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Interpersonal Relationships (33)
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Affairs of the ArtJoanna Quinn 2021 16 minHow many obsessions can one family have? In Joanna Quinn and Les Mills’ Affairs of the Art, we reconnect with Beryl, the working-class heroine who not only reveals her own obsession with drawing but exposes the addictions of her eccentric family, which include pickling, screw threads and pet taxidermy. -
Banquet of the ConcubineHefang Wei 2012 12 minIn the year 746, during the Tang Dynasty, a banquet is given in the Imperial City in honour of Emperor Li’s favourite concubine. An unsatisfied craving, suspected infidelity and fevered imagination lead Yang to bitter excess, which not even the luscious lychee can appease.
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Big bangLori Malépart-Traversy 2022 4 minThis film discusses topics of sex and masturbation; viewer discretion is advised./br> This animated short film recounts a 23-year-old woman’s quest to achieve her first orgasm. Along the way, it takes a sensitive and humorous look at the little-known phenomenon of vaginismus. The result is a captivating tale of exploration, discovery and dildos.
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The Company of StrangersCynthia Scott 1990 1 h 40 minIn this feature film, 7 elderly women find themselves stranded when their bus breaks down in the wilderness. With only their wits, memories and some roasted frogs' legs to sustain them, this remarkable group of strangers share their life stories and turn a potential crisis into a magical time of humour, spirit and camaraderie. Featuring non-professional actors and unscripted dialogue, this film dissolves the barrier between fiction and reality, weaving a heart-warming tale of friendship and courage.
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The Cannonball WomanAlbertine Zullo & David Toutevoix 2017 14 minMadeleine the human cannonball puts on a spectacular travelling show with her husband. But at home, every day seems to unfold just like the one before it. The Cannonball Woman is a bittersweet stop-motion animated film about love standing the test of time.
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Deep Inside Clint StarClint Alberta 1998 1 h 28 minTake a hilarious and bittersweet journey into the hearts and minds of some very ordinary, extraordinary young Canadians with this feature-length documentary. The filmmaker, assuming the role of Clint Star, seeks out his far-flung buddies, young Indigenous people like himself. They talk about sex and life, love and abuse, and 500 years of oppression—all with humour, grace and courage.
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Each Day That ComesGraham Parker 1966 27 minA glimpse into the nature of loneliness. Frances Hyland plays the part of a small-town girl who enjoys position and respect in her community as the owner of a successful dress shop, but who wonders if marriage might not have been a better choice. Disturbed by thoughts of what might have been, she resolves to live each day as it comes.
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Fair PhyllisBeth Portman 2003 9 minFair Phyllis affirms to all women 'You're not alone!' in the craziness of busy, multi-tasking lives--what with the demands of career, the kids or just trying to get a moment alone with your man. This short animated film delights in celebrating the resiliency and resourcefulness of the female sex. Set in an 18th century pastoral countryside, Fair Phyllis the shepherdess struggles with her chaotic woolly world. Will she find balance or crack under the shear stress of it all?
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A Feather TaleMichèle Cournoyer 1992 5 minIn this animated short, a woman, taking on her lover's fantasies, adorns herself in her finest feathers and assumes a seductive but demeaning role. Caught up in his own game, the man plays on to the bitter end--a cruel game in which love is stripped of its golden glow, leaving only the naked reality of dependency and desperation.
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Fire-Jo-BallAudrey Nantel-Gagnon 2023 16 minJo-Ann, a 57-year-old bartender, dreams of becoming a singer and actress. Oscillating between spectacular and intimate, between extra and ordinary, Jo-Ann infuses her daily life (and the film) with true main-character energy. At the crossroads of genres, Fire-Jo-Ball paints the portrait of a woman who loves all things rosy even, if her life isn’t always so.
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The Fake CalendarMeky Ottawa 2019 1 minA neon glimpse into a personal world within an urban landscape. From FOMO to JOMO, The Fake Calendar is an artist’s expression of how people come up with interesting and creative ways to avoid social functions in favour of their own private space.
Produced as part of the 12th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship. -
Free LoveAude Picault 2017 3 minThis animated short presents two friends who meet in a Paris café – one single, the other in an open relationship. As they catch up on each other's lives, it becomes clear that the real story is playing out in what's not said. The result is a penetrating look at female friendships, and the sometimes-complex amorous relationships of modern times. This film is part of the Comic Strip Chronicles, a collection of shorts celebrating the strong affinity between comic strips and animated film. Inspired by moments of everyday life, these films showcase the playful imaginations of renowned artists Guy Delisle, Zviane, Aude Picault, Lewis Trondheim, and Jean Matthieu Tanguy. Produced by the NFB, Canal+, and Sacrebleu.
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Feeling of HostilityRobert Anderson 1948 31 minDramatizes the factors producing resentment and hostility in personal relationships. In the story of Clare we see how the death of her father and the later remarriage of her mother discouraged her from seeking affectional relationships with others. Although successful at college and in her business career, she feels the lack of fellowship and understanding. The factors behind this emotional inadequacy are reviewed by a psychiatrist.
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FlawedAndrea Dorfman 2010 12 minFlawed is nothing less than a beautiful gift from Andrea Dorfman's vivid imagination, a charming little film about very big ideas. Dorfman has the uncanny ability to transform the intensely personal into the wisely universal. She deftly traces her encounter with a potential romantic partner, questioning her attraction and the uneasy possibility of love. But, ultimately, Flawed is less about whether girl can get along with boy than whether girl can accept herself, imperfections and all.
This film is both an exquisite tribute to the art of animation and a loving homage to storyboarding, a time-honoured way of rendering scenes while pointing the way to the dramatic arc of the tale. -
Ghosts of the SeaVirginia Tangvald 2024 1 h 37 minWhile searching for clues about the death of her brother, who was lost at sea, Virginia Tangvald embarks on a fascinating investigation into her family’s dark secrets. Calling into question the idyllic life of her father, legendary sailor Peter Tangvald, her quest dismantles the myth of absolute freedom and offers the hope that a toxic cycle has been broken.
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LOCAVéronique Paquette 2024 5 minThrough the energy of tango, a woman finds a path to freedom. A mesmerizing visual performance created with waves of ink and black-and-white geometric shapes.
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A Love That KillsAnnie O'Donoghue 1999 19 minA Love That Kills is a powerful documentary that tells the tragic story of Monica, a nineteen-year-old woman who was murdered by her former boyfriend. Monica's mother speaks passionately throughout the video, bravely telling viewers about her daughter's life and tragic death. She describes the helplessness she felt watching the emotional and economic abuse. She later discovered that physical battering was also part of the violence that Monica endured. In a parallel conversation, young people list the symptoms of partner abuse from male and female points of view. A Love That Kills helps to identify the warning signs of partner abuse, especially in young people, and the damage it causes emotionally and physically.
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A Mother ApartLaurie Townshend 2024 1 h 29 minAn emotionally sweeping tale of healing and forgiveness, A Mother Apart accompanies powerhouse Jamaican-American poet and LGBTQ+ activist Staceyann Chin as she re-imagines the essential art of mothering—having been abandoned by her own mother.
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MichellePedro Pires & Robert Lepage 2014 31 minIn this short film, our protagonist Michelle suffers from schizophrenia and has just come out of a psychiatric institution. Finding refuge in the Quebec bookstore where she works, this tortured poet seems almost serene. But no one knows what she sees and hears when she lets her gaze drift. The ghosts, the self-inflicted wounds, the paranoia: they still weigh on her. When a student wanders into the bookstore, Michelle rediscovers her love of creating with words. Through this chance meeting of two completely different people, Michelle gradually finds her way out of the darkness.
This short film is part of Triptych, a contemporary urban saga based on Robert Lepage's epic theatre piece Lipsynch. -
Nose and TinaNorma Bailey 1980 27 minThis short documentary tells the unusual story of Nose and Tina, 2 people in love. He is employed as a brakeman, she as a sex worker. The film captures the domestic details of their life together and documents their hassles with work, money and the law.
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Notes for a Film About Donna & GailDon Owen 1966 48 minDon Owen’s groundbreaking short drama tells the story of two young women who go to the city to work in a dress factory, and who share a room to ease their expenses and their loneliness. The film shows the currents that brought them together and the facets of their natures that first made them seem compatible but eventually drove them apart. Their story reflects, to a degree, the situation of anyone who has ever shared the life of another.
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PaulaDominic-Étienne Simard 2011 10 minInspired by a real-life news item, this animated short paints a pulsating portrait of a mixed-use, working-class neighbourhood where young families cross paths with prostitutes, their interactions leaving unpredictable ripples in the motley fabric of urban life.
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PlayhouseLori Malépart-Traversy 2022 3 minThis film discusses topics of sex and masturbation; viewer discretion is advised. How does porn fuel sexual fantasies? For some, the most powerful images are those that flirt with completely unfamiliar situations. This animated short with a magic touch relates one woman’s confessions about her favourite erotic scenarios.
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The ProcessionPascal Blanchet & Rodolphe Saint-Gelais 2019 11 minAfter Catherine’s fatal car accident, she speaks from the beyond to her grieving husband, Philip, who must endure the family ritual of the funeral. The Procession is an elegant poem in black, white, and pink that shows us how, despite the pressure to keep up appearances, love finds a way.
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StigmaStanley Jackson 1958 19 minThis film tells the story of a young woman who suffers a mental breakdown, recovers fully in a mental hospital and returns home. Instead of the understanding and support she most needs from her friends and associates, she is virtually ostracized. The film makes a plea for a change in the sort of public thinking that places a stigma upon people who have suffered from an illness of the mind rather than of the body.
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A Sleeping Tree Dreams of Its RootsMichka Saäl 1992 1 h 21 minA bold and eclectic cinematic style defines the work of filmmaker Michka Saäl and her friend, writer Nadine Ltaif as they journey from childhoods in the Middle East to their chosen home of Montréal. Saäl is Jewish, Ltaif is Arab. Together they overcome the divisive prejudices of their upbringing and embark on an engaging search for clarity, familiarity and historical significance among the immigrant communities of Montréal. Saäl uses super-8 home movies, old photographs, dramatizations and casual conversations to cross personal and political boundaries, giving voice to the varied ancestries of us all. In French with English subtitles.
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She and IMarie-Pier Ottawa 2008 6 minThis short film is inspired by a stormy same-sex relationship in the Manawan community of the Atikamekw Nation, which led to a suicide. Since 2004, Wapikoni Mobile has been giving Indigenous youth the opportunity to speak out using video and music. This short film was made with the guidance of the traveling Wapikoni Mobile studios and is part of the 2007 Selection—Wapikoni Mobile DVD.
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Two SistersCaroline Leaf 1991 10 minThis animated short, etched directly onto tinted 70 mm film, depicts the story of two sisters: Viola, who writes novels in a dark room, and Marie, her only companion. Disfigured, Viola counts on her sister to take care of her and shelter her from the outside world. But when an unexpected stranger turns up on their front door, the sisters' quiet lives are disrupted and their routine turns to chaos.
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ThomasPedro Pires & Robert Lepage 2014 29 minThis short fiction is part of Robert Lepage's three-piece cinematic work Triptych, itself an adaptation of Lepage's own epic nine-hour theatre play. Like his namesake in Caravaggio's iconic painting, Thomas is doubtful of everything: his marriage, his profession, and even the city where he lives. Marie, a jazz singer from Montreal, is devastated by the news that she must undergo brain surgery and finds herself desperately in search of comfort.
Bathed in dreamlight, London is the half-fantasized, half-real backdrop for the improbable but fateful meeting of these two troubled souls. Beneath Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel fresco and on the chilly docks of the Thames, the singer and the brain surgeon seek, find and then lose each other in this existential urban fable.
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Unveiled: The Mother Daughter RelationshipMaureen Judge 1997 55 minThis documentary dares to untangle to the complicated web of mother/daughter relationships. Fraught with love, anger, compassion, laughter, and joy, these relationships are already intense. Imagine what happens when you throw a wedding into the mix.
Enjoy a candid, revealing, sometimes cringe-worthy but often hilarious look at the ties that bind as three sets of mothers and daughters tell all in this highly-charged film. You'll meet Sabina and Shari, Ruth and Carline, and Pearl, Rhonda, and Heather. Each set of relationships is unique and seeks to examine one of the most complex human connections, and does so with humour, pathos, and love. -
With GrandmaFrançoise Hartmann 1999 9 minWhen her parents leave her behind for the first time, Madeleine sees them off with tears in her eyes. Fortunately, her grand-mother is there to coax her out of her sadness. Grandma's house is full of surprises, including a chest full of costumes perfect for dress-up. Together they play and bake. Slowly, Madeleine discovers that Grandma seems to know exactly how to have fun. Adults will reminisce about cherished moments shared with grandparents and reflect on the nature of memory. Younger children will be delighted by young Madeleine's adventures. A film without words.
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What the HellValerie Barnhart 2024 8 minDante's Hell, once the epitome of human suffering and punishment, faces an existential crisis: it loses its relevance on 21C Earth. Charlotte, a sharp-witted Harpy, is determined to set the terms of her own fate by breaking free of her employment in Danté's obsolete Inferno. But not before her ex boyfriend Asterion tries to win her back. Can she reach the promise of a future in a New Hell on Earth before Hell crumbles into oblivion? A contemporary love story for the end times, a horror comedy based on the current state of world affairs.
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Women and Men UngluedKatherine Gilday 2003 1 h 26 minAt the start of the new millennium, relations between men and women are in turmoil. Traditional marriage is challenged on all fronts. Long-held notions about gender, commitment and courtship have been cast aside. And 'marriageable' people are staying single in record numbers.
Is this an historical blip or a fundamental change in society? Do men and women even need each other anymore? Women and Men Unglued dares to ask these questions.
This provocative documentary takes an uncensored look at single, urban Gen-Xers living on the edge of this social change. Operating in a free-for-all zone where old mating rules don't apply and new ones don't exist, these young urbanites struggle to find intimacy amid chaos.
Against this backdrop, leading experts like Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and Bert Archer take a fresh look at how relations between the sexes are evolving.
