Joseph Howe: The Tribune of Nova Scotia

Island Memories(en)

In 1755, ten thousand French Canadian settlers were thrown off their land, loaded on ships, and exiled. Island Memories explores the past in a small Acadian community in Nova Scotia where the last survivor of this great deportation is reputedly buried. A lively film full of adventure, people, and history.

Balakrishna(en)

When an extraordinary new resident – Balakrishna, an Indian elephant – arrived in the town of East River, Nova Scotia, in 1967, no one was more in awe of the creature than young Winton Cook, who became inseparable from his mammoth new friend. Using painterly animation, photographs and home-movie treasures, Balakrishna transmits the wistfulness of childhood memories, while evoking themes of friendship and loss, and issues of immigration and elephant conservation.

Rude Questions(en)

A portrait of Larry Loomer, the owner of an antiquarian bookstore located in a small town. Larry is a colourful and amusing character who shares his wry take on the world.

Mabel(en)

Feisty, fiercely independent and firmly rooted in place, 90 year-old Mabel Robinson broke barriers back in the 40s when she became the first woman in Hubbards, Nova Scotia, to launch her own business—a hairdressing salon where she still provides shampoo-n-sets over 70 years later. Weaving animation and archival imagery with intimate and laugh out loud moments in the salon, the film celebrates the power of friendship, doing what you love and staying active. With no desire to retire anytime soon, Mabel gives voice to a generation who are not front and center of cinema or the pop hairstyles of the day, and subtly shifts the lens on our perception of beauty and the elderly.

Black Ice(en)

This incisive, urgent documentary examines the history of anti-Black racism in hockey, from the segregated leagues of the 19th century to today’s NHL, where Black athletes continue to struggle against bigotry.

Joe Sleep(en)

Filmed 2 years before his death, this documentary portrays New Brunswick folk artist Joseph Sleep (1913-1978) in his later life. He was born at sea and worked with and around boats, fish, carnivals, and animals most of his life. While convalescing during an extended period in the Halifax infirmary in 1973, he was encouraged to paint. What began is therapy and a pastime developed into a way of representing a lifetime of images and experience

There's a Star(fr)

Samuel LeBlanc, a young transgender musician, embarks on a journey with his friends through the work of Acadian musician Angèle Arsenault (1943-2014). Coming from a small village, Samuel has long questioned his queer identity and his cultural identity. Does a queer Acadie exist? This musical documentary project will explore his double minority and the journey of young people, who like him, realize that despite the difficulties there is a star for each of us.

Black Mother Black Daughter(en)

Black Mother Black Daughter explores the lives and experiences of black women in Nova Scotia, their contributions to the home, the church and the community and the strengths they pass on to their daughters.

I Made a Vow(en)

A couple from North Preston, Nova Scotia plan an elaborate wedding with dozens of bridesmaids.

Mi'kmaq Family (Migmaoei Otjiosog)(en)

This documentary takes you on a reflective journey into the extended family of Nova Scotia’s Mi'kmaq community. Revisiting her own roots, Mi'kmaq filmmaker and mother Catherine Anne Martin explores how the community is recovering its First Nations values, particularly through the teachings of elders and a collective approach to children-rearing. Mi'kmaq Family is an inspiring resource for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences who are looking for ways to strengthen and explore their own families and traditions. We hear the Mi'kmaq language spoken and a lullaby is sung by a Mi'kmaq grandmother featured in the film.

Lobsters Unlimited(en)

An overview of the lobster fishing industry in Nova Scotia.

Voices From the Landscape(en)

This docucumentary by John Brett conveys the impressions of cultural loss felt by an elderly Acadian man living on the south shore of Nova Scotia after his homestead has been deserted.

The Battle At Our Shores(en)

The Battle At Our Shores is a documentary following over a period of a year the ground swell of opposition that has arisen over the first inshore/coastal oil and gas exploration licenses to be given out in Canada in the Province of Nova Scotia. Most other jurisdictions have put moratoriums on inshore marine oil and gas activity. This documentary tracks this ecological and political controversy, which pits citizens groups against their governments and industry. The Battle At Our Shores looks at citizen activism, governments that ignore democracy, and the fight against corporate globalism at a local level.

And Then They Came for Us(en)

Seventy-five years ago, Executive Order 9066 paved the way to the profound violation of constitutional rights that resulted in the forced incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans. Featuring George Takei and many others who were incarcerated, as well as newly rediscovered photographs of Dorothea Lange, And Then They Came for Us brings history into the present, retelling this difficult story and following Japanese American activists as they speak out against the Muslim registry and travel ban. Knowing our history is the first step to ensuring we do not repeat it.

Cai Wenji(zh)

The Viking War(en)

Ingrid and her siblings are on the run from the Beserkers who have begun invading the villages, taking over, savagely using the residents on a game where they vs a Beserker, and if they win, they get to survive - only, no one ever wins. The siblings are trying to escape the Beserkers after they violently murdered and took over their town. However, the Beserkers are on their trail, and want to put them in the game.

The Reformation: Age of Revolt(en)

This educational documentary describes the political, social, and religious conditions of sixteenth century Europe. It also Interprets the reforms of Martin Luther as a part and/of these conditions as indications of future trends.

The Hornet's Nest(en)

Armed only with their cameras, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning conflict Journalist Mike Boettcher, and his son, Carlos, provide unprecedented access into the longest war in U.S. history.

Twenty Six Days in the Life of Dostoevsky(ru)

Twenty-Six Days in the Life of Dostoyevsky was entered on February 16th at the 1981 Berlin Film Festival to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Dostoyevsky's death on February 9th, 1881, and won a "Best Actor" award for Anatoly Solonitsyn as Dostoyevsky. Solonitsyn was a favorite actor in Andrei Tarkovsky's films, and this was to be his penultimate role. This brief imaginary period in the famed Russian writer's life encapsulates one of his darker moments in 1866. At that time he was still a relatively unknown writer whose first widely acclaimed work, Crime and Punishment, was just on the horizon. His life was at a very low ebb as he struggled with debts he could not pay, and as he fought depression over the loss of his wife to tuberculosis, and the death of his brother, who was very close to him. His first literary journal had to be scrapped because of political reasons, and the second venture needed funding.

Felicitas(es)

Buenos Aires at the outskirts of XIX century. A society rigid in patriarchal rules. A war between brothers of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Two young and very much in love youngsters, fight for their right to be together. Obeyance and fear sets them apart along more than ten years. When they are finally reunited, will they be able to overcome the pain and tragedy that haunts them?