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Historical Perspectives (15)
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Black Mother Black DaughterSylvia Hamilton & Claire Prieto 1989 28 minBlack Mother Black Daughter explores the lives and experiences of black women in Nova Scotia, their contributions to the home, the church and the community and the strengths they pass on to their daughters. -
The Burning TimesDonna Read 1990 56 minThis documentary takes an in-depth look at the witch hunts that swept Europe just a few hundred years ago. False accusations and trials led to massive torture and burnings at the stake and ultimately to the destruction of an organic way of life. The film questions whether the widespread violence against women and the neglect of our environment today can be traced back to those times.
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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.
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CordéliaJean Beaudin 1979 1 h 55 minGuilty of loving life! A dramatization of an actual court case in turn-of-the-century Québec. A lively, outgoing woman is accused of murdering her husband in collaboration with the hired hand. The townspeople do not appreciate her robust personality and the proceedings in court degenerate to a judgment of her character. Filled with stunning visual imagery, this feature film captures the spirit of the time and place. Particularly useful for those interested in history, law or women's issues. With English subtitles.
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Great Grand MotherAnne Wheeler & Lorna Rasmussen 1975 28 minThis short film is an ode to the women who settled the Prairies, from the days of early immigration to 1916 - when Manitobans became the first women in Canada to receive the provincial vote - and beyond. Recollections of women are complemented by a series of quotations drawn from letters, diaries, and newspapers of the day, which are spoken over re-enacted scenes and archival photographs.
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Goddess RememberedDonna Read 1989 54 minThis documentary is a salute to 35,000 years of the goddess-worshipping religions of the ancient past. The film features Merlin Stone, Carol Christ, Luisah Teish and Jean Bolen, all of whom link the loss of goddess-centric societies with today's environmental crisis.
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The Gods of Our FathersAnne Henderson 1994 50 min"Human nature" is not fixed. We can, and do, reshape ourselves every time we change our culture. Nor is there anything natural or innate in male domination. In ancient Egyptian villages along the Nile, The Gods of Our Fathers explores the evolution of patriarchy as one effective way of organizing mass societies. The patriarchal order was not inevitable--it was merely functional. But the world is different now, and it's time to find alternatives to hierarchies and militarization.
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Illuminated Lives: A Brief History of Women's Work in the Middle AgesEllen Besen 1989 5 minThis animated short challenges enduring myths, spawned by fairy tales and romances, about women in medieval society. It explores the differences and similarities between that distant period and our own, and shows what medieval women’s lives were really like.
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IkweNorma Bailey 1986 57 minPart of the Daughters of the Country series, this dramatic film features a young Ojibwa girl from 1770 who marries a Scottish fur trader and leaves home for the shores of Georgian Bay. Although the union is beneficial for her tribe, it results in hardship and isolation for Ikwe. Values and customs clash until, finally, the events of a dream Ikwe once had unfold with tragic clarity.
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Mistress MadeleineAaron Kim Johnston 1986 57 minPart of the Daughters of the Country series, this film, set in the 1850s, unfolds against the backdrop of the Hudson's Bay Company's monopoly of the fur trade. In protest, some Métis engage in trade with the Americans. Madeleine, the Métis common-law wife of a Hudson's Bay Company clerk, is torn between loyalty to her husband and loyalty to her brother, a freetrader. Even more shattering, a change in company policy destroys Madeleine's happy and secure life, forcing her to re-evaluate her identity.
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Motherland: Tales of WonderHelene Klodawsky 1994 1 h 29 minThis feature documentary casts a curious and critical eye at North American discourses about motherhood since the mid-20th century. Through conversations with seven mothers, a fascinating selection of archival footage and stills from the 1950s, as well as some very candid and funny home movies, this film offers new ways of thinking about what it means to be a good mom.
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Older Stronger WiserClaire Prieto 1989 27 minIn this short documentary, five black women talk about their lives in rural and urban Canada between the 1920s and 1950s. What emerges is a unique history of Canada’s black people and the legacy of their community elders. Produced by the NFB’s iconic Studio D.
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Prairie WomenBarbara Evans 1986 45 minThis film illustrates the struggles of Canadian prairies women to achieve a more just and humane society within the farm movement and at large. During the early 1900s, women on the prairies looked for ways to overcome their isolation. Out of the resulting farm women's organizations grew a group of women possessing remarkable intellectual abilities, social and cultural awareness, and advanced worldviews.
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StilettoLouise Leroux 1999 46 minStiletto. The very word seduces. Pedestal of desire, ultimate symbol of feminine allure, this high-heeled pump is firmly entrenched in the popular imagination and in our lives. Stiletto is the filmmaker's search for new answers. Her itinerary takes us into the worlds of an erudite historian, a sensible podologist, a fashion designer, and an Italian manufacturer. She has scrutinized this aphrodisiacal pump from all angles. Stiletto strikes off in new directions and replaces traditional feminist thinking with innovative ideas.
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Women on the MarchDouglas Tunstell 1958 58 minThis feature film in two parts is an exploration of the women’s suffrage movement. Spearheaded by women like Emmeline Pankhurst, founder of the Women's Social and Political Union, the Suffragettes realized they would have to become radical and militant if the movement was going to be effective. There followed many demonstrations, and imprisonments until the women’s vote was finally granted, in 1918 (Britain) and 1919 (Canada, except Quebec.)
