Canada Vignettes: December Lights

Against the Wild

December 2013 •English

The action-packed feature film tells the dramatic tale of two siblings and their Alaskan Malamute, who must make an emergency landing when their small plane has engine problems. They find themselves in a beautiful but potentially dangerous natural environment that they must overcome together.

Christmas Break-In

December 2018 •English

Izzy is an energetic 9-year-old. Overscheduled and running late, Izzy's parents can't pick her up on-time the last day of school before Christmas break. A blizzard complicates the matter, but not as much as a pair of bad guys who are freezing in an ice cream truck. The school's janitor is kidnapped by the intruders, and it's up to Izzy to save the day.

Midnight Sun

September 2014 •English

In northern Canada, a young boy sets a goal for himself to to reunite an abandoned polar bear cub with its mother. Goran Visnjic joins the cast as Muktuk, a half Inuit and half Canadian, who knows the terrain where the polar bears live and who agrees to help the boy.

Grumpy Old Santa

September 2023 •English

Nic (Glenn Morshower), a devoted father, husband, and friend with a passion for fishing and bowling, had the perfect life until his wife left after they became empty nesters, leaving him heartbroken. However, his world takes a hilarious turn when he secretly starts dating his best friend's (Kevin Farley as Pastor Kris) sister, leading to uproarious complications. This heartwarming comedy-drama follows Nic as he navigates the aftermath of his wife's departure, discovering the transformative power of love, friendship, and laughter in unexpected places, all while cherishing his favorite pastimes of fishing and bowling. Actor/Comedian Gary Valentine plays the role of Spike, Nic's high school rival.

Anchors Up

October 2017 •Norwegian

After a brave rescue mission in stormy weather, a young rescue boat is headhunted to a larger harbor where he realizes that bigger is not always better.

All I Want for Christmas: The Magic Time Machine

November 2022 •Danish

At Santa Claus School, the principal has called a meeting. Lucia, her parents Julius and Claudia and everyone else at school are excited. But the tension is replaced by a shock when the headmaster cancels Christmas. He seems confused, and it soon becomes clear that he is trapped in a Christmas trauma from his younger days as Santa Claus. Lucia sets out to find out what has happened and with the help of the younger student Elias and a magical time machine, she travels back in time in the hope of saving Christmas.

The National Christmas Tree, A Century of Celebration

September 2024 •English

A Ken Burns-style documentary exploring the first 100 years of our National Christmas Tree. On Christmas Eve 1923, President Calvin Coolidge lit the first National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, just south of the White House. We follow the tree through its first 100 years, where it served as a backdrop to many events in our nation's history. We meet the designers and learn their process of lighting our federal fir each year. Available to view here: https://odiesnoutproductions.vhx.tv/

Aliens Next Door

November 1990 •English

Transferred to a new job, the Peoples family arrive on the planet Bolognia. Feeling very insecure about the move, they become even more intimidated by the sight of their hosts who are green, spotted and have antennae! Their new Bolognian neighbors, Charlick and Mavo Zox, find the look of the Earth family just as shocking. However, when little Benny Peoples gets "lost", he unwittingly brings the two families together and life on this new planet begins to look promising.

The Boy & the Octopus

November 2024 •English

A young boy encounters a curious octopus while snorkeling on a seaside vacation. The persistent mollusk attaches itself to the boy’s head and becomes his constant companion.

Correspondances

Invalid date •French

North of the Yukon

March 1939 •English

In this North western, a brave Canadian Mountie pursuing a gang of fur thieves finds himself drummed out of the RCMP and forced to run a gauntlet of Mountie whips. When the gang learns of this, they convince him to join them.

Northern Lights: A Journey to Love

March 2017 •Tagalog

A young boy travels to Alaska to visit his estranged father at the same time as a young woman also travels to Alaska to find her estranged mother.

Like the Ones I Used to Know

January 2021 •French

December 24, 1983, 10:50 p.m.; Julie and her cousins ate too much sugar, and Santa Claus is late. Denis, alone in his car, is anxious about setting foot in his former in-laws’ house to pick up his children.

Pink Lake

May 2022 •English

It’s perhaps too wintery to qualify as Edenic, but Sam and Cora have seemingly carved out a largely idyllic existence for themselves in a cabin in the hills of Gatineau. However, the tree-planter/taxidermist and server/poet find their routine disrupted when they’re visited by Nadia, one of Sam’s dearest friends.

A White Dream

February 2022 •French

Dreamer of images and lover of the cold, wildlife photographer Jérémie Villet travels alone through the white deserts of the northern hemisphere in search of animals that blend into the snow. Jérémie is about to explore the wild and extreme Yukon region in Northern Canada, in search of the emblematic mountain goat.

First Journey, Fort William

January 1987 •English

Set in 1815, this is the dramatic story of a child of the fur trade, son of a Native mother and a Scottish-Canadian fur trader. John Mackenzie's father is a wintering partner of the Montréal-based North West Company, which was for decades the wealthiest merchant enterprise in North America. To mark his entry into adulthood, twelve-year-old John is travelling for the first time to Fort William, the Company's lavish winter headquarters by Lake Superior. In following his journey, the film reveals the complex network of people--Scottish, French and Native Canadian--that made up fur-trading society and gave a unique flavor to the opening up of Canada's northwest.

Rendezvous Canada, 1606

January 1988 •English

The dramatic story of two youths--one French and one Indigenous--who share a pivotal time in Canada's history: the first contact between European and First Nations peoples.

I Killed My Mother

June 2009 •French

Hubert, a brash 17-year-old, is confused and torn by a love-hate relationship with his mother that consumes him more and more each day. After distressing ordeals and tragic episodes, Hubert will find his mother on the banks of Saint Lawrence river, where he grew up, and where a murder will be committed: the murder of childhood.

Cotton Wool

October 2017 •English

A single mother suffers a devastating stroke leaving her teenage daughter and 7-year-old son to care for her, testing the family's strength to hold things together as their roles are reversed.

Picture of Light

June 1994 •English

A documentary of an expedition to Churchill, Manitoba to film the Northern Lights.