Werner Nold

The Boys of St. Vincent

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

Overdose

School, tennis lessons, swimming lessons, art classes, homework, piano practice... a boy's parents have organized his life to such an extent that he has no time for himself. Based on article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, this film illustrates children's right to rest and leisure. Film without words.

An Artist

In this short animation, a girl is so carried away by her love of music that she forgets about her household chores. Her father tells her to finish the dishes. Instead of washing them, she turns them into musical instruments, and he finally recognizes her talent. Based on Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, this film illustrates children's right to develop their talents and abilities to their fullest potential.

Le steak

The documentary is a portrait of former Canadian boxing champion Gaétan Hart, profiling both the ups and downs of his career in the 1970s and 1980s and his attempt to return to the sport in a 1990 fight. The film's title was inspired by "A Piece of Steak", Jack London's 1909 short story about a retired boxer struggling with poverty.

Mirrors of Time

This short animated film delves into the mysteries of time: how calendars came to be; why the seasons change; why the year is divided into days, etc. From Babylon to 16th-century Europe, this film presents the history of the measurement of time.

Juke-Bar

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

The Persistent Peddler

Featuring a salesman and a consumer, this animated short is a humorous study of the patterns that define buyer-seller relationships. The Persistent Peddler is based on Claude Cloutier's hit comic strip La Légende des Jean-Guy, first introduced in Quebec humour magazine Croc.

A Song for Quebec

Produced in 1988, this feature documentary presents a living history of Quebec's last 40 years as seen through the eyes of one couple. Pauline Julien and Gérald Godin, two Quebec artists, share their perspectives on the events that have marked Quebec's evolution. Julien, a singer, and Godin, a poet, express their love and passion for the province (and each other) while providing a unique take on the Quebec nationalist movement.

Haïti, Nous là! Nou La!

From Haiti, images and testimonies that describe the climate that reigned during the aborted elections of November 29, 1987. A powerful military police in the service of a despotic power terrorized an impoverished people that they wanted to keep submissive. The government had succeeded in ousting Duvalier. However, another dictatorship has taken over, and nothing has changed. However, both on the radio and in the streets, the voice of the Haitians was heard with strength and courage. But what if it was all a sham of democracy?

Mario

Set during summer in the Îles-de-la-Madeleine of Quebec, Mario and Simon are two brothers living in a fishing village with their mother, who runs a grocery story, and their father, who runs a fishing business. Mario is ten years old, mute and autistic. He is withdrawn from reality and living in a surreal world that only his older brother Simon and his stuffed coyote share. Mario is very close with and deeply admires his 18 year old brother, whom he depends upon for love and attention. Simon reads Arabian Knights stories to Mario, dresses him in sheik's clothing and they play out imaginary wars in an Arabian style fortress that they built. Everything changes when Helene, a beautiful young tourist comes between the two brothers. Simon falls in love and begins to neglect his brother to spend time with her. Mario feels rejected and discovers what hate and jealously are. He sets about a chain of events that lead to tragedy.

Zea

A superb visual trick that will mystify its audience, this animated film transforms the commonplace into magic.

Gui Daò - Sur la voie - Aller retour Beijing

This documentary takes us on a journey of discovery of China through the eyes of the employees on the train that runs between Wuchang and Beijing. We join the team of young women responsible for the well-being of passengers, and share their daily life in all its playfulness and serenity, even if discipline is omnipresent. Behind every word, every look, a new being to get to know.

Gui Daò - Sur la voie - Une gare sur le Yangzi

This documentary reveals something of the Chinese temperament through a visit to a seemingly ordinary railway station. Then we start to wonder. What does the “moving red flag” mean? Who are these Orientals, so patient in waiting, so concerned with order and the public good? Astonishment is followed by sympathy for the spontaneity and humor of these Chinese who, like us, share the same hopes and concerns.

Gui Daò - Sur la voie - Quelques Chinoises nous ont dit

This documentary takes us on a journey of discovery through the words of young girls, members of the work team at Wuchang station, who spontaneously answer the filmmaker's questions. In these words and confidences, a concern emerges: to be first and foremost at the service of the Chinese people. Collective life takes priority over individual or family life. And when you get married, you agree to see your spouse only when their respective workplaces and schedules coincide...

Derrière l'image

This feature-length documentary analyzes television newscasts and, as a result, takes a look at the news industry as a whole. By tackling five major themes – the script, the stars, the show, the actors and telecracy – it elucidates and demystifies certain aspects of television news, the bearer of daily news and guarantor of a certain image of reality.

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.

Ti-Mine, Bernie pis la gang…

A married man and his family take in his brother, who is coming out from a religious order. They decide to realise the old family dream, migrate to Florida. But it won't be as easy as they think.

The Mob

Seasoned drug smuggler and thief François “Chico” Tremblay is tired of his modest lifestyle. Given the opportunity to earn $50,000 killing a prominent New York City gangster, he leaps at the opportunity, ignoring the warnings of Montreal’s leading mob boss, who has forbidden local criminals from taking the assignment. Upon his return, Chico discovers he is being pursued from all sides, prompting an unlikely response: he calls a local talk radio show and starts revealing the mafia’s most carefully guarded secrets. As his revelations get more shocking, so do the tactics of his adversaries, culminating in a devastating gut punch of a finale.

O.K.... Laliberté

A down-and-out man who got separated, gets his second chance in a boarding house, thanks to a friend who is a con man, and falls in love with a roommate. However, when he gets a job, his ego gets over and might lose everything he got.

The Time of the Hunt

A young boy learns the rituals of what his father and his friends perceive as manhood on a weekend hunting trip.

L'exil

Summoned by his bosses to broadcast only neutral information, Jean, a reporter, leaves town with his friend to go and collect testimonies from simple people, in the heart of the Laurentians, and reach out to them and outside society at genuine freedom, happiness. The departure is joyous, but the isolation in which they confine themselves does not bring either of them the results they expected. The adventure ends in failure. Would it be an illusion to believe that one can escape the community to which one belongs?

Cold Pizza

An engaging story of young enterprise, pitfalls, and eventual success that all young viewers will enjoy. It is about two young Greek boys in Montréal who try to earn some extra money for a trip to their sunny homeland by delivering pizzas. The misadventures they encounter and how they surmount them make an amusing story, full of youthful initiative.

Marie-Christine

Short film about the underground part, both geographical and social, of the city of Montreal, through the obsession of a business magnate for a young woman.

Flight

Take flight with this short film about the sport of gliding, and enjoy a captivating journey into near space, where all the beauty of earth and heaven meet at the wide-winged engineless craft poised between them. Filmed over the mountains of the Laurentians and the Canadian Rockies, the film offers breathtaking views and whets the appetite for adventure.

Between Sweet and Salt Water

A young singer-songwriter abandons his life in his hometown and moves to the city to make it big. He achieves fame, but it comes at a price.

The Devil's Toy

This short 1966 documentary dedicated "to all victims of intolerance” depicts the dawn of skateboarding in Montreal. A new activity frowned upon by police and adults, skateboarding gave youngsters a thrilling sensation of speed and freedom. This film - the first Canadian documentary ever made about the sport - captures the exuberance of boys and girls having the time of their lives in free-wheeling downhill locomotion. Jutra's 1966 mockumentary film The Devil's Toy (Rouli-roulant), is a faux-anti-skateboarding propaganda film.

Knowing to Learn

This feature documentary about education explores the mid-century state of learning in the classrooms of North America. New approaches to learning and the emerging technologies that facilitate them are explored, including the new roles of the computer, tape recorder and television. Directed by Quebec cinema giant Claude Jutra (Mon Oncle Antoine), the film was produced with the collaboration of researchers studying all forms of education, from infancy to adulthood.

60 Cycles

On your marks. Follow cyclists from 13 countries as they cover 2.400 km of Gaspé countryside in 12 days-a course longer than those of Italy, Belgium or Spain. The long shots of curving landscape and open road are set to a mesmerizing soundtrack in this documentary, and the results are spellbinding.

The Merry World of Leopold Z

On Christmas Eve, snowplow driver Leo races to clear the streets of Montreal and complete his holiday shopping in time for midnight Mass. The feature directorial debut of celebrated filmmaker Gilles Carle (The Death of a Lumberjack), The Merry World of Leopold Z is an offbeat holiday treat that builds to a disarmingly resonant conclusion.

No Vacation for Idols

A film between reality and fiction about a popular singer, played by Joël Denis, idol of that time. He is surrounded by a host of great actors and real and famous characters from the 60s.

La route de l'Ouest

When was Canada populated by Native Americans from the West? This film relates the discovery of the New World from the time of the Vikings, around 880, to Jacques Cartier.

Geneviève

Two teenage girls go to winter carnival in Quebec City for the first time. Their ambiguous, tentative relation with a young boy brings both of them the sweet intensity and disillusionment of first love.

The Big Swim

This short documentary shows Canada's top swimmers in training for the 1964 Olympic Games. Under the critical eye of coach Ed Healy, they practice long hours in the gym and in the pool to build strength and stamina.

The End of Summer

A 16 year old girl recalls the last moments of her summer vacation, spent with friends in the Laurentians north of Montreal. She reminisces about their talks on life, death, love, and God. Shot in direct cinema style, working from a script that left room for the teenagers to improvise and express their own thoughts, the film sought to capture the immediacy of the youths presence their bodies, their language, their environment.

Of Whales, the Moon, and Men

At the instigation of the filmmakers, the young men of the Ile-aux-Coudres in the middle of the St-Lawrence River try as a memorial to their ancestors to revive the fishing of the belugas interrupted in 1924.

The Rink

This short, silent film captures a Sunday afternoon at a community skating rink. Iconic Quebec director Gilles Carle has the camera follow toddlers learning to skate, young girls flashing their skates and boys decked out in the colours of their favourite hockey teams. A picture perfect moment on a bright winter's day.

September Five at Saint-Henri

This short film is a series of vignettes of life in Saint-Henri, a Montreal working-class district, on the first day of school. From dawn to midnight, we take in the neighbourhood’s pulse: a mother fussing over children, a father's enforced idleness, teenage boys clowning, young lovers dallying - the unposed quality of daily life.