Sisyphus

North by Current

March 2021 •English

Filmmaker Angelo Madsen Minax returns to his rural Michigan hometown following the death of his infant niece and the subsequent arrest of his brother-in-law as the culprit. Using the audio-visual approaches of essay film, first-person cinema vérité, staged actions, and decades of home movies, Madsen navigates a town steeped in opioid addiction, economic depression, and religious fervor, while using the act of filmmaking to rebuild familial bonds and reimagine justice. Posing empathy as a tool for creating a more just world, North By Current does not seek to investigate a crime, but creates a relentless portrait of an enduring pastoral family, poised to reframe and reimagine narratives about incarceration, addiction, trans embodiment, and ruralness.

Lost and Found

February 2022 •English

An inspiring documentary about overcoming homelessness and addiction in the City of Los Angeles.

Picture Proof

March 2023 •English

Examines the intergenerational impact of addiction by chronicling the love, labor, loss, and uncertainty of one woman’s struggle to live a life of sobriety. Weaving together moments of glee, fulfillment, acceptance, sorrow, and disappointment, this documentary takes an intimate look at the bonds that hold one family together and a disease that threatens to tear them apart.

Chasing the Dragon

February 2016 •English

Every day in the United States, law enforcement agencies at the local, state, and federal levels—including the FBI and DEA—use investigative resources to target the supply side in the war against drugs. But, even with numerous law enforcement successes in this area, the demand for drugs continues. And, one of the more worrisome trends is a growing epidemic of prescription opiate and heroin abuse, especially among young people.

beer cans under my bed

March 2024 •English

This short, started early on into sobriety, finished about nine months in, is a collage of diaries and notes, collected from within addiction and into recovery.

Pass It Around

November 2022 •English

Documentary about living with an addict and grappling with the genetic propensity of becoming one.

Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist

February 2014 •English

In 1998 Marco Pantani, the most flamboyant and popular cyclist of his era, won both the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, a titanic feat of physical and mental endurance that no rider has repeated since. He was a hero to millions, the saviour of cycling following the doping scandals which threatened to destroy the sport. However, less than six years later, aged just 34, he died alone, in a cheap hotel room, from acute cocaine poisoning. He had been an addict for five years. This is the story of the tragic battles fought by the most important Italian cyclist of his generation; man verses mountain, athlete verses addiction, Marco Pantani verses himself.

The Perfect Selfie

January 2017 •Finnish

Teenager Olivia Oras has 20,000 Instagram followers. The documentary follows a year of her life.

Addicted to Porn: Chasing the Cardboard Butterfly

February 2017 •English

Like it or not, porn is here and it is harmful. In this controversial film, award-winning filmmaker Justin Hunt dissects the impact of pornography on societies around the globe, from how it affects the brain of the individual, to how modern technology leads to greater exposure to youth, to watching it literally tear a family apart. In what may well be one of the most devastating issues in modern culture, this film will break down the damage that porn is doing to us a human race and leave you thinking that it's clearly time that we start taking porn addiction a bit more seriously.

Somebody's Daughter

January 2008 •English

Because of the internet's accessibility, anonymity, and affordability, pornography addictions have risen to epidemic levels, destroying intimacy, marriages and families, while distorting our definition of sex and sexuality.

The Man of a Thousand Songs

December 2010 •English

A feature length documentary about extraordinary Canadian singer songwriter, Ron Hynes... an insightful and entertaining exploration of the creative process, the genesis of song, the meaning of performance and the vulnerability of an artist compelled to bare his soul through his music. The film is comprised of Ron performing his music (distinct and live for the camera), interwoven with very intimate black box 'interviews' with Ron (shot tightly and directly addressed to the camera), in which he discusses the songs and the life that informed them: late nights, dark alleys, marriage, children, divorce, his near death and recovery from drug addiction... and punctuated with back stage moments, insight from the street, and Ron's nephew author Joel Thomas Hynes, taking the role of 'chorus of the people'.

Philip K Dick: A Day in the Afterlife

April 1994 •English

A poetic look at the life and legacy of legendary author Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), who wrote over over a hundred short stories and 44 novels of mind-bending sci-fi, exploring themes of authority, drugs, theology, mental illness and much more.

Waseskun

September 2016 •English

At the Waseskun Healing Center, men with troubled and violent pasts follow a treatment plan based on Indigenous philosophy. In the great tradition of cinéma vérité, director Steve Patry spends an extended period of time at the centre, producing a gripping film that captures daily life in this unique alternative detention facility.

Bastardy

August 2008 •English

Provocative, funny and profoundly moving, Bastardy is the inspirational story of a self proclaimed Robin Hood of the streets. For Forty years and with infectious humour and optimism, Jack Charles has juggled a life of crime with another successful career- acting

Cocaine: History Between the Lines

August 2011 •English

Cocaine has always gotten a bad rap, and for a reason. It is a drug used by the rich and the poor legally and illegally, Mexican cartels fought over it with Colombia once associated with the brutal cocaine wars, and a source of tension between the American and Mexican borders on the people who are illicitly bringing in cocaine from one side of the border to another and will do anything to do it. So it can be surprising at times to the viewer throughout the course of the documentary special, that it was never always like this.

Moving Day

January 2022 •English

Moving Day tells the story of the people who were left outside – quite literally – during a global pandemic. With the rise of Covid-19, shelters closed, jobs were lost, and homelessness in "Victoria B.C." (unceded L'kwungen Territories), swelled. A community formed in the city’s biggest park and as they learn of an ambitious plan to house everyone by March 31, 2021, uncertainty in the park, and in their lives mounts.

Boulay : Le parcours d'un battant

November 2018 •French

Étienne Boulay’s story is anything but ordinary. Raised in Montréal-Nord, he went on to play football in the CFL and NFL, with lots of road bumps along the way. Boulay is a genuine and engaging personality who never fails to make an impression wherever he goes.

Manufacturing Ignorance

November 2020 •French

Tobacco, climate change, pesticides,... Never has scientific knowledge seemed so vast, detailed and shared. And yet it appears to be increasingly challenged. It is no longer surprising to see private corporations put strategies in place to confuse the public debate and paralyze political decision-making. Overwhelmed by excess of information, how can we, as citizens, sort out fact from fiction? One by one, this film dismantles the workings of this clever manoeuvre that aims to turn science against itself. Thanks to declassified archives, graphic animations and testimonies from experts, lobbyists and politicians, this investigation plunges us into the science of doubt. Along with a team of experts (philosophers, economists, cognitive scientists, political men, or even agnotologists), we explore concrete examples of doubt making and try to understand the whole process and the issues behind it.

My Dad, the Facebook Addict

February 2019 •English

A Dad's excessive use of Facebook/Memes is put into question by his family.

Cambio de sentido

October 2009 •Spanish