Deborah Parks

Galileo's Sons

A rare behind-the-scenes look at the Vatican Observatory, and the cosmological questions tackled by the Jesuit astronomers there.

Galileo's Sons

A rare behind-the-scenes look at the Vatican Observatory, and the cosmological questions tackled by the Jesuit astronomers there.

Skymaster Down

On January 26, 1950, a US Airforce troop plane left Anchorage for Montana with 44 people on board. The crew of the Douglas C-54 Skymaster #2469 was supposed to check in every half hour along the route. As the aircraft crossed into Yukon, they radioed the tiny outpost of Snag to say that there was ice forming on the wings, but otherwise all was well. After that, the Skymaster disappeared. And to this day no sign of the aircraft or its passengers has ever been found. This fascinating Yukon-shot documentary tells the stories of the victim’s families and an intrepid group of Yukoners striving to give those families closure by searching every summer in hopes that the Skymaster will finally turn up.

A Kandahar Away

In 1991, a refugee arrived in Canada with his wife and five children, having fled his home in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Decades later, upon discovering the dwindling hamlet of Kandahar, Saskatchewan, he felt an immediate connection that needed to be explored. Abdul Bari Jamal's impulsive purchase of eight empty lots in the middle of the Canadian Prairies became an unexpected inheritance for his grown children. When the extended family of self-declared urbanites make their first trip together to witness their new property, Jamal's daughter takes the opportunity to document the unusual family vacation, hoping to unpack her father's relationship to his homeland and Canadian patriotism. What transpires on their journey is so much more than a humorous Green Acres collision of cultures-it's a heartfelt and moving conversation about two nations connected by conflict and how much of our identity is tied to the land we occupy.

NCR: Not Criminally Responsible

NCR: Not Criminally Responsible tells the story of a troubled young man who stabbed a complete stranger 6 times in a crowded shopping mall while gripped by psychosis. Twelve years later, his victim, who miraculously survived, is terrified to learn that he's out, living in the community under supervision. He's applying for an absolute discharge, and if he succeeds, he'll no longer be required to take the anti-psychotic drugs that control his mental illness. With unprecedented access to the patient, the victim, and the mental institution, the film looks at both sides of the debate and puts a human face on the complex ethical issues raised.

In the Name of the Family

Documentary - A hard-hitting look at the rise of "honor killings" among immigrant families in North America, this unsettling documentary profiles the senseless deaths of several teenage girls, who tragically perished at the hands of their own family members. With a passion for exploring human rights issues, filmmaker Shelley Saywell showcases powerful interviews with relatives, friends and other young women facing similar fears in their homes. - Patricia Owens, Amina Said, Sarah Said