Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment

A documentary about direct-cinema from its very beginnings (Nanook of the North) to the fake-direct-cinema of the Blair Witch Project. All the important direct-cinema filmmakers are portrayed and/or interviewed: Leacock, Wiseman, Maysles, Pennebaker, Reisz and others.

2000-06-09 | en

Back to the Land

Feature-length documentary as part of Pierre Perrault's Abitibian Cycle. The filmmaker questions the past and present of Abitibi and draws up, face to face, the promises of colonization in the 1930s and the great disappointment caused by the closing of the land in the 1970s. There are witnesses to the heroic era, including the cultivator Hauris Lalancette, as well as extracts from films by Father Maurice Proulx (1934-1940).

1976-01-01 | fr

Cesar's Bark Canoe

"This documentary depicts a canoe being built in the traditional manner. Cesar Newashish, a 67-year-old Attikamek of the Manawan Reserve North of Montréal, uses only birchbark, cedar splints, spruce roots, and gum. With a sure hand he works methodically to fashion a craft unsurpassed in function or beauty of design. Building a canoe solely from the materials that the forest provides may become a lost art, even among the Native Peoples whose traditional craft it is. The film is free of spoken commentary but text appears on the screen in Cree, French, and English." - Anthology Film Archives

1971-01-01 | fr

The Things I Cannot Change

"This feature documentary is considered to be the forerunner of the NFB's Challenge for Change Program. The film offers in inside look at 3 weeks in the life of the Bailey family. Trouble with the police, begging for stale bread, and the birth of another child are just some of the issues they face. Through it all, the father tries to explain his family's predicament. Although filmed in Montreal, the film offers an anatomy of poverty as it occurs throughout North America." - NFB

1967-01-01 | en

Friday: About Cars

"Montréal under the snow and the cold winter. It is the period of the year when the garage owners strike it rich. The automobile at the service of man? This small opus would rather show the contrary. This is one in a series of eight films titled “Chronicle of Everyday Life,” a project that filmmaker Jacques Leduc took four years to realize, and whose goal was to revisit Direct Cinema at a moment when it was already heavily “contaminated” by mainstream TV." - Anthology Film Archives

1978-01-01 | en

Michel Brault, l'instinct de vue

| fr

Little Burgundy

"This film is one of the first French Unit productions of the “Société Nouvelle/Challenge for Change” program. When an old area of Montréal is to be demolished to make way for a new low-income housing development, is there anything the residents can do to protect their own interests? The film documents such a situation in the Little Burgundy district of Montréal and shows how the residents organized themselves into a committee that successfully influenced the city’s housing policy." - Anthology Film Archives

1968-01-01 | fr

'85: The Greatest Team in Football History

Through never-been-seen-before footage and fascinating interviews with key members of the 1985 Chicago Bears -- Mike Ditka, Jim McMahon, Mike Singletary, and others -- you will hear the inside story of their historic season.

2016-10-01 | en

90 Years of PAOK: Nostalgia for the Future

A documentary that chronicles the 90 years of history of the Greek sports club PAOK, not only in athletic but also in social and historical terms.

2016-12-08 | el

The Bug: Life and Times of the People's Car

The Bug is about one of the most recognizable and beloved vehicles on the planet: The Volkswagen Beetle. From its dark past in pre-WWII Germany to the Summer of Love, this car captured the hearts and minds of millions of people around the world. This film explores not only the history of this automotive icon, but also the intense emotional connection it has with its owners past and present... including Ewan McGregor and his experience with his first VW Bug as a sixteen year old.

2016-12-13 | en

The Meme Machine

An exploration of the origins of memes, how they spread, and the stories behind some of the most popular “human memes” like Ermahgerd Girl, Overly Attached Girlfriend, and Chocolate Rain Guy.

2016-12-16 | en

I Am Jane Doe

Chronicles the epic battle that several American mothers are waging on behalf of their middle-school daughters, victims of sex-trafficking on Backpage.com, the adult classifieds section that for years was part of the Village Voice.

2017-02-10 | en

Pagan Invasion, Vol. 13: Doorways To Satan

The dawn of the 21st Century has found much of modern society obsessed with occult mysteries, sadistic violence, and evil. Everything from cartoons and video games to recorded music and major theatrical films are being designed and promote to "satisfy" the public's insatiable lust for the macabre. Most disturbing is the rise in the practice of Satanism. Law enforcement agencies are unable to keep up with the increasing numbers of heinous, Satanically inspired crimes. Basically a remake of Devil Worship: The Rise of Satanism (1989) using the same footage.

1991-01-01 | en

Swan Song

An immersive, behind-the-scenes look at one of the world’s leading ballet companies as it mounts a new production of Swan Lake. Ballet icon Karen Kain, on the eve of her retirement, directs the National Ballet of Canada. The film weaves together intimate scenes of the creative process and the dancers’ personal lives. Executive Produced by Neve Campbell.

2023-09-22 | en

Banksy: Street Rat

Banksy changed the modern art world, taking it from galleries and onto the street. His identity has always been hidden from the public; keeping this secret was key to avoiding any criminal charges. He started as a freehand graffiti artist in Bristol but turned to the art of stencilling after realising how much quicker it was to complete work. Banksy developed a distinctive iconography of highly recognisable images, such as rats and police officers, that communicated his anti-authoritarian message. As his art spread, so did his popularity. He made headlines for his Kissing Coppers, painted the West Bank Wall and walked into galleries and hung his own work. Banksy is one of the best-known artists of the 21st Century, yet, does anybody know who he really is?

| en

This Is How a Child Becomes a Poet

The last day of Patrizia Cavalli’s home. Before it’s all gone.

2023-08-30 | fr

Fragments of a Life Loved

For over thirty years, between Paris and Rome, Chloé Barreau has been filming her love life. While in a relationship, she would already build its memory by filming, taking pictures, writing about it… but what do her exes remember? What is their side of the story? This film traces a woman's life, based exclusively on the interviews of people who loved her. Intimate testimonies and private items reveal the universal paths of the feeling of love.

2023-09-13 | it

Shutter Island: Into the Lighthouse

This thoughtful, often fascinating featurette focuses on the psychiatric aspects of "Shutter Island" and how consultant James Gilligan counseled the actors so they could better understand their reactions and motivations. We also learn about the controversial yet prevalent practice of lobotomizing violent mental patients and how the more humane approach of pharma-psychology gradually replaced it around the time period in which the story takes place.

2010-06-08 | en

Skerry Fairy-Tale

The year is 1891. The director of MoDo, Frans Kempe, is about to build the largest and most modern sawmill in Europe and a complete ideal society after his own mind. The place he chooses is Norrbyskär, some skerries in the Baltic Sea outside the cost of Västerbotten in northern Sweden. The experimental society with it's 1500 inhabitants and the large sawmill will live for almost 60 years.

1994-04-15 | sv

Charlie Chan’s Killer Actress

Short documentary on Kay Linaker.

2008-02-12 | en