Awake Zion(2013)

Outremont et les Hassidim(en)

OUTREMONT AND THE HASIDIM reveals the challenges of accommodating the “Hasidim” – or ultra-Orthodox Jews – in the affluent Montréal borough of Outremont.​Some 7,000 Hasidim live in or near this choice neighbourhood of Québec’s Francophone elite. After settling there more than 70 years ago, the Hasidim are a rapidly growing minority group which today represents about 23% of Outremont’s population.​Thanks to unprecedented access to this self-isolated community, the film lifts the veil on its practices, traditions, music and life as they had never before been seen on Canadian television, without ignoring the community’s expectations, fears. and hopes.

Play It Loud! How Toronto Got Soul(en)

In early 1960s Toronto, a white, Anglo-centric city, an underground music scene emerged from the Jamaican diaspora, led by newcomers like Jackie Mittoo, Wayne McGhie, and a young Jay Douglas. Battling racism and indifference, they left a lasting but underrecognized mark on Canadian music and culture. Nearly 60 years later, Jay Douglas still champions Jamaican music and is finally receiving long-overdue recognition. Play It Loud is a feature documentary that tells the little-known story of how Jamaican music became a vital, unlikely part of Canadian culture. It traces a cultural migration that made Canada a global hub for Jamaican music - celebrated abroad but overlooked at home. Told through the life and music of beloved singer Jay Douglas, born Clive Pinnock in rural Jamaica, the film follows his journey from teen performer to enduring icon.

Madame V. Monsieur S.(fr)

Betty Van Sevenant, a young resistance fighter from Bruges, arrested in March 1942, was declared "Nacht und Nebel". She recounts her deportation to the Ravensbrück and Mauthausen camps until liberation. Tobias Schiff, a Polish Jew from Antwerp, was deported with his parents to Upper Silesia on August 28, 1942, on convoy No. 25. His story begins upon arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau and concludes with the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen camp. (2 x 26 min.)

Urgh! A Music War(en)

Urgh! A Music War is a British film released in 1982 featuring performances by punk rock, new wave, and post-punk acts, filmed in 1980. Among the artists featured in the movie are Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), Magazine, The Go-Go's, Toyah Willcox, The Fleshtones, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, X, XTC, Devo, The Cramps, Oingo Boingo, Dead Kennedys, Gary Numan, Klaus Nomi, Wall of Voodoo, Pere Ubu, Steel Pulse, Surf Punks, 999, UB40, Echo & the Bunnymen and The Police. These were many of the most popular groups on the New Wave scene; in keeping with the spirit of the scene, the film also features several less famous acts, and one completely obscure group, Invisible Sex, in what appears to be their only public performance.

Volvo City(en)

Stamford Hill in North London is home to a community of 30,000 Hasidic Jews. Aiming to preserve a way of life they had in eighteenth century Poland and living strictly according to over 600 Biblical commandments brings them into conflict with modern life. They have embraced one aspect fully though, the Volvo Estate car.

Some of My Best Friends...(en)

Jewish people - and a few Gentiles - muse on what it means to be Jewish in 1960s Britain. The challenges of maintaining faith and culture outside Israel, and in a society where ‘Jewish’ and ‘English’ are seen as mutually exclusive identities are perceptively explored in this astute documentary. Some secular Jews are keen to distance themselves from traditional Judaism and especially Zionism (one defines himself simply as a Marxist). Gentiles are on hand to cheerfully perpetuate some of the old stereotypes, and we’re treated to colourful snapshots of the Jewish community in London: the rag trade, a kosher butcher and restaurant.

Hélène Berr, une jeune fille dans Paris occupé(fr)

Ladies, All The Ladies(en)

Ladies, All The Ladies is the result of Lady Lucy’s self-imposed search to meet other Ladies.

A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden(en)

A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden was the first film to document the klezmer revival, tracing the efforts of two founding groups, Kapelye and Boston's Klezmer Conservatory Band, to recover the lost history of klezmer music. For nearly a millennium, this vigorous and soulful music was part of the celebration of Jewish life in Eastern Europe. In the early decades of this century, the music took root in America. Klezmer musicians learned hundreds of tunes by ear and their ears were open to Gypsy, Ukrainian and Greek melodies of the old world, as well as to the new sounds of American jazz. Music born in Eastern Europe lived on in the imaginations of composers for New York's Yiddish theater, men whose tunes entered the mainstream through such unlikely adapters as the Andrew Sisters. Eventually Klezmer went underground as its audience assimilated into mainstream American culture.

Two Sevens Clash: Dread Meets Punk Rockers(en)

Documentary about reggae music and culture in London in 1977. Filmed in Super 8 camera by Don Letts. With participation of Richard Branson, Neneh Cherry, Paul Cook, Sly Dunbar, Paul Weller, John Lydon, Joe Strummer, Siouxsie Sioux, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and others. Released in 2017.

Landauer: Gefeiert, verbannt, vergessen(de)

Documentary about Kurt Landauer, the long-time Jewish president of FC Bayern München, who led the club to its first German championship, was persecuted and forced out of office by the Nazis, and rebuilt the club after the war.

Stepping Razor: Red X(en)

A documentary covering the life and death of Jamaican reggae musician and cultural icon Peter Tosh. Drawn both from Tosh's "Red X" series of autobiographical tapes that he was recording at the time of his murder and from interviews with other figures in his life.

Beats of the Heart: Roots Rock Reggae(en)

'Roots Rock Reggae' depicts an unforgettable moment in Jamaica's history when music defined the island's struggles and immortalized its heroes. Director Jeremy Marre films Bob Marley and the Wailers, and Lee 'Scratch' Perry record in his legendary Black Ark studio with The Upsetters. Jimmy Cliff rehearses with Sly and Robbie, while Inner Circle's historic live gig is recorded on the violent Kingston streets. The legendary Abyssinians harmonize their haunting Rastafarian songs; Joe Higgs (formerly Bob Marley's teacher) plays and talks; majestic toaster U Roy raps alongside The Mighty Diamonds, and Third World record in a Kingston studio. There is also early archive footage of Toots and the Maytals, and Haile Selessie's royal visit to Jamaica while police and thieves battle it out on the streets, and the ghettos erupt in violence. 1977: An extraordinary year for Reggae music.

Classic Albums: Bob Marley & the Wailers - Catch a Fire(en)

The Wailers, featuring the legendary Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, became the most influential band in the history of Reggae music. "Catch a Fire," their first Island album, released in 1973, introduced them to an international rock audience. The principal figures in the creation of the album tell the story of how this record was designed to "cross-over." The program features a unique interview and performance with Bunny Wailer, rare archive interviews with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh and contributions in words and music from many of those who performed, Rare home movies of the Wailers in Jamaica, unseen footage lots more.

Made in Jamaica(en)

A powerful portrait of the leaders of the reggae music Movement, and how Reggae has become a worldwide phenomenon. The film showcases performances by the best Reggae and Dance Hall artists ever assembled. From their native ghetto to international fame, "Made in Jamaica" is the story of the artists who represent the Jamaican Dream.

Motion(en)

On the way to creating a new future, the New Jewish Filmmaking Project is rediscovering the past. 11 young storytellers, ages 15-25, collaborated with Citizen Film’s team of documentary professionals to create a multimedia exhibit that offers a set of signposts for what Jewish identity has been and is becoming.

The Punk Rock Movie(en)

Documentary on the London punk-rock scene, circa '78

Bacon & God's Wrath(en)

A 90-year-old Jewish woman reflects on her life experiences as she prepares to try bacon for the first time.

Sie waren Nachbarn(de)

Three young people, one Jewish and two Christian, set out to search for traces of Jewish life and Jewish history in Germany.

Dreadtown: The Steel Pulse Story(en)

They have raged on for forty years, cutting a swath across continents and lighting the fuse of revolutionary thought. From the pressure-cooker ghettos of England to the mighty gates of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, one band has forged an enduring legacy. This is their story.