "mind over eyes."
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Reflections on SufferingMalca Gillson 1982 20 minIn a moving conversation with Dr. Balfour M. Mount, friend, colleague and treating physician, cancer victim Jean Cameron, a one-time volunteer social worker in the Palliative Care Unit of Montréal's Royal Victoria hospital, discusses how she has come to terms with her own illness and the perspective it has given her on the meaning of life. What she has to say is relevant to all. The depth of her insight and the grace of her being leave viewers moved and open to thinking more carefully about the meaning of their own lives.
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River of LifeWerner Walcher 2007 53 minThis documentary focuses on the Yukon River Quest, the world's longest annual canoe and kayak race. Athletes come from around the world to test their endurance, racing day and night along 740 km of rugged river shoreline. The film chronicles the experiences of the all-female 2006 Paddlers Abreast team. By following them from the moment they climb into their boat in Whitehorse to the cheers that greet them in Dawson City, the film tells an exhilarating story of a group of women who have faced death and understand how precious life is.
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The True Story of Linda M.Norma Bailey 1995 1 h 6 minIn 1980, Linda M. was the subject of a film about prostitution directed by Norma Bailey (Nose and Tina). It's 16 years later, and Linda renews her relationship with the filmmaker, inviting her back into her life. Now in rehab, Linda introduces her family and various boyfriends in a funny, sometimes upsetting, but always riveting account of day-to-day life.
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Toward IntimacyDebbie McGee 1992 1 h 1 minThis feature documentary follows a number of women with disabilities as they affirm their right to seek, develop and sustain intimate relationships with the partners of their choice. In this moving one-hour film, four disabled women from across Canada share their personal experiences, with particular emphasis on sexuality, self-esteem, stereotyping, and parenting.
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UnmotheredMarie-France Guerrette Dempsey 2018 1 h 12 minOn August 31, 1995, tragedy struck the Guerrette family when Mona, a mother of two, died from breast cancer at age 42, leaving behind a husband and their daughters, Mylène and Marie-France. But she also left behind a stirring farewell message that would serve as a testament to her life.
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Wanted! Doctor on HorsebackClaire Helman 1996 48 minWhen Dr. Mary Percy left civilized England for the wilds of northern Alberta in 1929, the clock seemed to turn back a century. Battle River Prairie had no roads, no electricity, no telegraph, no services. But blackflies were plentiful, and so was snow. Dr. Percy became the first and only doctor in Canada's last homesteading area. In winter, her eyelashes froze to her glasses. In summer, she sometimes had to be fished out of rivers when her horse lost its footing. English sidewalks were only a genteel memory. Mary Percy planned to spend only a year in Alberta--until romance, in the form of Frank Jackson, came striding through her examining room. Sixty-five years later, she is still there. Articulate, witty and outspoken at 90 years of age, the doctor is a gifted storyteller, recalling harrowing experiences as a practitioner of frontier medicine. With the nearest hospital days away, she often had to improvise--sometimes operating on her kitchen table. As a pioneer and community builder living "off the map," Dr. Mary Percy Jackson brings history to life. The film evokes the essence of the rugged times she has lived through. "People these days would call it a challenge," she says. "I thought it was hilarious."
