Barrie McLean

Sunrise Over Tiananmen Square

This film illustrates the life of the film director, Shui-Bo Wang in The People's Republic of China. We learn of the life of the director in his own words and images from a child steeped in the values of Chinese communism exemplified by Chairman Mao, to a young man striving to live up to those ideals both as an artist and a soldier.

Sunrise Over Tiananmen Square

This film illustrates the life of the film director, Shui-Bo Wang in The People's Republic of China. We learn of the life of the director in his own words and images from a child steeped in the values of Chinese communism exemplified by Chairman Mao, to a young man striving to live up to those ideals both as an artist and a soldier.

Show Girls

Show Girls celebrates Montreal's swinging Black jazz scene from the 1920s to the 1960s, when the city was wide open. Three women who danced in the legendary Black clubs of the day - Rockhead's Paradise, The Terminal, Café St. Michel - share their unforgettable memories of life at the centre of one of the world's hottest jazz spots. From the Roaring Twenties, through the Second World War and on into the golden era of clubs in the fifties and sixities, Show Girls chronicles the lives of Bernice, Tina and Olga - mixing their memories with rarely seen footage of the era.

Snow Cat

A grandmother tells her young grandchild the moving tale of a lonely girl and an unforgettable magical cat in this animated short narrated by Oscar®, Emmy and Tony award winner Maureen Stapleton. The film is based on a short story written by Dayal Kaur Khalsa and adapted by two-time Governor General's award recipient Tim Wynne-Jones.

Shyness

This animated short is a parody of the Frankenstein story. Dr. Frankenstein creates a monster only to find out that his creation is too shy to go out and frighten anyone. The good doctor and his malevolent assistant Trevor try to find ways of helping their creation overcome his condition.

Dinner For Two

Frogs, birds, lizards, a snake, alligators, and a lot of insects inhabit a pond; everyone's ready to eat. Two tenacious lizards catch the same fly, inciting a protracted tug-of-war.

Scant Sanity

An exploration into the nature of the mind, the brain and reality. A person seeking job counselling receives psychiatric treatment instead, and thereupon becomes convinced of the reality of his own internal world. This may be the tale of an abused student, or the bizarre and unlikely reminiscences of an aging cowboy. On the other hand, it could be the musings of a bored actuary. By presenting the life of the filmmaker as multiple levels of insanity, this film challenges the commonsense interpretation of the universe.

Quilt

An abstract animated film, using computer and experimental techniques in choreographing quilt motifs and designs to music. A tribute to the unique and long-established art form of patchwork quilting. A film without words.

Bob's Birthday

Margaret Fish is planning a surprise party for her dentist husband, Bob. Meanwhile, at the office, Bob is having a mid-life crisis while insects munch on what's left of his plants. When Bob returns home, Margaret has a terrible time getting him into the room where everyone's hidden until he's halfway through changing clothes and talking about how horrid all their nebbishy friends are (the same friends hidden all over the room).

Mouseology

Using the comic device of trained laboratory mice, Bretislav Pojar examines the insidious nature of addiction to cigarette smoking, how it can begin in young people, and how difficult it is to quit.

Divine Fate

An environmental morality tale. A divine gate gives one all that one desires, on the condition that one takes only what one needs and one gives something good in return.

No Problem

An everyman who lives alone desires female companionship. The trouble is, he's got two extra personalities who pop out and ruin things: an id, who's usually naked and has no inhibitions, and a super ego, who's a prude and a scold. Our hero goes through his little black book calling woman after woman: Natalie agrees to a date, but the warring three-headed personalities sink that outing before he gets through her apartment door. Soon, he's down to the last name in his book: Zolga. Is there any hope? Can he just be one self?

Blackfly

A young surveyer, new to Ontario, encounters the blackflies. Over and over again, he encounters those blackflies.

The Lump

An ugly man rises to power with the benefit of a handsome looking lump on his head.

Every Dog's Guide to the Playground

In this animated film our hero, Wally the Safety Dog, continues to suffer a host of injuries as he instructs his master in the rules of playground safety. This is the second film in which Wally provides a proper example to young adults, parents, and caregivers in the area of child safety.

Golden Apples of the Sun

Behind these bars lies an unbridled fury. Caged Terror-a tale of madness, infidelity and revenge. Everyone needs to get away from it all, and the country is the most tranquil place to escape life's everyday battles. Or is it? Richard and Janet, a city couple, find that just the opposite is true as their weekend getaway is transformed into a frightening and primitive wilderness. Camping for the night in a seemingly abandoned farmhouse, the two are suddenly joined by strangers who have been secretly watching them all afternoon. Strangers who will soon cage Richard like a trapped animal and ravage his wife. Strangers who will drive Richard berserk in the cold and inhuman isolation of Caged Terror.