Manufacturing the Threat

Freshwater(en)

Freshwater is a documentary that dives into the cold waters of Lake Superior along Minnesota’s North Shore. Despite the fact that it contains ten percent of Earth’s freshwater, this massive force of nature remains largely unexplored. One group of people, however, is intimately aware of its power. From the surfers who catch its waves to the scientists who study its depths, learn why Lake Superior is a precious resource that should never be taken for granted.

Dief!(en)

This documentary short is a portrait of Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and 13th prime minister of Canada, John George Diefenbaker (1895-1979). Diefenbaker's political career spanned 6 decades. When he died in 1979, his state funeral and final train trip west became more a celebration of life than a victory for death.

The Sterilization of Leilani Muir(en)

The life and times of Leilani Muir, the first person to file a lawsuit against the Alberta provincial government for wrongful sterilization under the Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta.

British Columbia: Canada's Olympic Wilderness(en)

Graham Bell and Ed Leigh journey southwards through the frozen province of British Columbia, Canada, towards the home of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. En route, they travel through remote communities cut off from civilisation through the winter, learning how the locals survive off the land. Leigh and Bell experience this harsh life for themselves alongside miners, loggers and hunters, and find out what it is like to function and work in such harsh conditions. Their journey ends with a gruelling trek on foot through the spectacular Coast Range Mountains into Whistler, one of the Olympic venues.

Lagun and the Resistance Against ETA(es)

The turbulent story of the Lagun bookstore — located in San Sebastián, in the Basque Country, Spain — is a powerful tale of courage, resistance and struggle; first against the Franco dictatorship, then against the terrorist gang ETA and its numerous and sinister acolytes.

The Last Mooseskin Boat(en)

This short documentary follows Gabe Etchinelle as builds a mooseskin boat as a tribute to an earlier way of life, where the Shotah Dene people would use a mooseskin boats and transport their families and cargo down mountain rivers to trading settlements throughout the Northwest Territories.

The Corporation(en)

Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.

The Rose Family(fr)

In October 1970, members of the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped Minister Pierre Laporte, triggering an unprecedented crisis in Quebec. Fifty years later, Félix Rose tries to understand what could have led his father and uncle to commit such acts. Thanks to the confidences of his uncle Jacques, who agrees for the first time to speak on the subject, and to the precious traces left by his father Paul, he revives the rich heritage of a Quebec working family and gives back to the October crisis its social dimension. The fruit of ten years of research, Les Rose allows us to revive moments and characters that we only knew through a few clichés, and gives a glimpse of the social blockage experienced by a rebellious youth and the upheavals that followed.

Boye(es)

Stockholm - 75(de)

In April 1975 Commando Holger Meins occupies the West German Embassy in Stockholm. In exchange for the hostages they want to force the release of RAF-prisoners in Germany; Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof, Gudrun Ensslin, etc. The occupation lasts twelve hours and ends in defeat for the occupants, left is a blown-up Embassy and four people dead, two of them executed by the occupants. Karl-Heinz Dellwo, 23 years old, is arrested and sentenced to jail. In 1995 he is released from prison. Today he lives in Hamburg with his girlfriend Ella, also a former terrorist. Karl-Heinz is trying to create a new life for himself, but he is always haunted by his violent past.

Gray State: The Rise(en)

A documentary about America’s current militarized police state, the liberal use of deadly force against unarmed citizens, and a possible pending economic collapse. The world reels with the turmoil of war, geological disaster, and economic collapse, while Americans continue to submerge themselves in illusions of safety and immunity. While rights are sold for security, the federal government, swollen with power, begins a systematic takeover of liberty in order to bring about a New World Order. Fear-mongering, terrorism, police state, martial law, war, arrest, internment, hunger, oppression, violence, resistance. Neighbor is turned against neighbor as the value of the dollar plunges to zero, food supplies are depleted, and everyone becomes a terror suspect. There are arrests. Disappearances. Bio attacks. Public executions of those even suspected of dissent. Even rumors of concentration camps on American soil. The GRAY STATE is here. It always was. By consent or conquest.

The Road to Patriation(en)

This feature documentary retraces the century of haggling by successive federal and provincial governments to agree on a formula to bring home the Canadian Constitution from England. This film concentrates on the politicking and lobbying that finally led to its patriation in 1982. Five prime ministers had failed before Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau took up the challenge in the early 1970s. Principal players in this documentary are federal Minister of Justice Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister Trudeau, 10 provincial premiers and a host of journalists, politicians, lawyers, and diplomats on both sides of the Atlantic.

Nightmare in Canada: Canadian Horror on Film(en)

Nightmare in Canada is a television documentary that delves into the history of Canada's horror film industry. Not only do Canadian horror films have a distinct look and style, they also explore fear and dread in a truly "tundra terror" way through themes such as "man against nature" and "fighting the evil that comes from within." Nightmare in Canada uncovers gems from Canada's film history that combat the stereotype that Canadian cinema is bland or aloof.

Who Farted?(en)

A collaboration between acclaimed Canadian documentary filmmakers Nik Sheehan (FLicKeR, No Sad Songs) and Albert Nerenberg (You are What you Act, Laughology), Who Farted? is the world’s first climate change documentary comedy — and hopefully not its last. Who Farted? suggests that understanding our place in nature is essential to our continued existence as a species. If we can’t deal with our own flatulence, how can we hope to comprehend the looming climate catastrophe? Are farts malevolent? Disgusting? Beneficial? Hilarious? What exactly is a fart? And how much does animal flatulence truly contribute to runaway climate change? From antiquity’s first fart joke to the ubiquitous whoopee cushion, the act of flatus both amuses and dismays... and now may contribute to civilization’s demise. Who Farted? is a frightening, illuminating, and funny journey through the absurd reality of 21st Century human survival.

That Never Happened: Canada's First National Internment Operations(en)

The documentary tells the little known story of thousands of Ukrainian and Eastern Europeans that were interned in Canadian camps during the First World War.

Railway Station(pl)

Kieslowski’s later film Dworzec (Station, 1980) portrays the atmosphere at Central Station in Warsaw after the rush hour.

On Hostile Ground(en)

On October 23, 1998, a sniper carrying a high-powered rifle assassinated Dr. Barnett Slepian in his home, altering forever a family, a community, and the bounds of our imaginings about anti-abortion violence. This horrific act punctuated a decade of escalating harassment and violence against women’s heath care providers – a decade marred by murders, assaults, death threats, stalking, clinic blockades, arsons, bombings, and chemical attacks. How do these events affect the personal and professional lives of abortion providers? What motivates them to continue their work in the face of such terrorism?

Closing Gambit: 1978 Korchnoi versus Karpov and the Kremlin(en)

The story of the 1978 World Chess Championship between the Soviet Communist Party's protege, Anatoly Karpov and the traitor and Soviet defector, Viktor Korchnoi. One of those instances in life where truth is stranger than fiction.

After the Ballot(fr)

After the Ballot is a full-length documentary portraying the gruelling everyday life of two Members of Quebec's National Assembly who, although at opposite ends of the political spectrum, share the fact that their sole power lies in their convictions. One is Daniel Turp, the PQ Member for Mercier. The other is Charlotte L'Écuyer, Liberal MNA for Pontiac. The film aptly illustrates that ordinary MNAs have very little authority since the real power is held by ministers who are subject to the ups and downs of a globalized economy. Meanwhile, their fellow citizens keep asking for the impossible…

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.