All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic(2018)

Where the Stone Dropped(en)

Created in the Victorian era to widen the mouth of the River Tees for shipping, South Gare is a man-made peninsula extending four kilometres into the cold North Sea. Today, the industry it was built for has gone, but the Gare remains as a haven for all sorts of unexpected communities - kite-surfers, photographers, bird-watchers, scuba-divers and the people who simply appreciate its strange, lonely beauty.

Court Case(en)

An insider's look on the making of Penn's tennis balls, from their creation in a factory to the final stages of quality control.

TGV, la réussite française(fr)

Manufactured Landscapes(en)

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is the striking new documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of “manufactured landscapes”—quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams—Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization’s materials and debris.

Québec...?(fr)

This short documentary film is a fascinating portrait of urban and rural Quebec in the late 1960s, as the province entered modernity. The collective work produced for the Quebec Ministry of Industry and Commerce calls on several major Quebec figures.

Lobsters Unlimited(en)

An overview of the lobster fishing industry in Nova Scotia.

La zuppa del demonio(it)

With These Hands: The Story of an American Furniture Factory(en)

In 2007, unable to compete with cheaper offshore production, Hooker Furniture Co. closed its plant in Martinsville, Virginia, after 83 years in operation. With These Hands follows the last load of wood down the assembly line as it is cut, honed, and assembled into fine furniture. Along the way, employees at the factory share their perspectives on work, community, and survival in a country devastated by de-industrialization and outsourcing.

Tora-san of Goto(ja)

This documentary film follows for 22 years a nine-member family involved in the manufacturing of Udon in the Goto Islands, Nagasaki prefecture. Mr. Toru Inuzuka called by nickname "Tora-san" is making famous 'Goto Udon' and natural salt on the island on which the depopulation is progressing. Seven children get up at 5 o'clock every morning, helping to make udon, and go to school. Children's help is recorded on the time card, and it is pocket money for children. The film talks about children's growth, marriage, childbirth, homecoming, and parting. The 22 years of familiarity of the family is drawn.

The Song of Styrene(fr)

Le chant du Styrène is a 1958 French documentary film directed by Alain Resnais. The film was an order by French industrial group Pechiney to highlight the merits of plastics.

The High Cost of Cheap Gas(en)

The environmental problems caused by fracking in America have been well publicized but what's less known are the gas industry's plans for expansion in other countries. This investigation, filmed in Botswana, South Africa and North America, reveals how gas companies are quietly invading some of the most protected places on the planet.

The Cost of Cobalt(en)

In the cobalt mining areas of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), babies are being born with horrific birth defects. Scientists and doctors are finding increasing evidence of environmental pollution from industrial mining which, they believe, may be the cause of a range of malformations from cleft palate to some so serious the baby is stillborn. More than 60% of the world’s reserves of cobalt are in the DRC and this mineral is essential for the production of electric car batteries, which may be the key to reducing carbon emissions and to slowing climate change. In The Cost of Cobalt we meet the doctors treating the children affected and the scientists who are measuring the pollution. Cobalt may be part of the global solution to climate change, but is it right that Congo’s next generation pay the price with their health? Many are hoping that the more the world understands their plight, the more pressure will be put on the industry here to clean up its act.

Green Careers in Supply Chain Management(en)

A ten minute video exploring green careers in supply chain management produced by The Van Horne Institute featuring speakers and interviews.

Detropia(en)

Detroit’s story has encapsulated the iconic narrative of America over the last century – the Great Migration of African Americans escaping Jim Crow; the rise of manufacturing and the middle class; the love affair with automobiles; the flowering of the American dream; and now… the collapse of the economy and the fading American mythos.

Of Boats and Brothers: The Yacht Building Herreshoffs(en)

This award-winning documentary film chronicles the accomplishments and relationship of John and Nathanael Herreshoff. These determined brothers overcame all obstacles, including blindness, to earn a worldwide reputation in yacht design and construction.

Bathtubs Over Broadway(en)

When he started as a comedy writer for the Late Show with David Letterman, Steve Young had few interests and not many friends outside of his day job. But while gathering material for a segment on the show, Steve stumbled onto a few vintage record albums that would change his life forever.

Grafická kontrola výroby(cs)

Lotus: A New Dawn(en)

This short documentary follows the fortunes of iconic car manufacturer 'Lotus'. In the past 'Lotus' has been famous for producing championship winning race cars and iconic sports cars, but it has struggled to remain in profit. With a new investor and managing director at the helm, they set out to build the first new Lotus road cars in over a decade. From the last ever petrol powered car, the 'Emira' and also their first pure electric British hypercar the 2000 brake horsepower 'Evija'.

Endless Letterpress(es)

Facing deteriorating machines and the advance of new technologies, Argentine printing presses are closing up their shops. A group of young designers has rediscovered this great technical innovation in the history of the written word – the typesetting printing press – but the technique is difficult to learn, passed down from master to apprentice. The last press mechanic in the country will be in charge of teaching them so that this historic technique endures.

Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks(zh)

A detailed look at the gradual decline of Shenyang’s industrial Tiexi district, an area that was once a vibrant example of China’s socialist economy. But industry is changing, and the factories of Tiexi are closing. Director Wang Bing introduces us to some of the workers affected by the closures, and to their families.