Don Haig

The Battle of Vimy Ridge

A two-hour documentary which recreates for the viewer one of the greatest battles in Canadian military history. The film was made to show that Canadian character at its best, forging an identity for a country that before the First World War had been seen only as a British colony - an identity and a character that became recognized and respected throughout Europe.

Beyond Borders: Arab Feminists Talk About Their Lives... East and West

In the Arab world, women are fighting a two-front war against repressive internal constraints and intrusive Western interference. In this program, a feminist delegation composed of author Nawal Saadawi and other renowned activists from the Middle East and North Africa gathers at the UN, on college campuses, and in church basements to speak out about deterioration of women's rights in the Arab states in an effort to heighten awareness of the Arab feminist struggle for equality--and the effects of U.S. foreign policy on their efforts.

Spudwrench - Kahnawake Man

This documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin introduces us to Randy Horne, a high steel worker from the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, near Montreal. As a defender of his people's culture and traditions, he was known as "Spudwrench" during the 1990 Oka crisis. Offering a unique look behind the barricades at one man's impassioned defence of sacred territory, the film is both a portrait of Horne and the generations of daring Mohawk construction workers that have preceded him.

Asylum

This feature documentary follows three newly arrived people in Canada and their experiences with the Canadian Refugee process. As claims are assessed and paperwork is double checked, we begin to examine exactly who can be considered a refugee.

Seven Brides for Uncle Sam

This documentary shares the stories of seven women from Newfoundland who married American soldiers. From the beginning of World War II to the end of the Cold War, Newfoundland housed some of the largest military bases outside of the U.S. As a result, as many as 40,000 Newfoundland women married American soldiers. Using a combination of interviews and old war footage, Seven Brides for Uncle Sam shows how some of the most important events in world history can serve as the backdrop to the timeless tales of romance, heartbreak and joy.

Picturing a People: George Johnston, Tlingit Photographer

The life and times of George Johnston, photographer and keeper of memories for the Tlingit nation.

Power

When Hydro-Québec announced its intention to proceed with the enormous James Bay II hydroelectric project, the 15,000 Cree who live in the region decided to stand up to the giant utility. With unprecedented access to key figures like Cree leader Matthew Coon Come and American environmental activist Robert Kennedy Jr., Power is the compelling, behind-the-scenes story of the Cree's five-year battle to save the Great Whale River and their traditional way of life.

Bronwen & Yaffa (Moving Towards Tolerance)

This documentary presents two young women from Halifax who are organizing rock concerts to raise money for the group Eastcoast Against Racism. Bronwen and Yaffa believe that the universal language of music will help unite the community. At the same time, they struggle to renew their friendship with Scott, a former Ku Klux Klan member. This moving film is set against a vibrant soundtrack of punk and rap music.

Children First!

A collection of 7 animation short films inspired by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Each NFB award-winning film, in their peculiar way, deals with children's rights and addresses various aspects of the Convention.

A Web of War

The stories of the battles that brought together a Polish cavalry officer, a Canadian captain, and a Polish underground member are told by the very same Canadians who survived them.

Anatomy of Desire

An examination of how science and social politics have shaped our notions of homosexuality through history.

Who’s Counting? Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies and Global Economics

This documentary profiles economist and writer Marilyn Waring. In extensive interviews, Waring details her feminist approach to finances and challenges commonly accepted truths about the global economy. The filmmakers detail Waring's early rise to political prominence and her successful protests against nuclear arms. Waring also speaks candidly about wartime economies, suggesting that government policies tend to marginalize the fiscal contributions of women.

The Marco Polo: Queen of the Seas

The Marco Polo has just circumnavigated the globe in less than six months! She is the Queen of the Seas. A new age of travel has begun! From a shipyard in Saint John, New Brunswick, to Liverpool and Melbourne and, finally, to a watery grave off the coast of Prince Edward Island, The Marco Polo: Queen of the Seas offers a fascinating account of a legendary ship during the golden age of sail in the 19th century.

The Voyage of the St. Louis

Documentary on the German luxury liner St. Louis that sailed from Hamburg to Cuba in 1939 carrying 937 German Jews. For 30 excruciating days the ship wandered the seas and was refused haven by every country in the Americas.

Mystery of the Maya

Filmed in IMAX, a young Mayan boy who lives close to the ruins becomes acquainted with an archaeologist (Guerra) and asks her to tell him about his ancestors. The crew travelled to over 15 locations in Mexico and Guatemala, including Tulum and Chichén Itzá.

Broken Promises: The High Arctic Relocation

In the summer of 1953, the Canadian government relocated seven Inuit families from Northern Québec to the High Arctic. They were promised an abundance of game and fish - in short, a better life. The government assured the Inuit that if things didn't work out, they could return home after two years. Two years later, another 35 people joined them. It would be thirty years before any of them saw their ancestral lands again. Abandoned in flimsy tents, the Inuit were left to fend for themselves in the desolate settlements of Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord, where the sea was nearly always frozen and darkness reigned for months on end. Suffering from hunger, extreme cold, sickness, alcoholism and poverty, Québec's Inuit had become the victims of a government policy supposedly designed to return them to their "native state". Evidence points to the government's wish to strengthen Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic as playing a part in the decision to relocate.

Eldon Rathburn: They Shoot... He Scores

This short documentary traces the life and career of composer Eldon Rathburn. A music lover since childhood, Rathburn used to go to the movies in Saint John, New Brunswick, in the 1920s just to hear the soundtrack. In 1947, he joined the National Film Board as a staff composer and went on to score over 300 documentaries and feature films. He is responsible for the music heard in classic NFB films like City of Gold and the IMAX feature Momentum, as well as the scores for lesser-known “classics” like Hog Family Supreme and Fish Spoilage Control.

Twist

Combining rare and often hilarious archival footage with engaging interviews, this groovy documentary chronicles the evolution of the titular postwar rock ’n' roll dance craze that took America by storm. Featuring singers and musicians who helped define the phenomenon like Hank Ballard, Chubby Checker, and Joey Dee, as well as clips from TV shows like “American Bandstand,” TWIST tells the overlooked story of how shaking your hips went from being a sign of social degeneracy to the dance form that rocked the world.

Secret Nation

A graduate history student returns to her native Newfoundland, searching for proof of a conspiracy surrounding the referendum that saw Newfoundland join Canada.

Defy Gravity

Bill Fiddich is an inventor with bipolar disorder who is physically abusive to his wife and daughter. His son Patrick struggles to understand how to stand up to his father to protect the rest of the family. Patrick's high school history teacher tries to provide the emotional guidance Patrick isn't getting at home.

The Midday Sun

Maggie is an ordinary Canadian girl with the best of intentions who has signed on to work in a Catholic mission in Zimbabwe. With an ample supply of enthusiasm and ignorance, she consistently demonstrates her lack of understanding of the local culture. When she is robbed, she fights for the release of the man convicted of the crime and belatedly makes some attempt to understand her environment.

Mob Story

On the run from a U.S. Senate investigation, New York mob boss Don Luciano (John Vernon) flees to his Canadian hometown and old flame Dolores (Margot Kidder) in this kooky, disorganized crime caper. Luciano soon discovers his long-lost son and tries to teach him the tricks of the trade. Meanwhile, Luciano's bumbling right-hand man (Albert S. Waxman) -- who'd like to become the boss himself -- has put a contract on Luciano.

Termini Station

Termini Station is a Canadian made drama, released in 1989 and directed by Allan King. The film stars Colleen Dewhurst and Megan Follows as Molly and Micheline Dushane, a mother and daughter living in a small Northern Ontario town. Molly is an alcoholic, which creates tension between her and Micheline and inspires Micheline's fantasies of escaping her stifling small-town life. The cast also includes Gordon Clapp and Debra McGrath as Molly's son and daughter-in-law. Termini Station was the only film besides the Anne of Green Gables movies in which Follows and Dewhurst worked together. The film was nominated for six awards at the 11th Genie Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress nods for both Dewhurst and Follows. Filmed on location in Kirkland Lake Ontario.

Comic Book Confidential

A survey of the artistic history of the comic book medium and some of the major talents associated with it.

Growing Up in America

Filmmaker Morley Markson shows Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and other '60s rebels, then and now in a follow up to his 1971 film "Breathing Together: Revolution of the Electric Family."

Freakshow

After being ditched by her cameraman because of her manipulative behavior at a murder scene, a reporter wanders through town looking for a phone she can use. She finds a small museum, where the proprietor invites her in to have a look around before leaving. In one room, she encounters a strange jar which causes her to have strange visions, visions that are supposedly drawn from her own mind. These 'visions' make up the rest of this four- part anthology, which includes horror and suspense stories about a junkie chasing a dog for his runaway fix, a pizza delivery boy who gets a Halloween surprise, a living but paralyzed OD victim forced to undergo her own autopsy because everyone thinks she's dead, and a deal between a golf course owner and a gravedigger that has some unexpected consequences.

The Brain

Dr. Blake runs a TV show called "Independent Thinkers", which is sort of a Scientology-like self-help/religion program. But he's not making his audience think any more independently - with the help of an alien organism he calls The Brain, he's using brainwashing and mind control. The only thing that stands between them and world domination is a brilliant but troubled high school student with a penchant for pranks...

I've Heard the Mermaids Singing

Scatterbrained Polly gets a job as a secretary in Gabrielle's art gallery. Polly aspires to be a professional photographer, and idolizes Gabrielle for her artistic ability. When Gabrielle rekindles an old romantic relationship with the younger painter Mary, Polly becomes jealous, and discovers Gabrielle isn’t exactly who she claims to be.

The Kidnapping of Baby John Doe

A mother gives birth to an infant with Down Syndrome. The doctor advises that the child has multiple medical problems and advises that she "allow nature to take it's course". The child's crib is pushed into a closet because the hospital staff can no longer stand his screams as he is not being fed. One of the nurses smuggles him out of the hospital and has an intern come to do the minor but lifesaving corrective surgery on her kitchen table.

Dancing in the Dark

Via the New York Times: "To all outward appearances, Edna Cormick (Martha Henry) is the perfect housewife.... She's married to a man who'll stand up in public and say, "This is my wife," so that there'll be no confusion as to who she is. Edna has no identity without Harry, an ambitious, successful salesman who seems to love and care for Edna long after other men might become worried about her housewifely obsessions... Edna is reviewing her life - in neatly chronological flashbacks - from the room in the psychiatric hospital where she's been confined ever since Harry's sudden death."

Alex Colville: The Splendour of Order

A view of the life and works of the late Alex Colville, the celebrated Canadian painter. Shows the influence on his life and works of his experience as an artist during World War II, and of his relationship with his wife, Rhoda. Friends and critics speak of the construction and sense of menace in his work, and Colville comments on his sense of order, goodness, and contingency.

Track Stars.: The Unseen Heroes of Movie Sound

Two Foley artists provide live sound effects to an action scene.

125 Rooms of Comfort

The film stars Tim Henry as Billie Joyce, a gay and transvestite former musician who has been institutionalized in an asylum due to mental illness. Inheriting the smalltown hotel formerly owned by his deceased father, he returns home intending to sell the hotel to real estate developer Oscar Kidd (Robert A. Silverman), but soon finds himself in the position of defending the rights of the hotel's staff against Kidd's renovation plans.