September Five at Saint-Henri

Polar Life(en)

Polar Life’s novelty was its theatre, with the audience seated on a central rotating turntable in the middle of eleven fixed screens. Viewers have described the intricate juxtaposition of screen images and narration and the complex relationship created between moving spectators and multiple screens. Documentation images and scripts of the bilingual narration by Lise Payette and Patrick Watson show elaborate temporal and spatial representations of the Arctic and Antarctic regions: the Inuit in daily activities in the Canadian North; other northern peoples of Alaska, Lapland, and Siberia; and settlers from the South, scientists, explorers, and other inhabitants of the landscape, including reindeer, bears, and birds. Archival film footage of early northern explorers, combined with newly shot documentary footage, was edited across the various screens to create spatial relationships that are sometimes coherent, sometimes fragmented.

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.

Kulenkampffs Schuhe(de)

Essay film about German family life in the postwar decades, refracted through TV quiz shows and their hosts' biographies.

Les Autres - Les immigrants peuvent-ils sauver Huntingdon?(fr)

Huntingdon Mayor Stéphane Gendron wants to encourage immigration to save his town, which has been struggling ever since large-scale factory closures some years ago. Mayor Gendron’s project is a way in to a discussion about immigration and social and economic integration.

Night School(en)

Indianapolis has one of the lowest high school graduation rates in the country. Night School follows three adult students living in the city’s more impoverished neighborhoods as they attempt to earn their diplomas while juggling other difficult responsibilities and realities. Through their stories, the filmmakers explore many issues that low-income Americans deal with, including unjust minimum wage and working conditions, arbitrary legal hindrances, and race and gender inequality.

My Prairie Home(en)

A true Canadian iconoclast, acclaimed transgender country/electro-pop artist Rae Spoon revisits the stretches of rural Alberta that once constituted “home” and confronts memories of growing up queer in an abusive, evangelical household.

Ice-Breaker: The '72 Summit Series(en)

September 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series, the iconic hockey tournament that pitted the best players from Canada against the best from the Soviet Union. It has been universally acknowledged as a defining event in Canadian history. This inspiring new documentary enlarges the canvas to tell the story from the unique perspectives of a diverse cast of participants who are rarely if ever heard: diplomats, NHL hockey legends, Soviet players, journalists, fans, broadcasters, business leaders and Team Canada’s Chairman – all reveal untold, exclusive stories about what happened before, during, and after September ‘72.

Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train a Comin'(en)

An account of the short life of genius musician Jimi Hendrix (1942-70), probably the most talented and influential guitarist of the twentieth century: his humble beginnings in Seattle, his time in New York, his rise to fame in swinging London… Live fast, love hard, die young.

Invasion(en)

In this era of “reconciliation”, Indigenous land is still being taken at gunpoint. Unist’ot’en Camp, Gidimt’en checkpoint and the larger Wet’suwet’en Nation are standing up to the Canadian government and corporations who continue colonial violence against Indigenous people. The Unist’ot’en Camp has been a beacon of resistance for nearly 10 years. It is a healing space for Indigenous people and settlers alike, and an active example of decolonization. The violence, environmental destruction, and disregard for human rights following TC Energy (formerly TransCanada) / Coastal GasLink’s interim injunction has been devastating to bear, but this fight is far from over.

Multi Story(en)

On the edge of Dundee a 17-story tower block awaits demolition, the last of its kind on the once sprawling Ardler housing estate. Its residents are either gone or going. We undertake a journey, moving steadily upwards, exploring the space, drifting through deserted corridors and rooms. The memories of former residents accompany the voyage.

Wrestling(fr)

A candid-camera view of professional wrestling as seen in the Montréal Forum, where some of the biggest bouts are staged, and in back-street wrestling parlours where the warriors practice their art.

Abortion: Stories from North and South(en)

Women have always sought ways to terminate unwanted pregnancies, despite powerful patriarchal structures and systems working against them. This film provides a historical overview of how church, state and the medical establishment have determined policies concerning abortion. From this cross-cultural survey--filmed in Ireland, Japan, Thailand, Peru, Colombia, and Canada--emerges one reality: only a small percentage of the world's women has access to safe, legal operations.

À côté de la track(fr)

A short film documentary about the reconstruction of Lac-Mégantic following the 2013 railway tragedy.

The Dionne Quintuplets(en)

In 1934, Elzire Dionne delivered five identical girls. The Dionne Quintuplets follows Cecile, Emilie, Marie, Yvonne and Annette through twenty-one years of strange upbringing. When the girls were just infants, the premier of Ontario issued a court order removing them from parental care. Cut off from the world and their family, over-publicized, viewed twice daily in a special viewing compound, they grew up as prize exhibits. Director Donald Brittain uses old newsreel footage, home-movie sequences and interviews to depict a historic event that became a tragic exploitation of a family.

Where do I Belong(fr)

The Trip(en)

In this honest and deeply personal account of living with addiction, a young man talks about the realities and challenges of living in the Anishinaabe community of Kitcisakik and the hope he still harbours for himself and his people.

A Cop Movie(es)

This documentary walks the line between fact and fiction, delving into corruption in the Mexican police through the experiences of two officers.

Le déluge du Saguenay : une tragédie humaine(fr)

La Manic GT : la voiture du peuple(fr)

Evicted City(fr)

Montreal — one of the few remaining affordable cities in North America — is now in the midst of an unprecedented housing crisis. An intimate portrait of socio-political resistance, this multilayered film explores the human impact of real estate speculation on the cities of tomorrow.