Danish Seining(1953)

Nanook of the North(en)

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Eden Alone Surpasses Thee(en)

Jarred by the loss of his closest friend, a farmer on Tasmania’s remote West Coast, begins to mentor at-risk local youth. In an area renowned for its poverty, low literacy, and high suicide rates, Stafford Heres is determined to provide opportunities for kids who have few. Eden Alone Surpasses Thee explores his relationship with the land, loss, and the young men he takes under his wing.

The Last Chinese Laundry(ab)

A documentary from 1987 featuring the life of early Chinese immigrants to the island of Newfoundland.

HAND. LINE. COD.(en)

In the coldest waters surrounding Newfoundland's rugged Fogo Island, "people of the fish"—traditional fishers—catch cod live by hand, one at a time, by hook and line. After a 20-year moratorium on North Atlantic cod, the stocks are returning. These fishers are leading a revolution in sustainability, taking their premium product directly to the commercial market for the first time. Travel with them from the early morning hours, spend time on the ocean, and witness the intricacies of a 500-year-old tradition that's making a comeback.

Picturesque Gaspé(fr)

Visit of Gaspésie and stops in a few places: Grande-Rivière, Chandler, Port-Daniel, Maria, Carleton, the Matapédia valley, Matane, Saint-Joachim-de-Tourelle, Cap Gros-Morne, Rivière-au- Renard, Cap Bon-Ami, etc. The film also underlines the commercial and industrial aspect of the region.

Another Man’s Treasure(en)

One man's hat is another man's treasure when it comes to the importance and significance of saving items of historic value.

Tous Les Jours(en)

In rocky Newfoundland, renowned French artist Jean Claude Roy gathers his paints and sets off to face the day. Whether it be freezing snow, violent wind, or pouring rain, he commits vibrant colors to canvas and conquers the day by weaving crooked beauty out of difficulties.

Jacob's First Mandolin(en)

A friendly wager on a family fishing trip to Emerald Isle years ago resulted in one boy’s dream come true. That boy, all grown up, turned his dream come true into a career.

Priory: The Only Home I've Got(en)

The Priory is a public extended-care hospital in Victoria, British Columbia, for people suffering from chronic geriatric illnesses. Treatment is innovative. It is based on the theory that even the ordinary activities of a patient's life contain elements of therapy. The film shows us how patients are encouraged to do as much as they can for themselves despite their confinement to wheelchairs.

The Man of a Thousand Songs(en)

A feature length documentary about extraordinary Canadian singer songwriter, Ron Hynes... an insightful and entertaining exploration of the creative process, the genesis of song, the meaning of performance and the vulnerability of an artist compelled to bare his soul through his music. The film is comprised of Ron performing his music (distinct and live for the camera), interwoven with very intimate black box 'interviews' with Ron (shot tightly and directly addressed to the camera), in which he discusses the songs and the life that informed them: late nights, dark alleys, marriage, children, divorce, his near death and recovery from drug addiction... and punctuated with back stage moments, insight from the street, and Ron's nephew author Joel Thomas Hynes, taking the role of 'chorus of the people'.

Vistas: Red Ochre(en)

Combining archival photos with new and found footage, this short film presents a personal, impressionistic rendering of what it's like growing up Mi'kmaq in Newfoundland, while living in a culture of denial. Vistas is a series of 13 short films on nationhood from 13 Indigenous filmmakers from Halifax to Vancouver. It was a collaborative project between the NFB and APTN to bring Indigenous perspectives and stories to an international audience.

Julie O'Brien(en)

Depiction of Newfoundland's "old times" as seen by Julie O'Brien, an 11-year-old living in Tors Cove. Told in the first person with cutaway shots to the girl's many activities, the film illustrates the way traditions are maintained, remembered and evolved. This film is part of the Children of Canada series.

Along Newfoundland's Shores(en)

This short documentary includes three vignettes about life off the coast of Newfoundland. In Island of Birds, we visit Green Island, a sea bird sanctuary where puffins frolic. In Caplin Harvest, little silvery fish called caplin spawn by washing ashore along the waves, making an easy catch for fishermen. In Outports on the Move, off-shore houses are pried loose from their foundation and floated to the Newfoundland mainland, where schools, hospitals, stores and services are available to the community.

Land of Little Rivers(en)

The Land of Little Rivers, a network of tributaries in the Catskill Mountains of New York, is the birthplace of fly fishing in America and home to anglers obsessed by the sport.

Return of the Islander(ga)

Through economic necessity, an Aran Islander is forced to travel to England to work on building sites so that he can earn money to support his family back on the Islands.

A Tainha e a Onda(pt)

The Coast of Commerce(en)

Take a revealing tour along a coast of contrasts, from the folksy freshness of Whitby to the coaly Tyne, queen of all rivers.

De l'assiette à l'océan(fr)

Turning Tides(en)

In this documentary short, summer trippers line up for the famous local fried clams and whole families dig for the white mollusc in the tangy air of the sandbars. But as the clams dwindle, so do these tableaux from Maritime culture. For commercial fishermen it's the end of a livelihood; for others, it's the death of a tradition. Can this really be the end of a resource that used to be as plentiful as the air we breathe?

Women on the Water(en)

A documentary film from New Hampshire Sea Grant following the stories of women in New Hampshire's traditionally male-dominated seafood and aquaculture industries, why they chose to work on the water, the challenges they face, and the reasons they've stayed.