Pierre Letarte

Love & Savagery

In 1969, a visiting geologist from Newfoundland arouses scandal in a small Irish village when he romances a local girl who’s destined for the convent.

Hunger Point

A woman struggles with her self-image in a house run by a weight-obsessed mother, alongside a younger sister whose eating disorder has tragic coincidences.

Random Passage

This award winning miniseries traces the difficult passage of young Mary Keane (Aoife McMahon) from servitude in Ireland to the squalor of rough-and-tumble Newfoundland in the early 1800s. Escaping attempted rape and abuse, Mary moves on with her infant daughter to find shelter at a remote fishing station run by Thomas Hutchings (Colm Meaney). In a time and place where life and death are a hair's breadth apart, Mary joins the community's struggle for survival against sickness and starvation. All of the Cape's people are fugitives of one kind or another, but by pulling together through hardships and tragedies, they forge a new life of hope - and even love.

The Audrey Hepburn Story

The film spans from Hepburn's early childhood to the 1950s which details her life as a Dutch ballerina, coming to grips with her parents' divorce, and enduring life in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II. She then settles in the U.S. where she succeeds in making it big as a movie actress, in such movies as Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Jane Austen's Mafia!

Takeoff on the Godfather with the son of a mafia king taking over for his dying father.

...First Do No Harm

When Lori Reimuller learns that her young son Robbie has epilepsy, she first trusts the judgment of the hospital staff in how best to bring it under control. As Robbie's health slides radically downhill, however, she becomes frustrated and desperate, and so does her own research into the existing literature on treatments. When she decides to try an alternative treatment called the Ketogenic Diet, devised long ago by a doctor from Johns Hopkins, she is met with narrow-minded resistance from Robbie's doctor, who is prepared to take legal action to prevent Lori from removing him from the hospital.

Sugartime

Sam Giancana is a ruthless mob boss from Chicago. During a trip to Las Vegas, he sees a performance by the McGuire Sisters, a popular singing group with a pure image. Sam is attracted to Phyllis and begins aggressively courting her. The two enter into an epic romance, but it brings unwanted attention and tarnishes Phyllis's reputation. For Sam, however, the consequences are far more drastic, landing him in trouble with the law and his fellow mobsters.

Dangerous Minds

Former Marine Louanne Johnson lands a gig teaching in a pilot program for bright but underachieving teens at a notorious inner-city high school. After having a terrible first day, she decides she must throw decorum to the wind. When Johnson returns to the classroom, she does so armed with a no-nonsense attitude informed by her military training and a fearless determination to better the lives of her students -- no matter what the cost.

The Boys of St. Vincent

The true story of boys being sexually abused at their orphanage, run by a religious community in Newfoundland.

Dieppe

A dramatization of the failed World War II raid which became the most serious defeat of Canadian forces in the war.

The Boys of St. Vincent: 15 Years Later

Fifteen years after the events of The Boys of St. Vincent took place, the various boys involved are brought in to testify against the brothers, now finally standing trial, who assaulted them when they were children.

Solo

Un homme seul. Une femme seule. Lui, à l'aide de son ordinateur, voudrait désormais pouvoir gérer ses relations amoureuses; elle, de son côté, désire continuer à mener une vie autonome. Philippe et Hélène vivent donc dans une bulle, en solitaires, soignant les blessures d'une relation précédente, jusqu'au jour où ils se rencontrent. C'est le coup de foudre! Mais ils ont si peu en commun, sinon la peur de se faire mal, de décevoir et d'être déçus, de se tromper à nouveau... A single man. A single woman. Him, only wanting to interact with romantic relationships through his computer screen. Her, wanting to have an autonomous life. Phillipe and Hélène live their lives in a solitary bubble, healing their wounds from a previous relationship, until they meet. It's love at first sight! but they have so little in common, except the fear of being hurt, of dissapointing or be dissapointed, of being wrong again...

Dear America

Two women from Montreal, from very different backgrounds, become great friends. Celeste, of Portuguese origin, sacrifices the love of her family to make her fortune in America. Catherine, single, dedicates herself completely to her double career as a journalist and harpsichordist, and dreams of starting her own family, without giving up her professional aspirations.

Oliver Jones in Africa

Oliver Jones, one of Canada's foremost jazz pianists, tours Nigeria with his bassist and drummer, discovering in Africa the roots of much of today's music. Hearing and absorbing the musical sources of blues, spirituals, calypso rhythms and more, he reflects that for a Black jazz artist, a trip to Africa is a voyage home.

Creative Process: Norman McLaren

Norman McLaren was a cinematic genius who made films without cameras, and music without instruments. He produced sixty films in a stunning range of styles and techniques, collecting over 200 international awards, and world recognition. In Creative Process, director Donald McWilliams demystifies the process of artistic creation. Drawing on McLaren's private film vaults, a gold mine of experimental footage and uncompleted films, McWilliams explores McLaren's methods, including his celebrated "pixillation" technique, and his daring forays into animated surrealism.

Lessons on Life

A day in the life of a Quebec magazine writer - his fortieth birthday - from his dream before waking to his last act before sleeping. He looks back over his life, his thoughts, and his loves.

Juke-Bar

With the arrival of a new juke-box in a snack-bar, the cockroaches' life becomes suddenly a little more animated.

Our Last Days ... in Moscow

Pianists Kuo-Yen of Taiwan and Pierre Jasmin of Québec met and fell in love while studying music in Vienna. The film is a "letter" from Pierre to Kuo-Yen, who has made the difficult decision to return to her native land. Jasmin is sending her the images, words, and music of their last days as a couple ... in Moscow. They had come there for Kuo-Yen to compete in the 8th Tchaikovsky Piano Competition; how she fared determined her future.

The Great Chess Movie

In this Gilles Carle feature documentary on the game of chess, the international chess match is cast as a classic Western shoot-out. Three chess greats dominate the film: Russia's Anatoly Karpov; Viktor Korchnoi, a Russian defector; and American Bobby Fischer. Chess aficionados Camille Coudari and Fernando Arrabal analyze the personalities and strategies of the players and comment on the interplay of politics and chess.

Le Deal mexicain

Documentary

Going the Distance

Canadian documentary film directed by Paul Cowan about the 1978 Commonwealth Games.

Kouchibouguac

In 1969, the federal government expropriated two hundred and fifteen families in eight towns of New Brunswick in order to build a national park. Not only did these families lose their homes and their memories, they also lost their livelihoods.

The Right Candidate for Rosedale

This short documentary records Anne Cools’ 1978 run for the Liberal Party nomination in Rosedale, one of Toronto's largest and socially most diverse federal ridings. The film records her bid for political power, and explains the nomination contest, a basic step in the Canadian electoral process. Because she was competing against the Liberal Party's preferred candidate, the nomination battle in Rosedale turned into one of the most innovative and fascinating in the history of Canadian politics.

L'âge de la machine

A young police officer goes through Abitibi to take a train with a young convict who escaped from her orphanage.

J.A. Martin Photographer

The wife of photographer J.A. Martin decides to go with him in his tour of the hard Canadian countryside at the turn of the century. She hopes the intimacy will revive their marriage.

Games of the XXI Olympiad

Edited from almost 100 km of film footage shot during the Games, this feature documentary is a breathtaking portrait of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Much more than a simple record of the Games, the film approaches each event with the intention of revealing the athlete - whether winner or loser - as a unique individual.

OK ... Camera

This documentary film is an exploration of Québec’s feature film industry. The film takes a look at the people who have succeeded in this unique milieu (Geneviève Bujold is one) or failed; at its movies, which run the gamut from hard-core skinflicks to such highly acclaimed films as Mon Oncle Antoine, and at its audiences, which number in the millions.

The Ungrateful Land: Roch Carrier Remembers Ste-Justine

Here is the village of Ste-Justine as one gifted man, novelist and playwright Roch Carrier, remembers it. In this small corner of Québec there is space in the landscape and in the vast spread of forest, but the fringe of rocks around every field speaks of the backbreaking hardship that was the lot of Carrier's father and of his grandfather before him. This is a nostalgic view of rural Québec.

Just Another Job

This short film takes you behind the scenes of the Quebec Nordiques. Coached by the legendary Maurice Richard, the team is playing its opening World Hockey Association game at the Quebec Coliseum. Experience the pre-game tension, the on-ice action and the dream-contract signing.

Sad Song of Yellow Skin

A film about the people of Saigon told through the experiences of three young American journalists who, in 1970, explored the consequences of war and of the American presence in Vietnam. It is not a film about the Vietnam War, but about the people who lived on the fringe of battle. The views of the city are arresting, but away from the shrines and the open-air markets lies another city, swollen with refugees and war orphans, where every inch of habitable space is coveted. (NFB)